"The Greatest of All Time" Muhammad Ali

            Self-proclaimed "The Greatest of All Time," Ali proved himself worthy of the title with two decades of ring dominance.

             Some of Ali's greatest and moments came in the life he led outside the ring. Ali was not only the greatest boxer in history therefore most significant. He was a role model for African Americans around the country. Ali was as confident in the public as he was in the boxing ring. As a black man living in a time that questioned his rights as a person, Ali faced and fought issues of race and to this day ranks as one of the hero"s of the Civil Rights movement.Ali"s adoption to the Muslim faith brought him millions of new fans who had never heard of him otherwise. It banded him closer to the black community in America. In the same year, after joining the black Muslims, he assumed the name Muhammad Ali. In 1967 he refused to be inducted into the United States Army on the grounds that he was a Black Muslim minister and therefore a conscientious objector. His simple "I ain"t got no quarrel with those Vietcong" became a rallying cry for america. He was subsequently convicted of draft evasion, and the ruling bodies of boxing declared his title vacant. Not surprisingly, this adversity only made Ali stronger, prouder, and more determined than ever to live his life with dignity and by his own conviction. In 1971 the Supreme Court reversed their conviction of draft evasion. Since he was the best boxer he is the most important to the boxing world. No competitor has won so many big fights and put on such a good show as Ali. .

             Raised in a small home in a Louisville, Kentucky neighborhood, Cassius Clay would rise to dominate headlines, boxing and otherwise, and become Muhammad Ali before his twenty-third birthday. .

             Sparked by the robbery of his prized new bicycle, the 12-year old Ali began to study boxing. He spent his teen years at the gym, training his body and mind into championship caliber .

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