"I've got Parkinson's syndrome. I'm in no pain.... If I was in perfect health梚f I had won my last two fights梚f I had no problem, people would be afraid of me. Now they feel sorry for me. They thought I was Superman. Now they can say 'He's human, like us. He has problems.'"
Born January 17, 1942, as Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., Muhammad Ali earned a reputation as a man dedicated to his goals and beliefs. After an illustrious boxing career梚ncluding three world heavyweight boxing championships桝li was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
Muhammad Ali and his "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" style of fighting dominated the world of heavyweight boxing for a decade and a half. As a teenager named Cassius Clay, he won the gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Olympic Games. He later earned the title of world heavyweight champion, and became internationally famous for his confidence both in and out of the boxing ring. But when Ali lit the flame to open the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, his arm visibly shook as he raised the torch. The former fighter suffers from Parkinson's disease, a condition probably caused by the blows he received from opponents. Throughout his busy and sometimes controversial public life, Ali remains one of the most famous and popular athletes of the twentieth century. A consummate showman, he used to call himself "the Greatest," and many of his fans believe that the nickname fits.
Born Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, Ali was raised in a middle-class neighborhood, the eldest of two sons born to Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. and Odessa (Grady) Clay. Ali's father supported his family as a sign and mural painter, while his mother worked as a domestic. Ali worshiped with his family on Sundays at Mount Zion Baptists Church and attended school with brother Rudolph Valentino Clay (now Rahaman Ali) at DuValle Junior High School and Central High School in Louisville. Ali was a rather poor student, which he blames on his preoccupation with boxing as a boy. Regrettably, Ali has confessed that he wished he had put forth more effort academically, because he has struggled as a slow reader his entire life.
Ali began boxing when he was 12 after his bicycle was stolen. He reported the theft to policeman Joe Elsby Martin, who invited Ali to train in boxing. Martin supervised the training of young boxers and had a television show called Tomorrow's Champions. He arranged for Ali to train with Fred Stoner, who taught him to move with the speed and grace of a dancer. Ali would be indebted to this man for teaching him the fine skills to become a powerful and great boxer.
In high school, Ali became a very successful amateur boxer, winning 100 out of 108 matches and earning six Kentucky and two national Golden Glove championships, as well as two Amateur Athletic Union Championships. He went on to compete at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, where, Ali would admit later, he mastered his renowned skill at ring chatter geared to distract and frustrate his opponent. At age 18, Ali won the Olympic gold medal in boxing in the light heavyweight category. Upon returning to Louisville, he signed a lucrative fifty-fifty split contract turning him into a professional boxer.
Early on as a professional, Ali attracted media attention by boasting about his abilities to secure the heavyweight title for himself, although he was only ranked nine on the list of heavyweight contenders. He immediately captured public and professional interest with his strength of character and wit, exemplified through the catchy and arrogant rhymes he would spout off to sports journalists and potential competitors. Not only was Ali a young master at the sport, he was a master of the public relations that was integral to attracting audiences and media recognition. In 1964, Ali told Sports Illustrated, "If you wonder what the difference between [other heavyweight boxers] and me is, I'll break the news: you never heard of them. I'm not saying they're not good boxers. Most of them...can fight almost as good as I can. I'm just saying you never hear of them. And the reason for that is because they cannot throw the jive. Cassius Clay is a boxer who can throw the jive better than anybody."
Still going by his birth name, Cassius Clay, Ali fought Sonny Liston for the world heavyweight championship title. The match in Miami attracted a lot of hype, largely due to Ali's boastful rhymes and insults towards Liston. It worked to place boxing once again at the forefront of American sporting attractions. It was weeks prior to this competition that Ali began his famous rhyming chant, "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." Ali exhibited great grace and beauty of strength and control on the mat as he threw forceful punches at Liston and skillfully danced away from his opponent's jabs. At the age of 22, Ali beat Liston to become boxing's heavyweight champion of the world. The fight was a solid beginning to Ali's long career as the noble and "pretty" prince of boxing.
It was not long into Ali's professional career that he became active politically and socially. Disgusted with racism in America, he tossed his Olympic gold medal into a river after he was refused service at a soda fountain counter because he was black. Ali's fist wife reported him saying in the Philadelphia Inquirer, "That gold medal didn't mean a thing to me if my black brothers and sisters were treated wrong in a country I was supposed to represent." Having been inspired by Malcolm X while in Miami, Ali decided about this time to join the Nation of Islam. Cassius Clay, Jr. was given the name Muhammad Ali by Elijah Muhammad, his new title meaning "beloved of Allah."
Ali defended his heavyweight title by defeating Liston again at a rematch in June of 1965 with a knockout punch to the side of the head. The blow not only stunned Liston but onlookers as well. Sports writers wrote of how the perfection of speed and force in that punch demonstrated to the world that Ali was a rare caliber of boxer. Its power lifted Liston's left foot clear off the mat.
Despite his talent as a boxer, Ali was loathed by many in America when it became public knowledge that he had become a Muslim. Adding to America's aversion to this was the stance he took as a conscientious objector to America's involvement in the war in Vietnam. He refused to cooperate with the draft, and as a result, in May of 1967, he was stripped of his title and boxing license by the World Boxing Association and charged for violating the Selective Service Act by the government. He told the press, "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet-Cong. No Viet-Cong ever called me nigger." "Patriotic" boxing fans and sports journalists participated in a tremendous outcry against him. Reflecting upon this period, Jack Olsen explained in Sports Illustrated, "The noise became a din, the drumbeats of a holy war. TV and radio commentators, little old ladies...bookmakers, and parish priests, armchair strategists at the Pentagon and politicians all over the place joined in a crescendo of get-Cassius clamor." Ali commented to Sports Illustrated's Edwin Shrake, "I'm giving up my title, my wealth, maybe my future. Many great men have been tested for their religious beliefs. If I pass this test, I'll come out stronger than ever." Sentenced to five years in prison and released on appeal, Ali's conviction was overturned three years later.
Ali returned to the ring. His first fight after the Supreme Court decision was against Jerry Quarry in November of 1970 in Atlanta. Ali won by knocking out Quarry in the third round. After the reinstatement of his New York license, Ali fought Joe Frazier, the reigning heavyweight champion, in New York in March of 1971. Ali lost this fight梙is first defeat as a professional梐nd Frazier retained the title. By the end of his career, Ali had fought Joe Frazier twice more. These three bouts have been one of the most widely discussed series in the sport because of their intensity and duration.
In 1974 Ali avenged his loss to Frazier with a unanimous decision victory. This retaliation did not earn Ali the title, however, since newcomer George Foreman had dethroned Frazier as the champion. Ali arranged to fight for the title against Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire, a bout billed as the Rumble in the Jungle. Because Foreman was younger, stronger, and larger as well as being considered the hardest hitter in boxing, he was favored to win. Ali employed a tactic called the rope-a-dope, in which he rested against the ropes while Foreman pummeled him with little success for almost eight rounds. Foreman expended energy while Ali bided his time. When Ali finally came off the ropes, he landed a quick succession of combinations, including a stiff right that sent the champ to the canvas where he was counted out seconds before the end of the round. Ali had regained the title.
In September of 1975, for the third time, Ali fought the unrelenting Joe Frazier. The fight was billed as the Thrilla in Manila and Ali won when Frazier was unable to answer the bell for the final round. Although Ali lost a title defense early in 1978 to Leon Spinks, he later defeated Spinks in a rematch to win his title for the third time. On June 26, 1979, at the age of 37, Ali retired as champion with a professional record of 59 victories and three defeats.
Because of his lavish lifestyle, Ali found himself in need of money. In 1980 he returned to the ring to fight Larry Holmes for the World Boxing Council (WBC) title and a guaranteed purse of $8 million. When Ali was unable to answer the bell for the eleventh round, Holmes won with a technical knockout. One year later Ali boxed professionally for the last time, when he fought Trevor Berbick. One month before his fortieth birthday, Ali was defeated for the fifth time in his professional career.
After losing the fight to Holmes, Ali's health appeared to be on a rapid decline: he seemed sluggish and weak in motor skills. Initially he was misdiagnosed as having a thyroid condition. Upon another medical evaluation in 1982, Ali began treatment for Parkinson's disease at the University of California. Doctors later expressed speculation that Ali had been indeed battling a form of Parkinson's brought on by repetitive trauma to the head, but only an autopsy would confirm their analysis.
Near the end of Ali's boxing career, he steered toward political activism and philanthropic work. In 1980, he supported Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party, even working at the Democratic National Convention in New York. In February of 1985, he functioned as a lay diplomat, attempting to secure the release of four kidnapped Americans in Lebanon. Ali also met with leaders in the Soviet Union and Africa and founded the World Organization for Right, Liberty, and Dignity (WORLD).
At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, the world and his country honored Ali by choosing him to light the Olympic torch during the opening ceremonies. In 1999, Ali became the first boxer to ever appear on the cover of a Wheaties box.
Ali is the father of nine children and has been married four times. He lives with his fourth wife, Yolanda, who also acts as his manager, in Berrien Springs, Michigan. During the late 1990s, the quest of Ali's daughter, Khaliah Ali, towards a career in boxing was greatly publicized in the media. Although he has publicly expressed disapproval over women participating in the sport, Khaliah continued to follow in the footsteps of her champion father.