Overview

Muhammad Ali, nee Cassius Clay, was the most extraordinary athletic personality of the 20th century. The heavyweight champion of the world was both a brilliant boxer who stayed at the top of his game for nearly 20 years, but he also transcended his sport, becoming a figure of world acclaim, popularity, and in some quarters, controversy. It is quite possible that at the height of his fame he was the best known human being in the world. Ali was known not only for the swiftest of his hands and the lightness of his feet in the ring, but for his out-sized personality. He had the ability to make people laugh and the skill to entertain with improvisational poems. At the same time he had the courage of his convictions even when it proved costly to his own best professional interests. At a time of great civic upheaval in the United States, gave up his birth name and took a Muslim name. He became vocally and quite publicly allied with the Black Muslim religion. And when he was drafted into the Army, he declared his status as a conscientious objector against war and refused to report. Ali's 3 1/2-year battle wound its way to the Supreme Court before his challenge was upheld. Ali returned to boxing and competed in three epic fights with Joe Frazier and an astonishing comeback victory over George Foreman. Ali became the first man to win the heavyweight title twice, and then three times. Many suggested he fought too long and that his late-in-life affliction with Parkinson's disease was due to this mistaken judgment. In 1996, in a development that caught the world by surprise, a shaky-handed Ali was unveiled as the surprise and inspirational choice to light the flame at the start of the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. This was 36 years after he first came to prominence as an Olympic gold medalist in Rome.

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