Sarah dibou

Ms.Records

May 9,2017

2A

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali was an American professional boxer and activist .He is

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

Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, as well as the Amateur Athletic Union's

national title for the light heavyweight division.

On April 28,1967,he refuses to be inducted in the U. S. army and is

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.

Supreme Court overturned his conviction for evading the draft.

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.

Veronica Porsche and Muhammad Ali were actually married in 1974 in a

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

a successful hip hop artist.

Muhammad Ali is often referred to as the greatest and most famous

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

never in question (56-5 record with 37 knockouts; three-time world heavyweight

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

of American hostages. Ali also served as a United Nations Messenger of Peace.

Muhammad Ali, the silver -tongued boxer and civil rights champion who

famously proclaimed himself The Greatest he died after a decades long battle with

parkinsons disease of the age of 74.

Works Cited

Muhammad Ali early life :

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/