The Transcendent Muhammad Ali

The morning of June 4th, or the deep in the night of June 3rd, however, you wanna call it, we were struck with the news, sadness and the death of Muhammad Ali. Ali was born Cassius Clay on January 17th, 1942, in Louisville, KY and is without a doubt, one of the greatest boxers of all time.

Muhammad Ali made his boxing debut on October 29th, 1960 in a heavyweight match vs 16–9 Tunney Hunsaker. This was the first of many victories from the great Ali who would take down all time greats like George Foreman, Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, Leon Spinks and much more in his decorated career. On top of that, Ali started off his career with a perfect 31–0 and record before falling to fellow all-time great, Joe Frazier — someone who he would seek revenge on later.

In 1978, an aging Ali would lose his title to Leon Spinks in a 15-round split decision. A little over half a year later, Ali would go on to get revenge against Spinks in a unanimous 15-round decision to reclaim the heavyweight crown for the third time. After announcing his retirement in 1979, he would attempt to come back, he was unsuccessful. He was overwhelmed in a knockout loss to Larry Holmes in 1980, and would go on to lose again, this time, a unanimous 10-round decision to Trevor Berbick in December of 1981. After the fight, the 39-year-old Ali retired for good, with a career record of 56 wins, five losses, and 37 knockouts he was embellished in boxing history. All of those accomplishments, heavyweight champion of the world, Olympic gold medalist, and yet those might be the least important and remarkable things he has ever done. His best accomplishments are off the ring.

Ali was most remarkable in his standing up for religious freedom, religious rights, minority freedom and minority rights. His speeches and quotes were as powerful as any speaker in history and they touched, motivated and inspired people of all races across the globe. What made Ali such an icon in the public eye was, he wasn’t afraid to say anything regardless of the topic, he spoke his mind from his boxing legacy to his opinions on black rights. Ali after winning an Olympic Gold medal, traveled back to Kentucky in which the same chain of events would toss his medal into the Ohio River. Why? Because he couldn’t get a seat at a white restaurant. That is more powerful than any of his boxing accomplishments as a whole because he stood up and spoke on the behalf of people without voices and fought for the betterment of others.

Ali’s most famous speech is when he denied fighting in the Vietnam war after he was drafted. His statement was as follows “ “I ain’t draft dodging. I ain’t burning no flag. I ain’t running to Canada. I’m staying right here. Do you want to send me to jail? Fine, you go right ahead. I’ve been in jail for 400 years. I could be there for 4 or 5 more, but I ain’t going no 10,000 miles to help murder and kill other poor people. If I want to die, I’ll die right here, right now, fightin’ you, if I want to die. You my enemy, not no Chinese, no Vietcong, no Japanese. You my opposer when I want freedom. You my opposer when I want justice. You my opposer when I want equality. Want me to go somewhere and fight for you? You won’t even stand up for me right here in America, for my rights and my religious beliefs. You won’t even stand up for my rights here at home.” Only one word can be used to describe this speech, powerful.

In 1984 Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome, most likely connected to the severe head trauma he endured during his career in the ring. The former champion’s motor skills slowly declined, and his movement and speech became limited. Even with Parkinson’s, Ali remained in the public spotlight, traveling through the world to participate in humanitarian work, goodwill, and charitable appearances. He met with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 1990 to negotiate the release of American hostages, an attempt in which was successful in and the conversation between the two can be seen below. In a United Nations convention in 2002, he travels to Afghanistan to represent the United Nations in peace.

Ali was awarded the honor of lighting the cauldron during the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympic games in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. In ’99 Ali was voted the BBC’s “Sporting Personality of the Century,” and was named Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsman of the Century.” Ali was also given the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 during White House ceremony, and in the same year, the $60 million Muhammad Ali Center was built in Louisville Kentucky. The Center is a nonprofit museum and cultural center focusing on peace and social responsibility, opened in Louisville.

All in all, Muhammad Ali was a respectable man who fought for his beliefs and rights, and regardless if you sided with his opinions you must admire that. Ali will go down in history as one of the best fighters of all time, but most importantly — A Sports Icon and Role Model for Men and Women of any ages, across the globe.