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Sarahdibou Finaldraftturnin
Ms.Records
May 9,2017
2A
Muhammad Ali
widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th
century. From early of his career ,Ali was known as an inspiring , and polarizing figure
both inside and outside the ring . Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in
Louisville, Kentucky, to Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. and Odessa Lee Grady Clay.
At the age of 12, Ali discovered his talent for boxing through an odd twist
of fate. His bike was stolen, and Ali told a police officer, Joe Martin, that he wanted to
beat up the thief. "Well, you better learn how to fight before you start challenging
people," Martin reportedly told him at the time. In addition to being a police officer,
Martin also trained young boxers at a local gym. Ali started working with Martin to learn
how to spar, and soon began his boxing career. In his first amateur bout in 1954, he
won the fight by split decision. Ali went on to win the 1956 Golden Gloves tournament
for novices in the light heavyweight class. Three years later, he won the National
immediately stripped of his heavyweight title. On April 28,1967, with the United
States at war in Vietnam, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces, saying I aint
got no quarrel with those vietcong On June 20, 1967, Ali was convicted of draft
evasion, sentenced to five years in prison, fined $10,000 and banned from boxing for
three years. He stayed out of prison as his case was appealed and returned to the ring
on October 26, 1970, knocking out Jerry Quarry in Atlanta in the third round. On March
8, 1971, Ali fought Joe Frazier in the Fight of the Century and lost after 15 rounds, the
first loss of his professional boxing career. On June 28 of that same year, the U.S.
Muhammad Ali was so much more than just a legendary boxer , and when
he wasnt in the ring ,he was raising a gorgeous family ,including nine kids .He met his
first wife ,a cocktail waitress named Sonji Roi, in June of 1964 .She recalls that he
asked her to marry him the night they met ,and the ceremony took place just one month
later ,in August of 1964 .Roi was 23 at the time .They were together for about a year a
half before divorcing in January of 1966.They separated due to Alis devotion to Islam
.Roi noted that Ali had coerced her into adopted Muslim customs , and she later said
that Islam had stolen her husbands mind ,and they have no children together .
One year after he divorced Roi, Ali remarried. His second wife was
Belinda Boyd, who was 17 at the time she married Ali. After the wedding ceremony,
Boyd converted to Islam and changed her name to Khalilah Ali.Even though he was
eight years older than me, I was a little smarter than him and a little bit more educated,
too, Khalilah later said of their time together. And helping and guiding him was the best
time of my entire life.While together, Muhammad and Khalilah had four children:
Maryum, Jamillah, Rasheda, and Muhammad Ali, Jr. In 1974, Muhammad Ali began
having an affair with actress and poster girl Veronica Porsche, who was 18 at the time.
Khalilah later told The USA Today that Ali made her aware of the affair when it was
happening.
secret ceremony while Ali was still with Khalilah.She said that at the time, nobody knew
about the ceremony but the two of them, the man officiating the wedding, and Alis
masseur. Porsche says she did not tell anyone out of fear of Ali facing legal
consequences for having two wives.It was quiet, nobody was there, Porsche said in an
interview years later. Something inside me made it OK because I loved him. Thats how
I felt. Ali and Porsche were officially, legally married in the summer of 1977. They
already had a baby girl, Hana, by the time they were married, and Veronica gave birth to
Laila a few months after the wedding.Porsche and Ali divorced nine years later,
apparently due to his infidelity.The major reason was, and everyone knows, that he
fooled around.
The same year Ali and Porsche got divorced, Ali married Yolanda
Williams, who he had been friends with since 1964. Williams is Alis current wife, and
they have now been together for 30 years.Ali and Williams have one child together,
Asaad Amin, who they adopted when Amin was five months old. Laila Ali, Muhammads
second daughter with his third wife, Veronica, began boxing at the age of 18, and she
began her career in October of 1999. She went on to have an incredibly impressive,
undefeated career, concluding her last professional fight in 2007. When Laila told her
father she wanted to get into boxing, he was concerned about his daughter getting into
such a dangerous sport. In fact, he had previously made comments against female
boxing, saying in 1978, Women are not made to be hit in the breast, and face like
that..Laila isnt the only one of Muhammads daughters to go to to become famous in
her own right. Maryum, Muhammads first child with his second wife, went on to become
athlete in history.He left an indelible mark on the sport of boxing, the likes of which may
never be replicated. As a boxer, Ali was quick and graceful on his feet and his unique
fighting style broke all of the traditional rules of the sport. His superior boxing were
champion; gold medal at 1960 Olympics), but his brash style made him a polarizing
figure for fans. He liked to quote poetic lines like, "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,"
and declared after his first title fight victory over Sonny Liston, I am the greatest! I am
the greatest! Im the king of the world." Ali supported peace in the world. In 1990, during
the Gulf War, Ali met with then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to negotiate for the release
Muhammad Ali, the silver -tongued boxer and civil rights champion who
famously proclaimed himself The Greatest he died after a decades long battle with
Works Cited
http://www.biography.com/people/muhammad-ali-9181165
Muhammad Ali Family:
http://heavy.com/sports/2016/06/muhammad-ali-dead-death-die-wife-wives-kid-kids-children-
family-son-daughter-who-is-are-affair/