MUHAMMAD ALI

Sad to hear that Muhammad Ali passed away last night.  He was one of my sports heroes.  Here is what I remember.

It's impossible to explain how large a figure he was in the 1960's and 1970's.  In the U.S. at that time, prizefighting could be considered one of the major sports and Ali was the star of stars.

Born Cassius Clay in Louisville, KY,  the man won the light-heavyweight boxing gold medal in the 1960 Olympics.  He turned pro immediately thereafter.  It wasn't long (1964) before he was matched against heavyweight title-holder Sonny Liston.  Clay wasn't given much of a chance.  Liston had embarrassed challenger Floyd Patterson, the number 2 heavyweight, on TV a few months before.  I listened to the fight on the radio.  Clay won and won a rematch and the world changed forever.

He was an unbeatable champion in those years.  All his title fights were on TV.   All was well, until his number came up in the Vietnam War draft in 1967.  I was in Vietnam at the time.  He refused to join the Army on the basis that he was a conscientious objector.  He was then stripped of his title and license to box.  He was given five years in jail for draft evasion.  He appealed and eventually his conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court.  During those three years, he was not able to fight.  He became part of the Nation of Islam and later aligned himself with a mainstream Muslim sect.

He came back as a boxer after the case was settled and regained the heavyweight title.  He had his most famous fights in the 1970's. During this time, he also became a goodwill ambassador to the world.  He dedicated himself to feeding the poor.

He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in the 1980's.  He had become one of the best known and beloved people in the world.
R.I.P.
*o*