Muhammad Ali - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.; January 17, 1942) is an American former professional boxer, generally considered among the greatest heavyweights in the sport's history. A controversial and polarizing figure during his early career, Ali is today widely regarded for the skills he displayed in the ring plus the values he exemplified outside of it: religious freedom, racial justice and the triumph of principle over expedience. He is one of the most recognized sports figures of the past 100 years, crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC.
Born Cassius Clay, at the age of 22 he won the world heavyweight championship in 1964 from Sonny Liston in a stunning upset. Shortly after that bout, Ali joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name. He converted to Sunni Islam in 1975.
In 1967, three years after winning the heavyweight title, Ali refused to be conscripted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War. The U.S. government declined to recognize him as a conscientious objector, however, because Ali declared that he would fight in a war if directed to do so by Allah or his messenger (Elijah Muhammad). Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the war made him an icon for the larger counterculture generation.
At a time when most fighters let their managers do the talking, Ali thrived in — and indeed craved — the spotlight, where he was sometimes provocative, frequently outlandish and almost always entertaining. He controlled most press conferences and interviews, and spoke freely about issues unrelated to boxing. He transformed the role and image of the African American athlete in America by his embrace of racial pride and his willingness to antagonize the white establishment in doing so. In the words of writer Joyce Carol Oates, he was one of the few athletes in any sport to completely "define the terms of his public reputation."
Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. Unlike many boxers, he was raised in a supportive, African American middle-class family. The older of two boys, he was named for his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay, Sr., who himself was named in honour of the 19th century abolitionist and politician of the same name. His father painted billboards and signs, and his mother, Odessa O'Grady Clay, was a household domestic. Although Cassius Sr. was a Methodist, he allowed Odessa to bring up both Cassius and his younger brother Rudolph "Rudy" Clay (later renamed Rahman Ali) as Baptists.
Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. Jones was "an ugly little man"; Cooper was a "bum." He was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff. Madison Square Garden was "too small for me." This audacious behavior, unlike that of any fighter in recent memory, made him controversial and disliked by most writers, many former champions and much of the general public.
By late 1963, Clay had become the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. The fight was set for February 25, 1964, in Miami. Liston was an intimidating personality, a dominating fighter with a criminal past and ties to the mob. Based on Clay's uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous two fights, and Liston's destruction of former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in two first-round knock outs, Clay was a 7–1 underdog. Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the pre-fight buildup, dubbing him "the big ugly bear." "Liston even smells like a bear," Clay said. "After I beat him I'm going to donate him to the zoo." He declared that he would "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee," and, summarizing his strategy for avoiding Liston's assaults, said, "Your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see." Clay turned the prefight weigh-in into a circus, shouting at Liston that "someone is going to die at ringside tonight." Nothing like this had ever occurred in the history of boxing. Clay's pulse rate was around 120, more than double his norm of 54. Most of those in attendance, apparently including Liston, thought Clay's behavior stemmed from extreme fear; some commentators wondered if he would even show up for the bout.
The outcome of the fight was one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. At the opening bell, Liston rushed at Clay, seemingly angry and looking for a quick knockout. But Clay's superior speed and mobility enabled him to elude Liston, making the champion miss wildly and look awkward. At the end of the first round Clay opened up his attack and hit Liston repeatedly with sharp jabs to the amazement of the crowd. Liston fought better in round two, but at the beginning of the third round Clay hit Liston with a combination that buckled his knees and opened a cut under his left eye, the first time Liston had ever been cut. Clay rested in round four, but as he came to his corner at the end of the round, he began experiencing blinding pain in his eyes and asked his trainer Angelo Dundee to cut off his gloves. Dundee refused. It has been speculated that the problem was due to ointment used to seal Liston's cuts, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner to his gloves. (Though not confirmed, Bert Sugar claimed that at least two of Liston's opponents also complained about their eyes 'burning'". ).
Despite Liston's attempts to knock out a blinded Clay, Clay was able to survive the fifth round until sweat and tears rinsed the irritation from his eyes. In the sixth, Clay dominated, hitting Liston virtually at will. Liston did not answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by TKO. Liston stated that the reason he quit was an injured shoulder. Following the win, a triumphant Clay rushed to the edge of the ring and, pointing to the ringside press, shouted "eat your words!" Then, during the now-infamous in-ring interview following the match, Clay shouted, "I shook up the world!" "I talk to God every day." "I must be the greatest!"
Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces, stating publicly that, "no Vietcong ever called me nigger."
As usual, Ali was confident and colorful before the fight. He told interviewer David Frost, "if you think the world was surprised when Nixon resigned, wait 'til I whup Foreman's behind!" [42] He told the press, "I've done something new for this fight. I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick." Ali was wildly popular in Zaire, with crowds chanting "Ali, bomaye" ("Ali, kill him") wherever he went.
Ali opened the fight moving and scoring with right crosses to Foreman's head. Then, beginning in the second round—and to the consternation of his corner—Ali retreated to the ropes and invited Foreman to hit him while covering up, clinching and counter-punching—all while verbally taunting Foreman ("is that all you got, George? They told me you could hit."). The move, which would later become known as the "Rope-A-Dope," so violated conventional boxing wisdom—letting one of the hardest hitters in boxing strike at will—that at ringside writer George Plimpton thought the fight had to be fixed. Foreman, increasingly angered, threw punches that were deflected and didn't land squarely. Midway through the fight, as Foreman began tiring, Ali countered more frequently and effectively with punches and flurries, which electrified the pro-Ali crowd. In the eighth, Ali dropped an exhausted Foreman with a combination at center ring; Foreman failed to make the count. Against the odds, and amidst pandemonium in the ring, Ali had regained the title by knockout.
In reflecting on the fight, George Foreman later said, "I'll admit it. Muhammad outthought me and outfought me."
Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's syndrome in 1984, a disease that is common to head trauma from activities such as boxing.[51][52][53] Ali still remained active during this time, however, later participating as a guest referee in the inaugural WrestleMania event.
Quotes about Vietnam war
| “ | Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong. | ” |
| “ | No, I am not going 10,000 miles to help murder, kill, and burn other people to simply help continue the domination of white slavemasters over dark people the world over. This is the day and age when such evil injustice must come to an end. | ” |
| “ | Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights? | ” |
| “ | My enemy is the white people, not the Viet Cong . . . You're my opposer when I want freedom. You're my opposer when I want justice. You're my opposer when I want equality. You won't even stand up for me in America because of my religious beliefs, and you want me to go somewhere and fight, when you won't even stand up for my religious beliefs at home. |
No comments:
Post a Comment