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WHEN WE WERE KINGS - Spellbinding Documentary on Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali: World Class Athlete, Activist, Ground Breaker, Icon - Transitions at Age 74 (Video)

"If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it – then I can achieve it." - Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, generally regarded as the most significant heavyweight in the history of the sport. Early in his career, Ali was known for being an inspiring, controversial and polarizing figure both inside and outside the boxing ring.[6][7] 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.[8] He also wrote several best-selling books about his career, including The Greatest: My Own Story and The Soul of a Butterfly.

When We Were Kings

Ali (as Clay) began training at 12 years old. At the age of 22, he won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a stunning upset in 1964. Shortly after that, Ali joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name. He converted to Sunni Islam in 1975, and then embraced the teachings of Sufism in 2005. Ali retired from boxing permanently in 1981.

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. He was eventually arrested and found guilty on draft evasion charges and stripped of his boxing title. He did not fight again for nearly four years—losing a time of peak performance in an athlete's career. Ali's appeal worked its way up to the Supreme Court of the United States where, in 1971, his conviction was overturned. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the war made him an icon for the larger counterculture generation.[9][10]

Ali remains the only three-time lineal world heavyweight champion; he won the title in 1964, 1974, and 1978. Between February 25, 1964 and September 19, 1964 Ali reigned as the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he was involved in several historic boxing matches.[11] Notable among these were the first Liston fight, three with rival Joe Frazier, and "The Rumble in the Jungle" with George Foreman, in which he regained titles he had been stripped of seven years earlier.

At a time when most fighters let their managers do the talking, Ali, inspired by professional wrestler "Gorgeous" George Wagner, thrived in—and indeed craved—the spotlight, where he was often provocative and outlandish.[12][13][14] He controlled most press conferences and interviews, and spoke freely about issues unrelated to boxing.[15][16] Ali 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.[17][18][19] In the words of writer Joyce Carol Oates, he was one of the few athletes in any sport to "define the terms of his public reputation".[20]

Early life and amateur career

Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky.[21] The older of two boys, he was named for his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., who himself was named in honor of the 19th-century abolitionist and politician of the same name. He had a sister and four brothers, including Nathaniel Clay.[22][23] Clay's paternal grandparents were John Clay and Sallie Anne Clay; Clay's sister Eva quoted that Sallie was a native of Madagascar.[24] His father painted billboards and signs,[21] 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.[25] He was a descendant of pre-Civil War era American slaves in the American South, and was predominantly of African-American descent, with Irish and English heritage.[26][27][28]

He was first directed toward boxing by Louisville police officer and boxing coach Joe E. Martin,[29] who encountered the 12-year-old fuming over a thief taking his bicycle. He told the officer he was going to "whup" the thief. The officer told him he had better learn how to box first.[30] For the last four years of Clay's amateur career he was trained by boxing cutman Chuck Bodak.[31]