Brian Pacheco
Eng 008
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali born Cassius Clay, born on January 17, 1942 and was a professional boxer and activist. Ali was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky and began to train amateur boxing at the age of twelve. At the age of eighteen, Ali won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 olympics in Rome and turned professional later that year. At the age of 22, he won WBA, WBC, and lineal heavyweight titles from Sonny Liston in a big upset. Ali then changed his name to Cassius Clay from his “slave name” Muhammad Ali. In 1966, two years after winning his heavyweight title, Ali antagonized the white establishment by refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War. Eventually, he was arrested, found guilty of draft evasion charges, and stripped of his boxing titles. Ali is regarded as one of the leading heavyweight boxers of the 20th century. He remains the only 3 time lineal heavyweight champion, having won the title in 1964, 1974, and 1978. When Muhammad Ali joined the Nation of Islam, people used to feel threatened with their bow ties, rhetoric, and just by walking down the street. People didn’t call him Muhammad Ali after a while, it drove people nuts when he said he “buried his slave name.” Ali was married four times and had seven daughters and two sons. Ali was introduced to cocktail waitress Sonji Roi by Herbert Muhammad and asked her to marry him after their first date. They were wed approximately one month later on August 14, 1964. The marriage was childless and they divorced on January 10, 1966. Just before the divorce was finalized, Ali sent Sonji a note: "You traded heaven for hell, baby."
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