Muhammad Ali

At 74 years old, Muhammad Ali has this physical status:

Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, critic, and philanthropist.

Nicknamed "The Greatest" he is widely regarded as one of the twentieth century's most influential and celebrated sports figures, as well as one of the world's best boxers. Ali was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, and began training as an amateur boxer at the age of 12.

He captured a gold medal in the light heavyweight division of the 1960 Summer Olympics at 18 years old and then turned professional later this year.

He converted to Islam and became a Muslim after 1961, and then took the name Muhammad Ali.

He lifted the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston at the age of 22 in 1964, causing a major surprise.

Ali refused to be drafted into the military in 1966, citing his religious convictions and opposition to the Vietnam War.

Early life

Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. (KASH-ss) was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 17, 1942. He had one brother. Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., a father who had a sister and four brothers, but who was named after the 19th-century Republican politician and stal abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., who was also from Kentucky, was named in honor of his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. John Clay and Sallie Anne Clay were Clay's paternal grandparents; Clay's sister Eva said Sallie was a Maltese immigrant. He was a descendant of slaves of the antebellum South and of African descent, with some Irish and English roots. Ali's maternal great-grandfather, Abe Grady, emigrated from Ennis, Ireland, to Ennis, Co. Clare. Ireland's Abe Grady emigrated. Ali was a descendant of the deceased slave Archer Alexander, who had been selected from the building crew as the model for a freed man for the Emancipation Memorial in 2018, according to abolitionist William Greenleaf Eliot's book, From slavery to liberation. Alexander, like Ali, fought for his liberty.

His father, a sign and billboard painter, and his mother, Odessa O'Grady Clay (1917–1994), was a domestic helper. Despite Cassius Sr. being a Methodist, Odessa was able to bring up both Cassius Jr. and his younger brother, Rudolph "Rudy" Clay (later renamed Rahaman Ali), as Baptists. Cassius Jr. attended Central High School in Louisville. He was dyslexic, which resulted in difficulties in reading and writing at school and for a large part of his life. Ali grew up amid racial segregation. His mother recalled an incident in which he was refused a glass of water at a store: "They wouldn't give him one because of his ethnicity." It really affected him." He was also impacted by Emmett Till's murder in 1955, which culminated in young Clay and a friend's indignation by vandalizing a local rail yard. "Nothing will shake me up (more) than the tale of Emmett Till," Hana's daughter later told her.

Personal life

Ali was married four times and had seven children and two sons. Ali was introduced to cocktail waitress Sonji Roi by Herbert Muhammad, who was to become Ali's long-serving boss, and she proposed him to him on their first date. They married about a month later on August 14, 1964. They clashed over Sonji's refusal to join the Nation Of Islam. Ali says, "She wouldn't do what she was supposed to do." She wore lipstick; she went into prison; she wore clothes that were revealing and didn't look right." The children were young and they divorced on January 10, 1966. Ali sent Sonji a note: "You traded heaven for hell, baby" right before the divorce was decided. Ali's sister, Rahman, said that she was Ali's only true love, and that the Nation of Islam had Ali divorced her and Ali never got over it.

Ali married Belinda Boyd on August 17, 1967. She later changed her name to Khalilah Ali after being born in a Chicago family that had immigrated to the Nation Of Islam, though old friends and relatives had still identified her as Belinda. They had four children: author and rapper Maryum "May May" (born 1968); twins Jamilla and Rasheda (born 1970); and Muhammad Ali Jr. (born 1972). Rasheda married Robert Walsh and has two sons: Biaggio Ali (born 1998) and Nico Ali (born 2000), who is a professional boxer.

Ali, a resident of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, was born in suburban Philadelphia in the early 1970s. Ali started an extramarital affair with 16-year-old Wanda Bolton (who later changed her name to Aaisha Ali), with whom he raised Khaliah (born 1974). Ali married Aaisha in an Islamic ceremony that was not legally recognised, although she was still married to Belinda. Aaisha and her mother were both at Ali's Deer Lake training camp with Belinda and her children, according to Khaliah. Aaisha sued Ali for unpaid palimony in January 1985. When Ali decided to open a $200,000 trust fund for Khaliah, the matter was settled. In 2001, Khaliah was quoted as saying that her father mistook her as "a mistake." Miya (born 1972), his second daughter, was born in 1972, after an extramarital relationship with Patricia Harvell.

Ali's second marriage ended by the summer of 1977, and he had married actress and model Veronica Porché. At the time of their marriage, they had a daughter, Hana, and Veronica was pregnant with their second child. Laila Ali, the family's second child, was born in 1977. Ali and Porché were divorced by 1986 due to Ali's continuing infidelity. "It was too much temptation for him," Porché said of Ali's infidelity, with women throwing themselves at him. He didn't have affairs; he had one-night stands. I knew there were no emotions involved beyond a doubt. It was so obvious, it was easy to forget him."

Ali married Yolanda "Lonnie" Williams on November 19, 1986. Lonnie was first introduced to Ali at the age of 6 when her family immigrated to Louisville in 1963. She became Ali's primary caregiver in 1982, and in return, he paid for her to attend UCLA's graduate school. Asaad Amin (born 1986), and Asaad Amin (born 1986), together with Asaad Amin (born 1986). Lonnie was born in 1992 and founded Greatest of All Time, Inc. (G.O.T.). Inc) would consolidate and license his intellectual property for commercial use. She served as the vice president and treasurer until the company's sale in 2006.

Kiiursti Mensah-Ali says she is Ali's biological daughter with Barbara Mensah, with whom he reportedly had a 20-year relationship, citing photographs and a paternity test that was carried out in 1988. She said he accepted responsibility and cared for her, but all communications with him were cut off when he married his fourth wife Lonnie. Kiiursti says she has a friendship with his other children. She made vehement demands after his death that people should mourn at his funeral.

Osmon Williams, the tenacious boy of Ali, appeared in 2010 as Ali's biological son. Temica Williams (also known as Rebecca Holloway) started a $3 million lawsuit against Ali in 1981, alleging that she and her son Osmon (born 1977) were fathered by Ali. Ali had initially promoted her and her son financially, but she stopped doing so after four years. The lawsuit lasted until 1986, but was eventually dismissed out after her charges were deemed to have been barred by the statute of limitations. Ali admitted to the affair with Williams, but did not believe Osmon was his son, as Veronica said, "Everybody in the camp was going with the girl." Thomas Hauser, an Ali biographer and friend, has said that this assertion was "questionable veracity."

Ali and Lonnie were both born in Scottsdale, Arizona. They had put their house in Berrien Springs, Michigan, which had been purchased in 1975, up for auction, and had purchased a home in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky, priced at $1,875,000. Following Ali's death, Lonnie and his family remained in their remaining home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, were eventually sold. In her late twenties, Lonnie converted to Islam from Catholicism.

"I say stand and salute the flag out of respect" if they say, "I do it out of respect" if they say, because I'm in the country." "I'd be on the front line if we had been attacked if America wasn't in danger and a true war ensued," Ali later said. However, I could see that (the Vietnam War) wasn't correct." "Black men will go over there and fight," he continued, "but they won't even be served a hamburger."

Ali's daughter Laila was a professional boxer from 1999 to 2007, despite her father's new resistance to women's boxing. "Women are not meant to be struck in the breast, and they don't have to be struck in the chest," he said in 1978. Ali continued to attend a number of his daughter's dances, but later admitted to Laila that he was wrong. Hana Casey, Ali's daughter, is married to Bellator middleweight champion Kevin Casey. "His love for others was wonderful," Hana wrote about her father. In our guest room, I will be returning from school to find homeless families sleeping. He'd seen them on the street, piled them into his Rolls-Royce, and carried them home. "They should buy them clothes, take them to hotels, and pay the bills months in advance." Michael Jackson and Clint Eastwood, among other celebrities, would frequently visit Ali. Ali smiled and said to his friend Hauser, "They seem to be content together" after Ali met a lesbian couple who were followers of his in 1997. "The thought that Liz and Roz (the lesbian couple he encountered) were happy," Hauser wrote about the tale. Ali wanted people to be happy."

Ali said he first heard of the Nation of Islam when he was competing in the Golden Gloves tournament in Chicago in 1959 and attended his first Nation of Islam gathering in 1961. He continued to attend meetings, but hid his identity from the public. Clay met Malcolm X in 1962, who shortly became his spiritual and political mentor. Nation of Islam supporters, including Malcolm X, were present in his entourage by the first Liston war. This led to a story in The Miami Herald right before the fight revealed that Clay had joined the Nation of Islam, which had almost caused the match to be postponed. Cassius Clay Sr. said in the book that his son had joined the Black Muslims when he was 18.

Clay was denied admission to the Nation of Islam (often called the Black Muslims at the time) due to his boxing career. The Nation of Islam was more open when he took the championship from Liston in 1964, and he promised to announce his membership. Elijah Muhammad, a short distance from the clay ceremony, told Elijah Muhammad that Clay will be renamed Muhammad (one who is deserving of praise) Ali (most high). Ali then moved to Chicago's south side and lived in a string of buildings, but never near the Nation of Islam's Mosque Maryam or Elijah Muhammad's residence. He remained in Chicago for about 12 years.

At the time, only a few journalists, most notably Howard Cosell, had accepted the new name. Ali claimed that his older name was a "slave name" and a "white man's name" and that "I didn't choose it and I didn't like it." I am Muhammad Ali, a free name. He was referred to as a white slave entrepreneur and abolitionist. "He may have freed his slaves," Ali wrote in his autobiography after studying his work, but (he) maintained white supremacy." Cassius Clay's adherence to slavery went further than Ali knew. Clay had more slaves in 1865, when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution actually banned them from using them than he had inherited from his wealthy slave-owning father, Green Clay, 37 years ago, despite his abolitionist fervor. Ali said, "Why should I keep my white slavemaster's name visible and my black ancestors invisible, unhonored," with the Clay name originating from a family of enslavers.

Ali said, "I am America." He was not afraid to antagonize the white establishment. I'm the part you won't recognize. However, get used to me. "My name, not yours; my faith, not yours; my dreams, not yours; and, get used to me." Ali's relationship with Malcolm X came as a result of Ali's departure from the Nation of Islam a few weeks after Ali arrived, and Ali remained with the Nation of Islam. Ali later regretted that turning his back on Malcolm was one of the few things he regretted most in his life.

Ali was a subject of public chastisation for aligning himself with the Nation of Islam's leader, Elijah Muhammad, and a narrative that characterized the white race as the perpetrator of genocide against African Americans. The Nation of Islam was widely regarded by whites and some African Americans as a black separatist "hate faith" with a propensity toward violence; Ali had no reservations about using his influential voice to address the Nation of Islam's views. Ali said in a press conference narrating his opposition to the Vietnam War, "My enemy is the white people, not Vietcong, Chinese, or Japanese." "We who follow Elijah Muhammad's teachings don't want to integrate," he said. Integration is wrong. We don't want to live with the white guy; that's all." "Black people should marry their own women," he told members of the KKK at a Klan rally in 1975, "eagles with pigeons were not wrong."

Jerry Izenberg wrote that "the Nation became Ali's family and Elijah Muhammad became his father." However, there is an irony in the fact that although the nation branded white people as devils, Ali had more white colleagues than most African American citizens at the time, and he continued to have them throughout his career."

Ali claims that although he isn't a Christian because the belief of God having a son seems wrong and does not make sense to him, "God does not begets." Even good Christians or good Jews can get God's blessing and enter heaven, as he said, "God created all people, regardless of their faith." "If you're against someone because he's a Muslim," he continued. If you're against someone because he's a Christian or a Jew, that's wrong."

Ali attributed his conversion to mainstream Sunni Islam to Warith Deen Muhammad, who assumed responsibility of the Nation of Islam following Elijah Muhammad's death, and asked that the Country's followers to become Sunni Muslims in a 2004 autobiography. Some people didn't like the change and stayed with Elijah's teachings, but he admired it and became a Sunni Islam follower.

Ali had been to Mecca in 1972, which inspired him in a similar manner to Malcolm X, meeting people from all around the world, giving him a new perspective and greater spiritual insight. He said in 1977 that after retiring, he would dedicate the remainder of his life to helping people, charitable causes, uniting people, and helping to restore peace. In 1988, he began a new Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

"Islam is a religion of peace" and "does not endorse terrorism or murder people," he said after the September 11 attacks in 2001, and that he was "angry that the world sees a select group of Muslims who caused this violence but not true Muslims." They are racial fanatics who identify themselves as Muslims." "True Muslims know that the brutal violence of so-called Islamic jihadists goes against our fundamental beliefs," that "political figures should use their positions to increase knowledge of the faith," and that "political leaders should use their positions to educate others on what Islam really is."

Ali became a Quran scholar and a devout Muslim in later life after removing from boxing. He also became interested in Sufism, which he also mentioned in his autobiography, The Soul of a Butterfly. Ali's mother, Hana Yasmeen Ali, who co-authored The Soul of a Butterfly with him, was attracted to Sufism after reading the Inayat Khan's books, which contain Sufi teachings.

Muhammad Ali received support from Islamic scholars like Grand Mufti of Syria Ahmed Kuftaro, Imam Zaid Shakir, Hamza Yusuf, and Timothy J. Gianotti, who was at Ali's bedside during his last days and said that although his funeral was interfaith, it was still in accordance with Islamic rites and customs.

In 1976, inventor Alan Amron and businessman Joel Sacher collaborated with Ali to inform The International Committee that the Beatles had reunited. They have requested that fans around the world contribute a dollar per person. Ali said that the intention was not to use the funds for profit but rather to establish an international body to support homeless children. "This money will help people from around the world," he said. "I love the music," he said. "I used to train to their music." A return of the Beatles "would make a lot of people happy," he said. The former Beatles were indifferent to the scheme, which drew only a tepid response from the outside. There was no reunion.

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Amateur career

Ali was first directed by Louisville police officer and boxing coach Joe E. Martin, who witnessed the 12-year-old scream over a robber's taking his bike. He told the cop that he was going to "which" the robbery. Clay told him he should learn how to box first. Clay did not take up Martin's invitation at first, but after seeing amateur boxers on a local television boxing service called Tomorrow's Champions, Clay was interested in fighting. He then began to work with trainer Fred Stoner, whom he credits with his "real education" and later developed "my style, my stamina, and my system." Chuck Bodak, a boxing cutterman, was trained by him for the last four years of Clay's amateur career.

Clay made his amateur boxing debut against local amateur boxer Ronnie O'Keefe in 1954. He took the case by a split decision. He went on to win six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union national championship, and the light heavyweight gold medal in Rome's 1960 Summer Olympics. Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with five losses. Ali said in his 1975 autobiography that he and a friend were refused entry in a "whites-only" restaurant and fought with a white gang shortly after returning from Rome. The tale was later dismissed, but several of Ali's acquaintances, including Bundini Brown and photographer Howard Bingham, denied it. "Bonkies sure bought into that one," Brown wrote in Sports Illustrated writer Mark Kram. Ali was refused service at the diner, according to Thomas Hauser's biography, but he lost his medal a year after he won it. Ali earned a replacement medal at a basketball intermission during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he lit the torch to begin the games.

Professional career

Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, defeating Tunney Hunsaker in a six-round draw. Clay won by knockout from the start of 1963, a record of 19–0. He defeated boxers such as Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, Willi Besmanoff, Lamar Clark, Doug Jones, and Henry Cooper. Clay also defeated his former manager and veteran boxer Archie Moore in a 1962 match.

These early battles were not without trials. Both Sonny Banks and Cooper knocked Clay Down. Clay was floored by a left hook at the end of round four and was saved by the whistle, enabling him to win in the predicted 5th round due to Cooper's severely reduced eye. Clay's toughest contest in this period was 1963's "battle with Doug Jones" on March 13, 1963. Clay and Jones, the number two and three heavyweight candidates, and Jones fought on Jones' home turf at Madison Square Garden in New York. Clay was stumbling clay in the first round, and the unanimous decision for Clay was met with boos and a slew of rubble added to the ring. Sonny Liston, a heavyweight champion, deduced Clay, he might be jailed for murder if he defeated him. The fight was later dubbed "Fight of the Year" by The Ring magazine.

Clay devalued his opponents and lauded his abilities in each of these confrontations. Jones is described as "an ugly little man" and Cooper a "bum." He was embarrassed to enter the competition with Alex Miteff and said that Madison Square Garden was "too small for me" despite his discomfort. Ali's trash talk was inspired by professional wrestler "Gorgeous George" Wagner's, after George's speaking abilities attracted huge audiences to performances. In a 1969 interview with Hubert Mizel, Ali said that he met George in Las Vegas and told him that talking a big game would bring money to pay fans who either want to see him win or lose, so Ali converted himself into a "big mouth and a bragger."

Clay left Moore's camp in 1960, partially because of Clay's inability to do chores such as washing dishes and sweeping. Clay recruited Angelo Dundee to be his mentor to replace Moore. During Clay's amateur career, Clay met Dundee in February 1957. Clay wanted longtime friend Sugar Ray Robinson to be his boss around this time, but was turned down.

Clay had been the top contender for Sonny Liston's title by late 1963. The fight was scheduled for February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach, Florida. Liston was an intimidating figure, a recurring criminal history, and ties to the mob. Clay was a 7-1 underdog after his uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous two fights, as well as Liston's demise of former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in two first-round knockouts. Despite this, Clay mocked Liston during the pre-fight buildup, calling him "the big ugly bear" and adding, "Liston even smells like a bear" and saying, "I beat him, I'm going to donate him to the zoo." Clay converted the pre-fight weigh-in into a spectacle by yelling at Liston that "someone is going to die at ringside tonight." Clay's pulse rate was measured at 120, more than twice his normal 54. Many of those in attendance thought Clay's behavior came from fear, and some commentators wondered if he'd turn up for the fight.

The result of the contest was a huge surprise. Liston rushed at Clay at the opening bell, apparently furious and hungry for a quick win. Clay's quickness and mobility allowed him to escape Liston, causing the champion to miss and appear uncomfortable. Clay opened his attack and struck Liston repeatedly with jabs at the end of the first round. Liston farewell in round two, but Clay Johnson suffered in the third round with a combination that buckled his knees and opened a cut in his left eye. This was the first time Liston had ever been cut. Clay was back to his spot after he began experiencing blinding pain in his eyes and asked his coach, Angelo Dundee, to take off his gloves at the end of round four. Dundee has declined. It has been speculated that the problem was due to the ointment applied to Liston's cuts, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner to his gloves. Although Bert Sugar, an unconfirmed boxing scholar, said that two of Liston's detractors had already screamed over their eyes "burning."

Despite Liston's attempts to knock out a blind clay, Clay was able to make it to the fifth round until sweat and tears wiped the irritation from his eyes. Clay dominated in the sixth round, repeatedly hitting Liston. Liston did not answer the call for the seventh round, but Clay was proclaimed the champion by TKO. Liston explained that his reason for leaving was because of an injured shoulder. A triumphant Clay charged to the edge of the ring and yelled, "Eat your words!" a triumphant Clay screamed, pointing to the ringside paper.

He added, "I am the greatest!

I shook up the world. "I'm the prettiest thing ever lived."

Clay was unconvinced that the brawl was suspended due to a Liston shoulder injury, and that the only injury Liston suffered was "an open eye, a big cut eye." Clay chittered with the fact that the arm was "thrown out of its socket," Clay replied, "Who wouldn't?" says Joe Louis.

Clay became the youngest boxer to take the crown from a reigning heavyweight champion in his debut at the age of 22. Floyd Patterson, on the other hand, was the youngest to win the heavyweight championship, winning the event at the age of 21 after Rocky Marciano's retirement. Mike Tyson set new records in 1986 when he defeated Trevor Berbick to win the heavyweight title at age 20.

Clay changed his name to Cassius X and then to Muhammad Ali shortly after the Liston war, soon after, converting to Islam and becoming affiliated with the Nation of Islam. Ali then faced Liston in Lewiston, Maine, in May 1965. It had been planned for Boston in November last year, but it was postponed for six months due to Ali's emergency surgery for a hernia three days before. The contest was tense. Liston was knocked down by a difficult-to-seem blow that the press dubbed a "phantom punch" midway through the first round. Referee Jersey Joe Walcott did not start counting immediately after the crash, as Ali refused to withdraw to a neutral corner. Liston's bloodline was halted after he had been down for about 20 seconds, and the war was not over. Walcott, however, was interrupted by the timekeepers a few seconds later, and declared Ali the winner by knockout. The whole fight lasted less than two minutes.

It has since been speculated that Liston intentionally crashed to the ground. Among the suggested motivations are assaults on his life from the Nation of Islam, the fact that he bet against himself, and that he "took a dive" to pay debts. Liston was jarred by a chopping right from Ali, according to a slow-motion replay, although it is unclear if the blow was a good knock out punch.

Ali defended his title against former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson on November 22, 1965. Ali mocked Patterson, who was widely known to call him "Uncle Tom" before the match, calling him "The Rabbit." Despite Ali clearly having the better of Patterson, who was injured during the fight, the match lasted 12 rounds before being called off on a technical foul out. Patterson strained his sacroiliac later. Ali had been chastised in the sport for the fact that he was found to be toying with Patterson during the confrontation. W. K. Stratton, a Patterson biographer, claims that the confrontation between Ali and Patterson was not real, but that it was staged to increase ticket sales and the closed-circuit viewing audience, with both men complicit in the spectacles. Stratton also cites Howard Cosell's interview, in which Ali explained that rather than tying with Patterson, he stopped knocking him out after it became apparent Patterson was wounded. Patterson later said that he had never been struck by punches as soft as Ali's. Ali arranged the second combat in 1972, according to Stratton, who was unable to provide the former champion with enough funds to pay a debt to the IRS.

Ali founded Main Bout, his own promotion firm, following the Patterson fight. Ali's boxing offers and pay-per-view closed-circuit television broadcasts were mainly handled by the firm. The company's stockholders were mainly fellow Nation of Islamists, as well as others, including Bob Arum.

Ernie Terrell, the world's second-ranked boxer, and Ali and then-WBA champion boxers, had agreed to meet in Chicago on March 29, 1966 (the WBA, one of two boxing organizations, had stripped Ali of their titles after he joined the Nation of Islam). Ali was reclassified by the Louisville draft board as 1-A from 1-Y in February, but he refused to serve, and he told the world, "I ain't got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong called me nigger." The Illinois Athletic Commission refused to sanction the fight despite widespread media and public outrage over Ali's position, citing scientific reasons.

Ali, on the other hand, travelled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts against George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, Brian London, and Karl Mildenberger.

Ali returned to the United States to face Cleveland Williams at the Astrodome in Houston on November 14, 1966. The bout attracted a record-breaking indoor crowd of 35,460 people. Williams had once been regarded as one of the best punchers in the heavyweight division, but a Texas policeman fired him at point-blank range, resulting in the destruction of one kidney and 3.0 meters (10 ft) of his small intestine in 1964. Ali dominated Williams, winning a third-round technical knockout in what some believe to be his finest performance of his career.

Ali defeated Terrell in Houston on February 6, 1967. Terrell, who had been unbeaten for five years and had defeated many of Ali's boxers, was dubbed Ali's most toughest foe since Liston; he was strong, tenacious, and had a three-inch reach advantage over Ali. Terrell called Ali "Clay" repeatedly during the run-up to the match, much to Ali's annoyance. In a pre-fight interview with Howard Cosell, the two nearly came to blows over the name issue. Ali seemed to be determined on humiliating Terrell. "I want to torture him," he said. "A clean knockout is too bad for him." Ali bled Terrell and almost knocked him out in the seventh round, bringing the total combat close to a close conclusion. Ali taunted Terrell in the eighth round, fusing with jabs and yelling between punches, "What's my name, Uncle Tom, what is my name?" Ali was chosen in a unanimous 15-round draw. Terrell said that Ali deliberately thumbed him in the eye, causing him to fight half blind, and then rubbed the injured eye against the ropes in a clinch. Critics also referred to Ali's apparent determination to prolong the war in order to inflict maximum punishment. "It was a fantastic demonstration of boxing ability and a barbaric display of cruelty," Tex Maule later reported. Ali denied the allegations of cruelty, but Ali's detractors argued that the fight showed more evidence of his arrogance.

Ali's title defense against Zora Folley on March 22, he was stripped of his honour for refusing to be sent to army service. The state of New York had also suspended his boxing privileges. On June 20, he was found guilty of draft evasion and sentenced to five years in jail and a $10,000 fine. While the decision was appealed, he paid a bond and remained free.

Entertainment career

Ali appeared in the 1962 film adaptation of Requiem for a Heavyweight, and during his exile from boxing, he appeared in the short-lived 1969 Broadway musical Buck White. He appeared in the documentary film Black Rodeo (1972), riding both a horse and a bull.

Richard Durham's autobiography The Greatest: My Own Story, published in 1975, was released in 1975. The book was turned into a film called The Greatest in 1977, in which Ali played himself and Ernest Borgnine played Angelo Dundee.

Ali appears in "Freedom Road," a 1978 film that was released in 1978, and depicts a former slave and Union soldier in 1870s Virginia, who is recalled to the US Senate and struggles with former slaves and white sharecroppers alike to keep the land they have inherited all their lives.

Ali also used rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry for his activism outside of boxing. He was instrumental in the inception of the black poetic tradition, including The Last Poets in 1968, Gil Scott-Heron in 1970, and the emergence of rap music in the 1970s. "Some have said that" Ali was "the first rapper," The Guardian claims.

Ali released an album of spoken word music on Columbia Records named "I Am the Greatest," and in 1964, he released a cover version of the rhythm and blues song "Stand by Me." I Am the Greatest is a charted figure in the history of hip hop, as an early example of rap music and a precursor to hip hop. It debuted at number 61 on the album chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award. With his 1976 spoken word novelty album The Adventures of Ali and His Gang's Decay, he received his second Grammy nomination for "Best Recording for Children."

Ali was a leading figure in the world of hip hop music. He was known for his "funky presentation," "boasts," "comical garbage talk," and "endless quotables" as a "rhyming trickster." "One day become typical of old school MCs," Rolling Stone's "freestyle skills" as well as his "rhymes, generation, and braggadocio" will "become typical of old school MCs." Like Run–D.M.C. LL Cool J and his "outsized ego foreshadowed Kanye West's vainious excesses, while his Afrocentric awareness and sharpening honesty pointed to modern bards like Rakim, Nas, Jay-Z, and Kendrick Lamar." "I've wrestled with alligators, but a whale has tussled." I have been handcuffed lightning and thrown thunder in jail. You know I'm bad. I murdered a brick, Injured a stone, and Hospitalized a brick last week. "I'm so cruel, I make medicine sick." "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" His hands can't see what his eyes can't see. Now you see me, but not so much. George hopes he will, but I know he won't" Ali spoke like no one else in the world had seen before. I'm so confident in what he said; fluent, smooth, ingenuity, and threatening. He was a boxer and an activist, but he was also responsible for the emergence of pop-culture and hip-hop. ESPN produced Ali Rap, a documentary that was released in 2006. Chuck D, a member of the band Public Enemy, is the host. Doug E Fresh, Ludacris, and Rakim, among other rappers, narrated the documentary, as did Ali.

He has been cited as an inspiration by rappers including LL Cool J, Public Enemy's Chuck D, Jay-Z, Eminem, Sean Combs, Slick Rick, Nas, and MC Lyte. Ali has appeared in several hip hop songs, including Migos "Fight Night," The Game's "Jesus Piece," Nas' "The Message," the Fugees' "Read or Not," EPMD's "You're a Client" and Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy wit It."

Ali was involved with professional wrestling at various times in his career.

Ali was in charge of his match against Inoki on June 1, 1976, and he attended a match starring Gorilla Monsoon. Ali took off his shirt and jacket and confronted professional wrestler Gorilla Monsoon in the ring after his match at a World Wide Wrestling Federation exhibition in Philadelphia Arena. Monsoon put Ali in an airplane spin and tossed him to the ground after avoiding a few punches. Ali staggered to the corner, where his colleague Butch Lewis begged him to leave.

Ali was the special guest referee for the inaugural WrestleMania festival on March 31, 1985.

Ali led a group of Japanese and American professional wrestlers, including 1976 champion Antonio Inoki and Ric Flair, on a sports diplomacy tour to North Korea in 1995. Ali was guest of honor at the record-breaking Collision in Korea, a wrestling festival with the largest attendance of all time.

Muhammad Ali's fights were one of the world's most closely watched television networks, with television viewership records set. Between 1974 and 1980, his most watched live television broadcasts in the world were estimated 1–2 billion viewers, and were the world's most-watched television broadcasts at the time. He made several other television appearances outside of fighting. The following table lists estimated viewership figures for his non-fight television appearances. See Boxing career of Muhammad Ali: Television viewing figures of his fights.

Ali was also an amateur artist and created hundreds of drawings and paintings in the 1970s. Rodney Hilton Brown, the founder of a gallery in New York, asked Ali if he was interested in painting. Ali accepted the invitation and created several paintings for him to sell. "Muhammad Ali: The Untold Story" by Brown Brown: Painter, Poet, and Prophet" is a book that was "not told" in its book "Muhammad Ali: The Untold Story: The Untold Story" by Brown. 26 of his drawings and arts' paintings were auctioned in October 2021 and sold for nearly $1 Million USD.

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