Profile of Boxing Legend Muhammad Ali


The former world heavyweight boxing champion, Muhammad Ali was one of the world's best-known sportsmen. 

Born on January 17, 1942 Ali, originally known as Cassius Marcellus Clay.

He began training at 12 years old and at the age of 22 won.
 
Ali shot to fame by winning light-heavyweight gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

Nicknamed "The Greatest", the American beat Sonny Liston in 1964 to win his first world title and became the first boxer to capture a world heavyweight title on three separate occasions.

He eventually retired in 1981, having won 56 of his 61 fights.

Crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the British Broadcasting Corporation, (BBC), Ali was noted for his pre- and post-fight talk and bold fight predictions just as much as his boxing skills inside the ring.

But he was also a civil rights campaigner and poet who transcended the bounds of sport, race and nationality.

Asked how he would like to be remembered, he once said: "As a man who never sold out his people. But if that's too much, then just a good boxer. I won't even mind if you don't mention how pretty I was."

Ali turned professional immediately after the Rome Olympics and rose through the heavyweight ranks, delighting crowds with his showboating, shuffling feet and lightning reflexes.

British champion Henry Cooper came close to stopping Clay, as he was still known, when they met in a non-title bout in London in 1963.

Cooper floored the American with a left hook, but Clay picked himself up off the canvas and won the fight in the next round when a severe cut around Cooper's left eye forced the Englishman to retire.

He won Olympic light-heavyweight gold in 1960,
turned professional that year and was world heavyweight champion from 1964 to 1967, 1974 to 1978 and 1978 to 1979.

Had 61 professional bouts, winning 56 (37 knockouts, 19 decisions), and losing five (4 decisions, 1 retirement)

In February the following year, Clay stunned the boxing world by winning his first world heavyweight title at the age of 22.

He predicted he would beat Liston, who had never lost, but few believed he could do it.
Yet, after six stunning rounds, Liston quit on his stool, unable to cope with his brash, young opponent.

At the time of his first fight with Liston, Clay was already involved with the Nation of Islam, a religious movement whose stated goals were to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans in the United States.

But in contrast to the inclusive approach favoured by civil rights leaders like Dr Martin Luther King, the Nation of Islam called for separate black development and was treated by suspicion by the American public.


In the summer of 1964, Muhammad Ali took a trip to Ghana, a visit the boxer called "a return to the fatherland." 

In the VIP room of the Accra Airport, he was greeted by Ghana’s Foreign Minister Kojo Botsie, who welcomed him on behalf of President Nkrumah and gave the Champ, who already had quite a few names, yet another one: Kwame Muhammad Ali. "Kwame," the name for an Ashanti boy born on a Sunday, was a reference to the day of Ali’s arrival.

From the airport, Ali was driven to the city at the head of a motorcade past a crowd of enthusiastic thousands. News reports at the time called his visit the biggest deal since the movie star Gene Kelly had come to Ghana on a State Department tour the previous January. 

This may have been an understatement; having trouble making his way through the throngs of people back to his limousine after a quick courtesy call on the US ambassador, Ali shouted, "Who’s the King?" "You are!" the people responded. "Okay," Ali said, "let me through then," and the crowd parted immediately (somehow it’s a little tough to imagine Gene Kelly doing the same).

Ali met Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, whom he deemed "a great guy," put on an exhibition match with his brother, and kissed more babies than a candidate on the campaign trail.
 
He sampled local food (preferring coconut to groundnut soup), did the twist at a band concert in Accra, and in Kumasi, tried to remove the legendary Okomfo Anokye sword, said to have been planted in the ground by the Ashanti High Priest himself, who claimed that the nation he’d founded would persist as long as the sword stayed in place. 

If that’s true, Anokye’s nation seems pretty secure; after five minutes of struggle, the sword still wouldn’t budge and the Champ gave up.
 
Throughout it all, Ali wore Ghanaian kente cloth, in particular a beautiful Oyokoman, the design traditionally worn by Ashanti kings.

Ali eventually converted to Islam, ditching what he perceived was his "slave name" and becoming Cassius X and then Muhammad Ali.

In 1967, Ali took the momentous decision of opposing the US war in Vietnam, a move that was widely criticised by his fellow Americans.

He refused to be drafted into the US military and was subsequently stripped of his world title and boxing license. 

He would not fight again for nearly four years.

After his conviction for refusing the draft was overturned in 1971, Ali returned to the ring and fought in three of the most iconic contests in boxing history, helping restore his reputation with the public.

He was handed his first professional defeat by Joe Frazier in the "Fight of the Century" in New York on 8 March 1971, only to regain his title with an eighth-round knockout of George Foreman in the "Rumble in the Jungle" in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) on 30 October 1974.

Ali fought Frazier for a third and final time in the Philippines on 1 October 1975, coming out on top in the "Thrilla in Manila" when Frazier failed to emerge for the 15th and final round.

Six defences of his title followed before Ali lost on points to Leon Spinks in February 1978, although he regained the world title by the end of the year, avenging his defeat at the hands of the 1976 Olympic light-heavyweight champion.

Ali's career ended with one-sided defeats by Larry Holmes in 1980 and Trevor Berbick in 1981, many thinking he should have retired long before.

He fought a total of 61 times as a professional, losing five times and winning 37 bouts by knockout.

Soon after retiring, rumours began to circulate about the state of Ali's health. His speech had become slurred, he shuffled and he was often drowsy.

Parkinson's syndrome was eventually diagnosed but Ali continued to make public appearances, receiving warm welcomes wherever he traveled.

He lit the Olympic cauldron at the 1996 Games in Atlanta and carried the Olympic flag at the opening ceremony for the 2012 Games in London.

The Boxing Legend, died at a hospital in the US city of Phoenix in Arizona state after was admitted on Thursday.

May His Soul Rest In Peace



GBC's Newsdesk