essay on muhammad ali boxer

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Muhammad Ali

By: History.com Editors

Updated: February 27, 2024 | Original: December 16, 2009

Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) was an American former heavyweight champion boxer and one of the greatest sporting figures of the 20th century. An Olympic gold medalist and the first fighter to capture the heavyweight title three times, Ali won 56 times in his 21-year professional career. Ali’s outspokenness on issues of race, religion and politics made him a controversial figure during his career, and the heavyweight’s quips and taunts were as quick as his fists.

Born Cassius Clay Jr., Ali changed his name in 1964 after joining the Nation of Islam. Citing his religious beliefs, he refused military induction and was stripped of his heavyweight championship and banned from boxing for three years during the prime of his career. Parkinson’s syndrome severely impaired Ali’s motor skills and speech, but he remained active as a humanitarian and goodwill ambassador.

Muhammad Ali’s Early Years and Amateur Career

Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., the elder son of Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. (1912-1990) and Odessa Grady Clay (1917-1994), was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky . It was a red-and-white Schwinn that steered the future heavyweight champion to the sport of boxing. When his beloved bicycle was stolen, a tearful 12-year-old Clay reported the theft to Louisville police officer Joe Martin (1916-1996) and vowed to pummel the culprit. Martin, who was also a boxing trainer, suggested that the upset youngster first learn how to fight, and he took Clay under his wing. Six weeks later, Clay won his first bout in a split decision.

Did you know? Muhammad Ali has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated 38 times, second only to basketball great Michael Jordan.

By age 18 Clay had captured two national Golden Gloves titles, two Amateur Athletic Union national titles and 100 victories against eight losses. After graduating high school, he traveled to Rome and won the light heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics.

Clay won his professional boxing debut on October 29, 1960, in a six-round decision. From the start of his pro career, the 6-foot-3-inch heavyweight overwhelmed his opponents with a combination of quick, powerful jabs and foot speed, and his constant braggadocio and self-promotion earned him the nickname “Louisville Lip.”

Muhammad Ali: Heavyweight Champion of the World

After winning his first 19 fights, including 15 knockouts, Clay received his first title shot on February 25, 1964, against reigning heavyweight champion Sonny Liston (1932-1970). Although he arrived in Miami Beach, Florida, a 7-1 underdog, the 22-year-old Clay relentlessly taunted Liston before the fight, promising to “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” and predicting a knockout. When Liston failed to answer the bell at the start of the seventh round, Clay was indeed crowned heavyweight champion of the world. In the ring after the fight, the new champ roared, “I am the greatest!”

At a press conference the next morning, Clay, who had been seen around Miami with controversial Nation of Islam member Malcolm X (1925-1965), confirmed the rumors of his conversion to Islam. On March 6, 1964, Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975) bestowed on Clay the name of Muhammad Ali.

Ali solidified his hold on the heavyweight championship by knocking out Liston in the first round of their rematch on May 25, 1965, and he defended his title eight more times. Then, with the Vietnam War raging, Ali showed up for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces on April 28, 1967. Citing his religious beliefs, he refused to serve. Ali was arrested, and the New York State Athletic Commission immediately suspended his boxing license and revoked his heavyweight belt.

Convicted of draft evasion, Ali was sentenced to the maximum of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, but he remained free while the conviction was appealed. Many saw Ali as a draft dodger, and his popularity plummeted. Banned from boxing for three years, Ali spoke out against the Vietnam War on college campuses. As public attitudes turned against the war, support for Ali grew. In 1970 the New York State Supreme Court ordered his boxing license reinstated, and the following year the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction in a unanimous decision.

Muhammad Ali’s Return to the Ring

After 43 months in exile, Ali returned to the ring on October 26, 1970, and knocked out Jerry Quarry (1945-1999) in the third round. On March 8, 1971, Ali got his chance to regain his heavyweight crown against reigning champ Joe Frazier (1944-2011) in what was billed as the “Fight of the Century.” The undefeated Frazier floored Ali with a hard left hook in the final round. Ali got up but lost in a unanimous decision, experiencing his first defeat as a pro.

Ali won his next 10 bouts before being defeated by Ken Norton (1943-). He won the rematch six months later in a split decision and gained further revenge in a unanimous decision over Frazier in a non-title rematch. The victory gave the 32-year-old Ali a title shot against 25-year-old champion George Foreman (1949-). The October 30, 1974, fight in Kinshasa, Zaire, was dubbed the “Rumble in the Jungle.” Ali, the decided underdog, employed his “rope-a-dope” strategy, leaning on the ring ropes and absorbing a barrage of blows from Foreman while waiting for his opponent to tire. The strategy worked, and Ali won in an eighth-round knockout to regain the title stripped from him seven years prior.

Ali successfully defended his title in 10 fights, including the memorable “Thrilla in Manila” on October 1, 1975, in which his bitter rival Frazier, his eyes swollen shut, was unable to answer the bell for the final round. Ali also defeated Norton in their third meeting in a unanimous 15-round decision.

On February 15, 1978, an aging Ali lost his title to Leon Spinks (1953-) in a 15-round split decision. Seven months later, Ali defeated Spinks in a unanimous 15-round decision to reclaim the heavyweight crown and become the first fighter to win the world heavyweight boxing title three times.

After announcing his retirement in 1979, Ali launched a brief, unsuccessful comeback. However, he was overwhelmed in a technical knockout loss to Larry Holmes (1949-) in 1980, and he dropped a unanimous 10-round decision to Trevor Berbick (1954-2006) on December 11, 1981. After the fight, the 39-year-old Ali retired for good with a career record of 56 wins, five losses and 37 knockouts.

Muhammad Ali’s Later Years and Legacy

In 1984 Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome, possibly connected to the severe head trauma suffered during his boxing career. The former champion’s motor skills slowly declined, and his movement and speech were limited. In spite of the Parkinson’s, Ali remained in the public spotlight, traveling the world to make humanitarian, goodwill and charitable appearances. He met with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (1937-2006) in 1990 to negotiate the release of American hostages, and in 2002 he traveled to Afghanistan as a United Nations Messenger of Peace.

Ali had the honor of lighting the cauldron during the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. In 1999 Ali was voted the BBC’s “Sporting Personality of the Century,” and Sports Illustrated named him “Sportsman of the Century.” Ali was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a 2005 White House ceremony, and in the same year the $60 million Muhammad Ali Center, a nonprofit museum and cultural center focusing on peace and social responsibility, opened in Louisville.

Ring Magazine named Ali “Fighter of the Year” five times, more than any other boxer, and he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. Ali has been married four times and has seven daughters and two sons. He married his fourth wife, Yolanda, in 1986. Ali died at the age of 74 on June 3, 2016.

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Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali was a three-time heavyweight boxing champion with an impressive 56-win record. He was also known for his public stance against the Vietnam War.

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Quick Facts

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Muhammad Ali was a boxer, philanthropist, and social activist who is universally regarded as one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century. Ali became an Olympic gold medalist in 1960 and the world heavyweight boxing champion in 1964. Following his suspension for refusing military service in the Vietnam War, Ali reclaimed the heavyweight title two more times during the 1970s, winning famed bouts against Joe Frazier and George Foreman along the way. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and devoted much of his time after to philanthropy. He earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.

FULL NAME: Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. BORN: January 17, 1942 DIED: June 3, 2016 BIRTHPLACE: Louisville, Kentucky SPOUSES: Sonji Roi (1964-1965), Belinda Boyd (1967-1977), Veronica Porché (1977-1986), and Yolanda Williams (1986-2016) CHILDREN: Maryum, Jamillah, Rasheda, Muhammad Jr., Miya, Khaliah, Hana, Laila Ali , and Asaad ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Capricorn

Muhammad Ali was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. His birth name was Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.

At an early age, young Clay showed that he wasn’t afraid of any bout—inside or outside of the ring. Growing up in the segregated South, he experienced racial prejudice and discrimination firsthand.

At the age of 12, Clay discovered his talent for boxing through an odd twist of fate. After his bike was stolen, Clay told police officer Joe Martin that he wanted to beat up the thief. “Well, you better learn how to fight before you start challenging people,” Martin reportedly told him at the time. In addition to being a police officer, Martin also trained young boxers at a local gym.

Clay started working with Martin to learn how to spar and soon began his boxing career. In his first amateur bout in 1954, he won the fight by split decision. Clay went on to win the 1956 Golden Gloves tournament for novices in the light heavyweight class. Three years later, he won the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, as well as the Amateur Athletic Union’s national title for the light heavyweight division.

Clay attended mostly Black public schools, including Central High School in Louisville from 1956 to 1960. Clay often daydreamed in class and shadowboxed in the halls—he was training for the 1960 Olympics at the time—and his grades were so bad that some of his teachers wanted to hold him back from graduation. However, the school’s principal Atwood Wilson could see Clay’s potential and opposed this, sarcastically asking the staff, “Do you think I’m going to be the principal of a school that Cassius Clay didn’t finish?”

In 1960, Clay won a spot on the U.S. Olympic boxing team and traveled to Rome to compete. At 6 feet, 3 inches tall, Clay was an imposing figure in the ring, but he also became known for his lightning speed and fancy footwork. After winning his first three bouts, Clay defeated Zbigniew Pietrzkowski of Poland to win the light heavyweight Olympic gold medal.

After his Olympic victory, Clay was heralded as an American hero. He soon turned professional with the backing of the Louisville Sponsoring Group and continued overwhelming all opponents in the ring.

Clay met charismatic Nation of Islam minister Malcolm X at a rally in Detroit in June 1962. Floored by Malcolm X’s fearlessness as an orator, the two developed a friendship and Clay became more involved in the Black Muslim group. Malcolm X even assigned an associate to help manage Clay’s day-to-day affairs.

In 1964, Malcolm X brought his family to visit Clay while he trained in Florida for his February 25 title fight against Sonny Liston . Clay’s victory over Liston earned him his first world heavyweight boxing championship. Following the win, the two held an evening of reflection in a hotel room with Jim Brown and Sam Cooke that became the inspiration for the One Night in Miami stage play and 2020 drama film.

The next morning, on February 26, Clay announced his affiliation with the Nation of Islam. At first, he called himself Cassius X before settling on the name Muhammad Ali. Surprisingly, his allegiances were with supreme leader Elijah Muhammad and not the exiled Malcolm X. Ali and Malcolm’s friendship quickly fractured, and the two went their separate ways by that spring.

Ali showed little remorse upon Malcolm X’s murder on February 21, 1965, but admitted in his 2005 memoir Soul of a Butterfly : “Turning my back on Malcolm was one of the mistakes that I regret most in my life.”

The boxer eventually converted to orthodox Islam during the 1970s.

Ali started a different kind of fight with his outspoken views against the Vietnam War. Drafted into the military in April 1967, he refused to serve on the grounds that he was a practicing Muslim minister with religious beliefs that prevented him from fighting. He was arrested for committing a felony and almost immediately stripped of his world title and boxing license.

The U.S. Justice Department pursued a legal case against Ali and denied his claim for conscientious objector status. He was found guilty of violating Selective Service laws and sentenced to five years in prison in June 1967 but remained free while appealing his conviction.

Unable to compete professionally in the meantime, Ali missed more than three prime years of his athletic career. Following his suspension, Ali found refuge on Chicago’s South Side, where he lived from the mid-1960s through the late 1970s. He continued training, formed amateur boxing leagues, and fought whomever he could in local gyms.

Finally granted a license to fight in 1970 in Georgia, which did not have a statewide athletic commission, Ali returned to the ring at Atlanta’s City Auditorium on October 26 with a win over Jerry Quarry. A few months later, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction in June 1971, allowing Ali to fight on a regular basis.

Ali had a career record of 56 wins, five losses, and 37 knockouts before his retirement in 1981 at the age of 39.

Often referring to himself as “The Greatest,” Ali was not afraid to sing his own praises. He was known for boasting about his skills before a fight and for his colorful descriptions and phrases. In one of his more famously quoted descriptions, Ali told reporters that he could “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” in the boxing ring.

A few of his more well-known bouts include the following:

Sonny Liston

After winning gold at the 1960 Olympics, Ali took out British heavyweight champion Henry Cooper in 1963. He then knocked out Sonny Liston on February 25, 1964, to become the heavyweight champion of the world.

Joe Frazier

On March 8, 1971, Ali took on Joe Frazier in what has been called the “Fight of the Century.” Frazier and Ali went toe-to-toe for 14 rounds before Frazier dropped Ali with a vicious left hook in the 15th. Ali recovered quickly, but the judges awarded the decision to Frazier, handing Ali his first professional loss after 31 wins.

After suffering a loss to Ken Norton, Ali beat Frazier in a rematch on January 28, 1974.

In 1975, Ali and Frazier locked horns again for their grudge match on October 1 in Quezon City, Philippines. Dubbed the “Thrilla in Manila,” the bout nearly went the distance, with both men delivering and absorbing tremendous punishment. However, Frazier’s trainer threw in the towel after the 14th round, giving the hard-fought victory to Ali.

George Foreman

Another legendary Ali fight took place on October 30, 1974, against undefeated heavyweight champion George Foreman . Billed as the “Rumble in the Jungle,” the bout was organized by promoter Don King and held in Kinshasa, Zaire.

For once, Ali was seen as the underdog to the younger, massive Foreman, but he silenced his critics with a masterful performance. He baited Foreman into throwing wild punches with his “rope-a-dope” technique, before stunning his opponent with an eighth-round knockout to reclaim the heavyweight title.

Leon Spinks

After losing his title to Leon Spinks on February 15, 1978, Ali defeated him months later in a rematch on September 15. Ali became the first boxer to win the heavyweight championship three times.

Larry Holmes

Following a brief retirement, Ali returned to the ring to face Larry Holmes on October 2, 1980, but was overmatched against the younger champion.

Following one final loss in 1981, to Trevor Berbick, the boxing great retired from the sport at age 39.

Ali was married four times and had nine children, including two children—daughters Miya and Khaliah—he fathered outside of marriage.

Ali married his first wife, Sonji Roi, in 1964. They divorced a little more than one year later when she refused to adopt the Nation of Islam dress and customs.

Ali married his second wife, 17-year-old Belinda Boyd, in 1967. Boyd and Ali had four children together: Maryum, born in 1969; Jamillah and Rasheda, both born in 1970; and Muhammad Ali Jr., born in 1972. Boyd and Ali’s divorce was finalized in 1977.

At the same time Ali was married to Boyd, he traveled openly with Veronica Porché, who became his third wife in 1977. The pair had two daughters together, Hana and Laila Ali . The latter followed in Ali’s footsteps by becoming a champion boxer. Porché and Ali divorced in 1986.

Ali married his fourth and final wife Yolanda, who went by Lonnie, in 1986. The pair had known each other since Lonnie was just 6 and Ali was 21; their mothers were best friends and raised their families on the same street. Ali and Lonnie had one son together, Asaad, and remained married until Ali’s death.

Grandchildren

Rasheda’s son Nico Walsh Ali became a boxer like his grandfather and aunt. In 2021, he signed a deal with legendary Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who promoted 27 of Muhammad Ali’s bouts. He won his first eight professional fights, according to database BoxRec.

Nico’s brother, Biaggio Ali Walsh, was a star football running back, helping lead national powerhouse Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas to the top of the USA Today rankings from 2014 through 2016. He played collegiately at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas before becoming an amateur mixed martial artist.

The brothers have drawn the attention of social media celebrity Jake Paul, a novice boxer who has said he’d like to fight both and “erase” them.

One of Ali’s other grandsons, Jacob Ali-Wertheimer, competed in NCAA track and field at Harvard University and graduated in 2021.

In 1984, Ali announced that he had Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative neurological condition. Despite the progression of Parkinson’s and the onset of spinal stenosis, he remained active in public life.

Ali raised funds for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center in Phoenix, Arizona. And he was on hand to celebrate the inauguration of the first Black president in January 2009, when Barack Obama was sworn into office.

In his retirement, Ali devoted much of his time to philanthropy. Over the years, Ali supported the Special Olympics and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, among other organizations. In 1996, he lit the Olympic cauldron at the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, an emotional moment in sports history.

Ali traveled to numerous countries, including Mexico and Morocco, to help out those in need. In 1998, he was chosen to be a United Nations Messenger of Peace because of his work in developing nations.

In 2005, Ali received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush .

Ali also received the President’s Award from the NAACP in 2009 for his public service efforts. Other recipients of the award have included include Ella Fitzgerald , Venus and Serena Williams , Kerry Washington , Spike Lee , John Legend , Rihanna , and LeBron James .

Ali opened the Muhammad Ali Center , a multicultural center with a museum dedicated to his life and legacy, in his hometown of Louisville in 2005.

“I am an ordinary man who worked hard to develop the talent I was given,” he said. “Many fans wanted to build a museum to acknowledge my achievements. I wanted more than a building to house my memorabilia. I wanted a place that would inspire people to be the best that they could be at whatever they chose to do, and to encourage them to be respectful of one another.”

Ali lived the final decade of his live in the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley, Arizona.

A few years before his death, Ali underwent surgery for spinal stenosis, a condition causing the narrowing of the spine, which limited his mobility and ability to communicate. In early 2015, he battled pneumonia and was hospitalized for a severe urinary tract infection.

Ali died on June 3, 2016, in Scottsdale, Arizona, after being hospitalized for what was reportedly a respiratory issue. He was 74 years old.

Years before his passing, Ali had planned his own memorial services, saying he wanted to be “inclusive of everyone, where we give as many people an opportunity that want to pay their respects to me,” according to a family spokesman.

The three-day event, which took place in Ali’s hometown of Louisville, included an “I Am Ali” public arts festival, entertainment and educational offerings sponsored by the city, an Islamic prayer program, and a memorial service.

Prior to the memorial service, a funeral procession traveled 20 miles through Louisville, past Ali’s childhood home, his high school, the first boxing gym where he trained, and along Ali Boulevard as tens of thousands of fans tossed flowers on his hearse and cheered his name.

The champ’s memorial service was held at the KFC Yum Center arena with close to 20,000 people in attendance. Speakers included religious leaders from various faiths: Attallah Shabazz, Malcolm X’s eldest daughter; broadcaster Bryant Gumbel; former President Bill Clinton ; comedian Billy Crystal; Ali’s daughters Maryum and Rasheda; and his widow, Lonnie.

“Muhammad indicated that when the end came for him, he wanted us to use his life and his death as a teaching moment for young people, for his country, and for the world,” Lonnie said. “In effect, he wanted us to remind people who are suffering that he had seen the face of injustice—that he grew up during segregation and that during his early life he was not free to be who he wanted to be. But he never became embittered enough to quit or to engage in violence.”

Clinton spoke about how Ali found self-empowerment: “I think he decided, before he could possibly have worked it all out, and before fate and time could work their will on him, he decided he would not ever be disempowered. He decided that not his race, nor his place, the expectations of others—positive, negative, or otherwise—would strip from him the power to write his own story.”

Crystal, who was a struggling comedian when he became friends with Ali, said of the boxing legend: “Ultimately, he became a silent messenger for peace, who taught us that life is best when you build bridges between people, not walls.”

Pallbearers included Will Smith , who once portrayed Ali on film, and former heavyweight champions Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. Ali is buried at the Cave Hill National Cemetery in Louisville.

Ali’s stature as a legend continues to grow even after his death. He is celebrated not only for his remarkable athletic skills but for his willingness to speak his mind and his courage to challenge the status quo.

Ali played himself in the 1977 film The Greatest , which explored parts of his life such as his rise to boxing fame, conversion to Islam, and refusal to serve in Vietnam.

The 1996 documentary When We Were Kings explores Ali’s training process for his 1974 fight against George Foreman and the African political climate at the time. Directed by Leon Gast, the film won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Actor Will Smith played Ali in the biopic film Ali, released in 2001. For the performance, Smith received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Ali’s relationship with Malcolm X is explored in the fictionalized 2020 drama One Night in Miami and the 2021 documentary Blood Brothers: Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali .

• The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.
• It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.
• I’m gonna float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can’t hit what the eyes can’t see.
• I am an ordinary man who worked hard to develop the talent I was given.
• I’m the champion of the world. I’m the greatest thing that ever lived. I’m so great I don’t have a mark on my face. I shook up the world! I shook up the world!
• If Clay says a mosquito can pull a plow, don’t ask how—Hitch him up!
• You get the impression while watching him fight that he plays cat and mouse, then turns out the light.
• The real enemy of my people is here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people, or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom, and equality.
• Religions all have different names, but they all contain the same truths. I think the people of our religion should be tolerant and understand people believe different things.
• It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.
• I set out on a journey of love, seeking truth, peace, and understanding. l am still learning.
• Truly great people in history never wanted to be great for themselves.
• At night when I go to bed, I ask myself, “If I don’t wake up tomorrow, would I be proud of how I lived today?”
• This is the story about a man with iron fists and a beautiful tan.

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Muhammad Ali’s impact on sports, society & history was simply The Greatest

Rumble young man. Rumble.

There is no one quite like Muhammad Ali. It feels impossible to put into words what a man so important to the world of sports—to our world in general—means on a day like this.

And yet we try. On a day like this we try to put into words the impact of a man who transcended sports, politics and popular culture. Ali was different than other great athletes of his day or, frankly, any day. Ali managed to do something very few men or women in sports have ever done.

Ali transcended time . Muhammad Ali is as popular on his last day as he was on his first.

You know, “popular” really isn’t the word. Significant seems more apt.

http://gty.im/3162458

Going from a relatively unknown amateur fighter to an Olympic champion, a 22 year-old boxer named Cassius Clay shocked the world in 1964 when he defeated Sonny Liston for the world heavyweight championship. Clay had begun a relationship with the Nation of Islam in the years before his first title fight and after defeating Liston, that relationship became permanent. Ali was born.

Molded from the body of a champion named Clay, Muhammad Ali became a completely different man for his time. For any time.

Throughout his career, and certainly since his fighting days ended, Ali became as renown for his proclivity to rattle off a memorable quote as he was for his prowess in the ring.

Whether or not Ali was actually a bad man he wanted everyone—especially his opponent—to believe it. He made sure everyone knew who was the greatest of all time, too. (Note: it was him.)

His use of animal metaphors was legendary. He called Liston a “big ugly bear” he was going to “donate to the zoo” at the same time the young star told the rest of the world he was going to “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.”

Who talks likes that? Who ever in the history of the world—sports or otherwise—talked like that?

Who would ever think to promote a fight—Ali’s was in rare form to promote his 1974 fight George Foreman, tabbed the Rumble in the Jungle—by saying all of this :

I’m bad. I’ve been chopping trees. I’ve done something new for this fight. I done wrestled with an alligator…I tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail. That’s bad.  Only last week, I murdered a rock. Injured a stone. Hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean I make medicine sick. Bad. Fast, fast…fast! Last night I cut the light off my bedroom, hit the switch and was in bed before the room was dark. Fast.

This is how we remember Ali today. The baddest. The fastest. The greatest, both in and out of the ring.

(Note: boxing historians would be the first to point out that while Ali used such effervescent phrasing to promote his fights, old punchers like Tony Galento actually did wrestle with sea creatures, once grappling with an octopus—and boxing a kangaroo—to promote a fight.)

Ali’s true impact started well before that. He was never really seen as the hero—the good guy—in many of his early fights. His brash attitude and bravado made him notorious, but it didn’t necessarily endear him to the boxing crowd. People came in droves just to root against him.

When Ali spoke out against violence and the Vietnam War, he moved beyond merely being a villain in a sports context. He became one of the most polarizing political and social figures in the country. In the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuj8kfEG7fU

In 1967 when Ali refused to participate in the Vietnam War, it nearly cost him everything. His boxing license was stripped in every state. His passport was revoked. He had to fight to stay out of jail; remain a free man. Boxing seemed to have far less importance to him, and to his cause.

And yet, he was a boxer. The greatest boxer; unable to fight from the age of 25 to 29, the absolute prime of his career.

The decision cost him favor with many Americans too. Ali became something of a spokesman for the anti-war cause and, in doing so, a very pronounced anti-“whiteman” cause perpetuated at the time by Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam. Many people thought the group was “ taking him for a ride ,” indoctrinating Ali into their cause to use him as a recruitment tool.

In a very difficult time in this nation’s social and political history, Ali became a lightning rod for both sides of the cause. It’s hard to imagine an athlete in today’s society taking on what Ali did. The world today is so much different than it was then. The athletes are different too.

Ali’s fight was confusing for the media as well. Legally, he was still named Cassius Clay, noted in all court filings and even the Associated Press stories about his fight to be reinstated to boxing.

As a boxer, reporters called him Ali. As a political activist fighting for his freedom, they called him Clay.

He lost what should have been his greatest years as a boxer, but that battle didn’t break Ali. A lesser man would have been broken, lost, gone from the sport he loved forever. Ali was not a lesser man. That time in his life made him stronger. It galvanized him.

To this day, it defined him.

Ali did not throw a competitive punch from March 22, 1967 through October 26, 1970, but in that time he never stopped fighting. The longer he was kept away from the sport, the greater the shadow he cast upon the other top fighters of his time.

Ali fought twice upon his reinstatement before facing Joe Frazier in what was billed as the Fight of the Century.

Ali lost, for the first time in his career.

That first fight with Frazier had become about so much more than two men in a boxing ring. Ali used Frazier as a bastion of the establishment, repeatedly calling Frazier an “Uncle Tom” and suggesting that he was the fighter only the white elite could root for. It was not Ali’s finest moment, and the animosity that came from the lead up to that bout stayed with Frazier forever.

As a boxer, Ali rebounded after the loss to Frazier, winning his next ten bouts before losing his title to Ken Norton in 1973. Six months later, Ali defeated Norton to win back his belt, setting up an early 1974 rematch with Frazier. Ali won that fight then beat Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle later that year to unify the heavyweight belts. He was truly back on top of the sport and the spotlight had never been bigger.

Over the next three years, Ali won ten fights, including the Thrilla in Manila over Frazier in their last of three epic bouts. By that time, Ali was a much different fighter and a very different man.

He was still outspoken about his religious and political beliefs, but as time passed and the opinions around the Vietnam War changed in America, people’s views of Ali changed as well. He became far less of an activist, becoming something of a statesman as he matured.

That brash 24 year-old fighter would never have glad-handed with Presidents. An older and wiser Ali learned a better way to play the game.

http://gty.im/85942389

I never got the chance to see Ali fight—I was born just four days before the 1978 loss to Leon Spinks, one of three losses in the final four fights that ended his time in the ring—yet it feels like I was there for every big moment of his career.

I remember vivid details of his fights with Liston, Frazier and Foreman. The quotes in this piece, and countless others, are just part of the space around us. Kids today probably float like butterflies and sting like bees without even knowing from where, or from whom, that idea came.

To this day, his greatness transcends time.

Ali never needed a hype man. He was the greatest hype man in history. He didn’t need an entourage to lead him into the ring. The world was his entourage.

Even after he retired from fighting and succumbed to the effects of Parkinson’s that riddled his body and took away his ability to speak like he did as a fighter and an activist, Ali had a spark and charisma that could make the world—his world—stand still.

In and out of the ring, Ali was the greatest. There are no other words.

http://gty.im/1847814

About Dan Levy

Dan Levy has written a lot of words in a lot of places, most recently as the National Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. He was host of The Morning B/Reakaway on Sirius XM's Bleacher Report Radio for the past year, and previously worked at Sporting News and Rutgers University, with a concentration on sports, media and public relations.

Muhammad Ali: The World's Greatest Boxer

Learn more about the day muhammad ali visited kenya through the lens of photojournalist mohamed 'mo' amin..

By Mohamed Amin Foundation

Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali (1980) by Mohamed Amin Mohamed Amin Foundation

A man on a mission

Muhammad Ali visited Kenya in February 1980. The sole purpose of his visit was to persuade Kenya and other African states to boycott the 1980 Olympics in Moscow after the Soviet Union attacked Afghanistan in 1979. 

Sent by President Carter

In an offer to have a few nations denounce the Soviet Union's activities, US President Jimmy Carter picked Muhammad Ali to go on a five-country visit to persuade African leaders to blacklist the Moscow Olympics. 

A brilliant move

Ali was against the Soviet Union's activities in Afghanistan and he was a notable figure in Africa. Choosing Ali for this mission was key and brilliant of President Carter. While in Kenya, Ali called on the country’s second President Daniel Arap Moi and was hosted at State House in Nairobi. Following his visit, Kenya did support the US boycott.

Obligatory show for the people

While in Kenya, Ali put on an exhibition session with Muhammed Abdullah Kent, the only Kenyan who dared to enter the ring to fight this legendary boxer. The crowd kept on chanting, "Ali! Ali! Ali!". Ali knocked out Muhammed Kent in the fourth round.

Loss of a Legend

Ali died in June 2016 after suffering from a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by his Parkinson’s diagnosis.

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

While visiting Ghana in 1964, Ali said:  “I am an African, and my proper name is Muhammad Ali. There is greater dignity in my new name."   His words will never be forgotten. 

Mohamed 'Mo' Amin: Photojournalist Extraordinaire

Mohamed amin foundation, how mo amin inspired change in ethiopia, salim amin: honouring my father's legacy, inside the mohamed amin archive, 11 facts you need to know about the safari rally, marjorie townsend and the satellite 'uhuru', jomo kenyatta: light of kenya, tom mboya: one of kenya's founding fathers, “kip”: the goat herder who didn’t want to be late, ahmed the elephant: the king of marsabit.

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The Best Writing About Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali was the greatest boxer of all-time, and he also inspired some of the best sports writing ever, from the likes of Norman Mailer, Hunter S. Thompson, and George Plimpton. Some of the best pieces about Ali aren’t available online, but many are. Here, a required reading list in the wake of Ali’s   passing .

A.J. Liebling, “Poet and Pedagogue” The New Yorker , March 3,   1962

The poet, still wrapped in certitude, jabbed, moved, teased, looking the Konzerstuck over before he banged the ivories. By nimble dodging, as in Rome, he rendered the hungry fighter’s attack quite harmless, but this time without keeping his hypnotic stare fixed steadily enough on the   punch-hand.

Murray Kempton, “The Champ and the Chump” The New Republic , March 7,   1963

He fought the first round as though without plan, running and slipping and sneaking punches, like someone killing time in a poolroom. But it was his rhythm and not Liston’s; second by slow second, he was taking away the big bouncer’s dignity. Once Liston had him close to the ropes — where fighters kill boxers — and Clay, very slowly, slipped sideways from a left hook and under the right and away, just grazing the ropes all in one motion, and cut Liston in the eye. For the first time there was the suspicion that he might know something about the   trade.

Tom Wolfe, “The Marvelous Mouth” Esquire , October, 1963

If Cassius really wants to go into his act, if he is in front of a crowd he thinks will really appreciate its Pantagruelian overtones, he turns on a pair of 150-watt eyes and suddenly becomes a star. That is the only way I can think of to describe it. It is in the eyes and in the facial muscles around the eyes, an ability to come alive upon   demand.

George Plimpton, “Miami Notebook: Cassius Clay and Malcolm X” Harper’s , June 1964

Clay’s place was on the mainland, in North Miami, in a low-rent district-a small plain taterwhite house with louvered windows, a front door with steps leading up to a little porch with room for one chair, a front yard with more chairs set around and shaded by a big ficus tree with leaves dusty from the traffic on Fifth Street. His entire entourage stayed there, living dormitory-style, two or three to a   room.

LeRoi Jones, “In the Ring” The Nation , June 29,   1964

Clay is not a fake, and even his blustering and playground poetry are valid; they demonstrate that a new and more complicated generation has moved onto the   scene.

Gordon Parks, “The Redemption of the Champion” Life , September 9,   1966

He woke up one afternoon and simply began talking about his childhood: “I used to lay awake scared, thinking about somebody getting cut up or being lynched. Look like they was always black people I liked. And I always wanted to do something to help those people. But I was too little. Maybe now I can help by living up to what I’m supposed to be. I’m proud of my title and I guess I want people to be proud of   me.”

Leonard Shecter, “The Passion of Muhammad Ali” Esquire , April, 1968

He now is free to talk. He used to be free to fight and he was something to see, the speed of him and the beauty of his motion, his huge, smooth body gliding in a ballet of boxing, his white ring shoes becoming a furry flurr. He was perhaps the best anybody has ever seen, because he had the modern athlete’s body, as swift as it was large, and no boxer ever had one like it before. But then a sergeant in a Houston Selective Service office asked him to take a step forward and he refused because, he said, he was a minister of the Muslim faith in the Nation of Islam. The boxing commission revoked his title as heavyweight champion of the   world.

Norman Mailer, “Ego” Life , March 19.   1971

What kills us about a.k.a. Cassius Clay is that the disagreement is inside us. He is fascinating — attraction and repulsion must be in the same package. So, he is obsessive. The more we don’t want to think about him, the more we are obliged to. There is a reason for it. He is America’s Greatest   Ego.

Hunter S. Thompson, “Last Tango in Vegas” Rolling Stone , May 4,   1978

That is Muhammad Ali’s world, an orbit so high, a circuit so fast and strong and with rarefied air so thin that only ‘The Champ,’ ‘The Greatest,’ and a few close friends have unlimited breathing rights. Anybody who can sell his act for $5 million an hour all over the world is working a vein somewhere between magic and madness   …

Vic Ziegel, Ali, Spinks, and the Battle of New Orleans New York , October 2,   1978

Muhammad Ali, on the other hand, was taking care of business. He so desperately wanted to become the first boxer to win the heavyweight title three times that he decided on a strategy he had previously abandoned: He   trained.

Gary Smith, “Ali and His Entourage” Sports Illustrated , April 25,   1988

The first signal of decline was in Ali’s hands. Pacheco began injecting them with novocaine before fights, and the ride went on. Then the reflexes slowed, the beatings began, the media started to question the doctor. And the world began to learn how much the doctor loved to   talk.

Davis Miller, “My Dinner With Ali” Louisville Courier-Journal Magazine , January 1989

“ You ever seen any magic?” he asked. “You like   magic?” “Not in years,” I   said. He did about 10 tricks. The one that interested me the most required no props. It was a very simple deception. “Watch my feet,” he said, standing maybe eight feet away, his back to me and his arms perpendicular to his sides. Then, although he’d just had real trouble walking, he seemed to levitate about three inches off of the floor. He turned to me and in his thick, slow voice said, “I’m a baadd niggah,” and gave me the old easy Ali   smile.

Mark Kram, “Great Men Die Twice” Esquire , June 1989

Not all, exactly; getting old is the last display for the bread-and-circuses culture. Legends must suffer for all the gifts and luck and privilege given to them. Great men, it’s been noted, die twice — once as great, and once as men. With grace, preferably, which adds an uplifting, stirring, Homeric touch. If the fall is too messy, the national psyche will rush toward it, then recoil; there is no suspense, no example in the   mundane.

Joyce Carol Oates, “The Cruelest Sport” The New York Review of Books , February 13,   1992

… Ali would have to descend into his physical being and experience for the first time the punishment (“the nearest thing to death”) that is the lot of the great boxer willing to put himself to the test. As Ali’s personal physician at that time, Ferdie Pacheco, said, [Ali] discovered something which was both very good and very bad. Very bad in that it led to the physical damage he suffered later in his career; very good in that it eventually got him back the championship. He discovered that he could take a punch. The secret of Ali’s mature success, and the secret of his tragedy: he could take a punch.

William Nack, “The Fight’s Over, Joe” Sports Illustrated , September 30,   1996

For the next five rounds it was as if Frazier had reached into the darkest bat cave of his psyche and freed all his pent-up rage. In the sixth he pressed and attacked, winging three savage hooks to Ali’s head, the last of which sent his mouthpiece flying. For the first time in the fight, Ali sat down between rounds. Frazier resumed the attack in the seventh, at one point landing four straight shots to the body, at another point landing five. In the ninth, as Ali wilted, the fighting went deeper into the trenches, down where Frazier whistles while he works, and as he landed blow upon blow he could hear Ali howling in pain. In his corner after the 10 th , Ali said to Pacheco, “This must be what dyin’ is   like.”

Cal Fussman, “Ali Now” Esquire , October, 2003

There are very few people in the history of the planet who could make everybody in the world stop for a moment, forget their differences, smile, and applaud in unison. Perhaps Ali was the only one left. I wondered if there’d be anyone   after.

This post has been updated with additional   pieces.

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Muhammad Ali's retirement home is up for auction. What to know

The home where Louisville native Muhammad Ali retired — following his lengthy and successful boxing career — is currently up for auction through Concierge Auctions until May 15.

Muhammad Ali Museum: Louisville's Muhammad Ali Center to introduce new exhibit. When it opens

Previously listed for $13.5 million, the Los Angeles mansion, where Ali lived from 1979 to 1984, features an Italian Renaissance and European style in the Hancock Park neighborhood. The 10,500-square-foot home sits on a 1.5-acre lot with a 1,000-square-foot guesthouse, according to Concierge Auctions.

Unique features of the home include a sunroom with a glass roof, a luxurious marble kitchen with an island and a master bedroom with a charming fireplace. Outside, visitors will find a swimming pool, a pergola terrace and stone fountains.

Muhammad Ali: Remembering Sports Illustrated's iconic Muhammad Ali covers

John C. Austin built the home in 1915 and is most known for his work on Griffith Observatory and City Hall, according to the website. Besides Ali, celebrities have also appeared at the mansion, including Sylvester Stallone, Clint Eastwood, and President Obama.

The property is located behind the gates of Fremont Place, an exclusive community in Hancock Park, and has nearby entertainment options like the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. As of Tuesday morning, the highest auction bid was $7.75 million, with the asking price at $8 million.

Mike Tyson makes Muhammad Ali feelings clear ahead of controversial Jake Paul fight - 'Absolutely'

Mike Tyson has lavished praise on the late, great Muhammad Ali as his seismic showdown with Jake Paul creeps closer.

The two men are due to do battle at the AT&T Stadium in Texas on July 20, despite a big backlash to their fight due to the huge 30-year age gap between the two fighters.

Tyson has now sat down with Nick Kyrgios to discuss the upcoming bout.

When asked who inspired him to get into boxing, he said: "Oh, Roberto Duran. Number one, yeah."

When quizzed on whether Ali was among the greats to inspire a young Tyson, the 57-year-old then added: "No, Ali caused me to be interested in boxing, but Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard made me want to fight.

"This is what I'm going to do. Yeah."

Tyson also says Ali was better than himself because he 'made me', with the heavyweight icon showing his humble side in the process.

"Absolutely because he made me," he said.

"How could you be something better than what made you?"

Ali and Tyson first met while the latter was at a New York juvenile detention centre.

Children in attendance were shown a film about Ali, only for the boxing icon to walk and introduce himself as a special guest.

They later became close friends and Tyson was left in tears when Ali was beaten by Larry Holmes back in 1980.

Tyson later avenged his hero by beating Holmes himself in 1988, however.

Discussing that victory last year, he said: "We went to see Muhammad Ali fight Larry Holmes on closed circuit. [Holmes] beat the s**t out of Ali.

“We all went back home, 30 miles south, nobody said a word in the car for 30 miles.

"We got in the house, went to our beds, all went to sleep, nobody said nothing.

“The next morning [Tyson’s trainer Cus D’Amato] is on the phone with Ali.

"I’m hearing him say, 'He’s a bum, Ali, why you let that bum beat on you?’”

He added: “I was on the phone, I said [to Ali], ‘When I get big I’m gonna avenge you.

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"'I’m gonna knock him out for you.’

“Ali said, 'Yeah I’m the greatest fighter ever and I took medicine. And I got sick and I’m gonna come back and knock out Holmes.'

“I’m on the phone crying.

"He thought he was making me happy but he was making me sad cause he ignored the fact of me saying I’m gonna avenge you.”

Meanwhile, Tyson's focus at present is on beating Paul in July.

And Paul, speaking on his podcast, has revealed the 57-year-old wanted the bout to be a professional fight instead of an exhibition.

"I think it’s a win-win....They’re just going to say he’s old and you disrespected him and all that s**t, but I just want to make it clear, Mike Tyson was the one who wanted it to be a pro fight...Mike got into training camp and called up people on my team...Netflix was like, ‘Let’s make it a pro fight. We’re down.’

"And I said, ‘If that’s what Mike wants, then that’s fine, but make sure you tell Mike that there’s no holding back."

Muhammad Ali Biography

How it works

Muhammad Ali was a professional boxer and very passionate. One of the best boxers in the world, a person who practiced boxing all his life, a person who is very inspirational, Muhammad Ali! He started boxing when he was 12 years old and had very inspirational quotes. He always had one fear, It was planes. He also struggled with some things in his boxing career and outside his life. Muhammad Ali lived a good life as a boxer, also as when he was not boxing, but at the same time, he would change his faith.

He was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. When he was born his name was Cassius Marcellus. At the age of 12 someone took his bike, he told the cops and said “ I want to beat that guy up” Then the cop told him he needs to train to do that and while he was training he figured that boxing was his talent.

As he was in his boxing career people called him “The People’s Champion”, “The Greatest”, and “Black Superman.” He converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali in 1964. He wasn’t allowed to box for 3 years after converting to Islam. In his boxing career, he had 105 total fights he won 100 total fights and lost 5 of them. He fights for a purpose and that purpose is to be successful. When he went to the Olympics and won the gold medal was when he got all of that fame from boxing. In his professional boxing career, Muhammad Ali fought 64 total fights, won 56, won 37 by KO and then in 2016 on June 3 a tragic death happened, it was the death of Muhammad Ali. Quotes that Muhammad Ali said were either based on boxing, life or to inspire. “It’ll be a killa, a chilla, a thrilla when I got the gorilla in the manilla.” this quote was based on when he punched a small rubber gorilla that was meant to be Joe Fraizer, he also said this on October 1, 1975. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”

This quote was also based on boxing but, not only was it based on boxing it was always a very well-known quote. He meant this to be that the float like a butterfly part is supposed to mean that he flies around his opponents, and the sting like a bee part is meant to be that he punches as hard as a bee will sting a person.”When you come to the fight don’t block the aisle, don’t block the door and you all will go home after round four.” Muhammad Ali would always predict his victory and he once predicted this after his victory of the once-great but old Archie Moore by TKO in the fourth round on November 15, 1962. “I am the king of the world!” was a boxing quote, he ha[[ily shouted these words while running around the ring after beating Sonny Liston refused to get off the stool for the seventh round in their February 25, 1964, title fight. “You so ugly, you have to sneak up on the mirror so it won’t run off the wall.” this was something he said often so it was based on his life and it was a zinger to rattle Sonny Liston so that when they would start the fight Sonny would be angry so he’d forget how to fight.

“I love you show, and I like your style but your pay is so cheap I won’t be back for a while.” this was a life quote and it was for when he went on a TV talk show with the hosts about small appearance fees, but as these varied hosts as Joe Namath in 1969, Dinah Shore in the 1970s. Britain’s Michael Parkinson in 1971, and Joanna Lumley in 1989, he rhymed with it. “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietnam Congress…. They never called me nigger.” He was heavily judged by the political establishment and the mainstream media for refusing induction into the armed forces which were also a reason he why he couldn’t play in boxing for 3 years, he also said this on February 17, 1966. “My way of joking is to tell the truth. That’s the funniest joke in the world.” Muhammad Ali said this often, but it’s actually different kind of words of what he first heard as a boy from his mother, Odessa, who he called Mama Bird. “In your struggle for freedom, justice, and equality, I am with you.” Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King Jr. had different kinds of beliefs and faiths, but they were both not following the war in Vietnam and admired each other for their civil rights activism. When they both appeared at a rally for fair housing in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 10, 1967.

“Don’t count the days, make the days count. This quote was to inspire others and he used this quote as a pep talk before boxing matches. When Muhammad Ali started boxing he got very scared and struggled with some things of his own. When he was on his way to Italy he was scared that a wing would break off the plane. He struggled with boxing when he converted to Islam. Fear was just a word not an established law to him. He struggled with trying to get justice and freedom. He never feared a wealthy farmer in a third world country. The only thing that really feared him were planes. He also struggled when he got Parkinson’s disease which was a neurodegenerative disorder that affects predominately dopamine-producing neurons in a specific area of the brain called substantia nigra. He held the struggle with frightening one belief because someone had to, so why not the strongest man in the world. Muhammad Ali was very talented, especially when it comes to boxing. He had a good life, quotes, fears and struggles which they fears and struggles weren’t good to him.

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Today in Sports – Muhammad Ali is indicted for refusing induction in U.S. Army

The Associated Press

May 7, 2024, 10:00 AM

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1907 — Canadian Tommy Burns retains his world heavyweight boxing title after beating ‘Philadelphia’ Jack O’Brien on points in 20 rounds.

1915 — Regret, ridden by Joe Notter, becomes the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby, with a 2-length wire-to-wire victory over Pebbles.

1937 — War Admiral, the favorite ridden by Charles Kurtsinger, wins the Kentucky Derby by 1 3/4 lengths over Pompoon.

1943 — Count Fleet, ridden by Johnny Longden, wins the Preakness Stakes by 8 lengths over Blue Swords.

1954 — World record holder William Parry O’Brien becomes the first man to throw the shot put more than 60 feet with a 60-5¼ toss at a meet in Los Angeles.

1967 — Muhammad Ali is indicted for refusing induction in U.S. Army.

1968 — Jim “Catfish” Hunter of the Oakland A’s pitches a perfect game, beating the Minnesota Twins 4-0. It is the first perfect game in the American League regular season in 46 seasons.

1970 — Walt Frazier scores 36 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 113-99 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers and the NBA championship in seven games.

1974 — FC Magdenburg of East Germany win 14th European Cup Winner’s Cup against AC Milan of Italy 2-0 in Rotterdam.

1984 — On the day the Olympic torch relay begins, the Soviet Union announces it will not take part in the 1984 Summer Olympics. The Soviet National Olympic Committee Union said the participation of Soviet athletes would be impossible because of “the gross flouting” of Olympic ideals by U.S. authorities.

1993 — Lennox Lewis of Britain scores a unanimous 12-round decision over Tony Tucker in his first defense of the WBC heavyweight title in Las Vegas.

1995 — New Zealand’s Black Magic 1 takes a 2-0 lead, defeating Young America by the widest margin for a challenger since the 1871 America’s Cup.

1996 — Paris Saint-Germain of France win 36th European Cup Winner’s Cup against Rapid Wien of Austria 1-0 in Brussels.

2001 — Randy Johnson becomes the third pitcher to strike out 20 in nine innings. He doesn’t finish the game as the Arizona Diamondbacks go on to beat Cincinnati 4-3 in 11 innings.

2003 — Minnesota becomes the first team in NHL history to rebound from two 3-1 series deficits to win in one postseason with a 4-2 victory at Vancouver.

2011 — University of Georgia senior Russell Henley becomes the second amateur winner in PGA Nationwide Tour history, shooting a 3-under 68 for a two-stroke victory in the Stadion Classic.

2011 — The Tradition Senior Men’s Golf, Shoal Creek G&CC: Tom Lehman wins second of 3 Champions Tour majors with par on 2nd playoff hole against Australian Peter Senior.

2012 — Josh Hamilton becomes the 16th player to hit four home runs in a game, launching a quartet of two-run drives against three different pitchers to carry the Texas Rangers to a 10-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

2013 — Alex Ferguson announces his retirement as Manchester United’s manager at the end of the season.

2014 — The Houston Texans takes South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney with the first pick in the NFL draft. The draft’s other big name, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, sits until Cleveland makes its third trade of the round and grabs the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner at No. 22.

2018 — Seattle Mariners MLB left-hander James Paxton hurls a no-hitter in a 5-0 win over the Blue Jays in Toronto.

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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Swanky Los Angeles mansion once owned by Muhammad Ali up for auction. See photos

The Los Angeles mansion where boxing icon Muhammad Ali once lived is up for auction.

Listed at $13.5 million, the seven-bed, eight-bath estate at 55 Fremont Place is accepting live bids via Concierge Auctions until May 15.

Ali lived at the estate between 1979 and 1986, Business Insider reported . He moved in towards the end of his career, which spanned from approximately 1960 to 1980 . He is also known for refusing to fight in the Vietnam War. After his career, focused on social activism and philanthropy before dying at age 74 in 2016.

"Built by John C. Austin, known for Griffith Observatory and City Hall, the estate has hosted such luminaries as Sylvester Stallone, Clint Eastwood, and President Obama," the listing states .

Take a look inside: Los Angeles 'Domestead' listed for $2.3M with 'whimsical' gardens

Mansion for sale in 'swoon-worthy' address

According to the listing, the home is located on a corner lot, offering privacy for the lawn, swimming pool and terrace.

"This swoon-worthy address lies behind the gates of Fremont Place, in a singular Los Angeles neighborhood defined by its affluence and history," the website states, referencing the Hancock Park neighborhood it sits in. Hancock Park is located approximately 20 minutes west of Downtown Los Angeles.

As Architectural Digest reported, stars that have resided in the neighborhood include: Shonda Rhimes, Mindy Kaling and Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne.

As the next buyer may be neighbors with "A-list" celebrities, Concierge Auctions suggest they be ready to host in the grand foyer or third-floor ballroom with a fully-equipped bar.

At time of publication, the current bid is at $7.750,000.

Contributing: A.J. Perez and Josh Peter

Former Muhammad Ali estate in Hancock Park lands on auction block

Century-old mansion, once listed for $17M, has a current online bid of $8M

A century-old mansion in Hancock Park once owned by heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali is set to sell at auction, with a current bid of $8 million.

The 14,500-square-foot Italian Renaissance estate is up for auction at 55 Fremont Place, USA Today reported. Live bids are accepted via Concierge Auctions through May 15.

The seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom home was bought by Los Angeles attorney Michael Lawson and his wife, Mattie McFadden-Lawson, in 2001 for $2.5 million, according to the Robb Report.

Lawson, former CEO of the Los Angeles Urban League and a U.S. ambassador during the Obama administration, had listed the home in early 2019 for $16.999 million , before pulling it and relisting it many times for the same price .

Mattie McFadden-Lawson worked as a philanthropist and served as a super delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2016. Her interior design firm MML Design Group oversaw the mansion’s restoration.

The 1.6-acre estate was listed in January last year for $15 million, pulled, then relisted in February and in April for $13.5 million, the listed auction reserve price. Bidding began on April 26.

The home is also subject to a nonjudicial foreclosure, with a notice of default on Feb. 7, according to Zillow. Whether it’s being sold in a foreclosure auction wasn’t immediately confirmed.

The three-story mansion, built in 1916, was designed by John Austin, the architect behind the Griffith Observatory and Los Angeles City Hall. 

It sits on a corner lot within the gated Fremont Place, whose 70 estates were once home to A.P. Giannini, founder of Bank of America, and King Gillette, founder of the razor firm. The neighborhood has been home to Shonda Rhimes, Mindy Kaling and Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne.

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Ali, whose boxing career ran from around 1960 to 1980 , bought the mansion in 1979. He lived there until 1986, according to USA Today. He later focused on social activism and philanthropy. He died at age 74 in 2016.

The home has hosted such luminaries as Michael Jackson, Sylvester Stallone, Clint Eastwood and President Barack Obama, according to the listing.

The mansion is split into public and private areas, according to Robb. It includes a grand entry foyer, salon and circular-shaped conservatory, living room and dining room. The lower level was made for entertaining. 

A large stained-glass window designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany is set on the second floor, along with original stone fireplaces, French Empire crystal chandeliers and wood paneling.

The mansion includes two offices, as well as a ballroom and a full-sized bar. A large master suite has its own fireplace and a column-lined deck.

The home is surrounded by a large swimming pool, landscaped gardens, fountain-filled patios and pergola-covered walkways, in addition to a 1,000-square-foot guest house. 

Elsewhere in Hancock Park, the former Spanish Revival estate of Howard Hughes was listed in August for $23 million at 211 South Muirfield Road.

— Dana Bartholomew

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Muhammad Ali — Why Muhammad Ali Is A Hero

Why Muhammad Ali is a Hero

• Categories: Boxing Muhammad Ali

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Words: 451 |

Published: Dec 16, 2021

Words: 451 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Works Cited

• Ali, M. (1975). The Greatest: My Own Story. Random House.
• Eig, J. (2017). Ali: A Life. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
• Hoffer, E. (2001). Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times. Simon & Schuster.
• Lewis, F. (2008). King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero. Harper Perennial.
• Marqusee, M. (2005). Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties. Verso Books.
• Montville, L. (1996). Sting Like a Bee: The Muhammad Ali Story. Doubleday.
• Remnick, D. (1999). King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero. Vintage.
• Schaap, J. (2017). Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times. Ballantine Books.
• Smith, G. (2002). Muhammad Ali: The People's Champ. Sport Media Publishing.
• Wakeman, B. (2015). The World of Muhammad Ali: Tribute to the Greatest. TASCHEN.

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