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Muhammad Ali

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Muhammad Ali

Statistics
Name Muhammad Ali
Birth name Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr
Nickname The Greatest, Louisville Lip
Height 6'3"
Weight division Heavyweight
Nationality American
Ethnicity African American
Birth date (1942-01-17) January 17, 1942 (age 82)
Birth place Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 61
Wins 56
Wins by KO 37
Losses 5
Draws 0
No contests 0
For other people named Muhammad Ali, see Muhammad Ali (disambiguation).
"Cassius Clay" redirects here. For other uses, see Cassius Clay (disambiguation).

Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. on January 17, 1942) is a retired American boxer and former three-time World Heavyweight Champion and winner of an Olympic gold medal. In 1999, Ali was crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and the BBC.

Ali was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He was named after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay, Sr., who was named for the 19th century abolitionist and politician Cassius Clay. Ali changed his name after joining the Nation of Islam and subsequently converted to Sunni Islam in 1975.

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Ranking in heavyweight history

There is some dispute among boxing historians about who is actually the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. However, a 1998 ranking in Ring magazine named Ali as the greatest heavyweight of all time.

Personal life

Muhammad Ali has been married four times and has seven daughters and two sons. Ali met his first wife, cocktail waitress Sonji Roi, approximately one month before they married on August 14, 1964. Roi's objections to certain Muslim customs in regards to dress for women contributed to the break-up of their marriage. They divorced on January 10, 1966.

On August 17, 1967, Ali married 17-year old Belinda Boyd. After the wedding, she changed her name to Khalilah Ali, following Muslim tradition, but she was still called Belinda by old friends and family. They had four children together; the eldest daughter, Maryum, was born in 1968. Twin daughters, Jamillah and Rasheda, were born in 1970. Muhammad Ali's only biological son, Muhammad Ali Jr., was born in 1972. However, Ali began an affair with a young woman named Veronica Porsche in 1974. Porsche was one of the four poster girls who had promoted the Rumble in the Jungle fight in Zaire versus George Foreman. By the summer of 1977, Ali's second marriage was over and he had married Veronica. By the time they were married, they had a baby girl, Hana, and Veronica was pregnant with their second child. Their second daughter, Laila Ali, was born in December of that year.

Laila Ali would follow the career of her father, eventually becoming the IBA, WIBA, and IWBF champion.

By 1986, Ali and Veronica had divorced.

On November 19, 1986, Ali married his fourth wife, Yolanda 'Lonnie' Ali. They had known each other since the early 1960s in Louisville, having first met when Ali was 22 and Yolanda was 6. Their mothers were close friends, although Lonnie Ali has publicly denied the popular notion that Muhammad Ali was once her babysitter. They have one adopted son, Asaad.

Ali has two other daughters, Miya and Khaliah, from extramarital relationships.

Ali in the media

Books

  • Black is Best: The Riddle of Cassius Clay, by Jack Olsen (1967)
  • The Fight, by Norman Mailer (1975)
  • The Greatest: My Own Story, by Muhammad Ali with Richard Durham (1975)
  • King of the World, by David Remnick (1998)
  • The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey, by Muhammad Ali with Hana Yasmeen Ali (2004)
  • The Untold Legacy Of Muhammad Ali, by Thomas Hauser (2005)

Illustrated Books

Photography

  • GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), Taschen's massive 800-page tribute weighs 75 lbs; limited "Champ's Edition" is autographed by Muhammad Ali and comes with a sculpture by Jeff Koons.

Comics

  • New Grappler Baki - In Search of Our Strongest Hero, Japanese manga series portraying Muhammad Ali and a fictional son, Muhammad Ali, Jr.
  • Superman vs Muhammad Ali, by Dennis O'Neill & Neal Adams, DC Comics (1978)

Music

  • Ali himself released a 45rpm version of the song "Stand by Me" (written by Ben E. King, Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller), a track which also featured on his 1963 Columbia album "I am the Greatest" (released under the name Cassius Clay).
  • In 1971, New York singer Vernon Harrell released a record about him called "Muhammed Ali" (Brunswick Records #55448) as Verne Harrell. This misspelling of Ali's name was printed on the 45's.
  • In 1974, a song about Ali titled "Black Superman (Muhammad Ali)" was recorded by British reggae group Johnny Wakelin & the Kinshasa Band.[1]
  • The R. Kelly song "World's Greatest" is a tribute to Muhammad Ali and it is featured on the soundtrack to the 2001, motion picture Ali. In 2002, the song peaked at #34 on Billboard's Hot 100 US singles chart and at #4 on the UK singles chart. The song's video features archived footage of Ali as well as an homage to the firefighters, law enforcement officers and emergency medical workers regarded among the greatest heroes of the rescue operations necessitated by the events of 9/11.
  • The British dance band Faithless recorded a song titled "Muhammad Ali" which was released as a single on 23 September 2001. The single reached #29 on the UK singles chart. The song was included on their 2001 album Outrospective.

Movies and television

When We Were Kings is a 1996 Academy Award-winning documentary film about the "Rumble in the Jungle", Ali's legendary 1974 fight against George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

File:When We Were Kings.jpg
When We Were Kings

Several individuals have portrayed Ali in film biographies, including Ali himself:

  • Future Amazing Race winner Chip McAllister, in the 1977 film, The Greatest (portraying a young adult Cassius Clay)
  • Muhammad Ali, in the 1977 film, The Greatest
  • Darius McCrary, in the 1997 HBO TV movie, Don King: Only in America
  • Terrence Howard, in the 2000 ABC TV movie, King of the World
  • Aaron Meeks, in the 2000 Fox TV movie, Ali: An American Hero (portraying a young Cassius Clay)
  • David Ramsey, in the 2000 Fox TV movie, Ali: An American Hero
  • Will Smith, in the 2001 film, Ali

Additionally, Ali has appeared as himself in numerous scripted films and television series, including the films Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), Body and Soul (1981 version, starring Leon Isaac Kennedy), and Doin' Time (1985); and the television series Vega$ (1979), Diff'rent Strokes (1979), and Touched by an Angel (1999).

Ali portrayed a former slave in Reconstruction-era Virginia who is elected to the United States Senate in the 1979 NBC TV movie Freedom Road, which was based upon the 1944 novel by Howard Fast.

Ali provided the voice for the titular character in the 1977 NBC animated series, I Am the Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali.

Ali is featured prominently in a series of ESPN specials in honor of his 65th birthday. The shows include Ali Rap, Ali's Dozen & Ali 65. They premiered on December 9th, 2006 at 9PM EST on ESPN.

Ali appeared on the WGBH series Say Brother, where he spoke about his reasons for not serving in the Vietnam War.[1]

Professional boxing championship accomplishments

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Notes

  1. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:en5uak5k5m3k~T1

References

  • Hauser, Thomas (2004 Reprint). Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times. Robson Books. ISBN 1-86105-738-5. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Muhammad Ali.
Preceded by Final Olympic Torchbearer
Muhammad Ali
Atlanta 1996 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
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 United Press International
Athlete of the Year
1974 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year
1974 		Succeeded by


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