Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in 1942. He grew up in Kentucky during segregation. This means that there were different rules for blacks and whites that were unfair to blacks and other minorities.

Clay became interested in boxing when he was 12 years old after a police officer suggested it. By 18, Ali was the light-heavyweight gold medalist at the Summer Olympic Games in Rome, Italy.

Within a few months of winning the gold medal, Clay decided to become a professional boxer. From 1960 to 1963, Clay had a record of 19-0, with 15 knockouts! In 1964, he won his first world-heavyweight championship. Also that year, Clay joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. This decision caused a major controversy.

Ali stirred more controversy when he was sentenced to jail and stripped of his world-championship boxing title for refusing to be drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. He chose not to fight because of his religious beliefs.

But in 1974, Ali regained his heavyweight title in the "Rumble in the Jungle" boxing match against George Foreman in Zaire.

Ali continued to box until 1981, when he retired with a record of 56 wins and 5 losses. In 1982 Ali was diagnosed with Pugilistic Parkinson's syndrome, a disorder that can occur among professional boxers who receive several blows to the head. In 1996, Ali lit the Olympic flames of the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia.

Today, Muhammad Ali lives in Michigan with his wife.