INTRODUCTION-
Muhammad Ali was the greatest heavy weight champion of his time. His life is full of inspiration. In this book you will know how he worked hard from the young age of 12 and how his hard work paid off.
Every successful person always has some problems and difficulties. It was the same with Ali. There were many ups and downs in his life too. He fell many times but stood up every time because it is not in the nature of champions to fall on the ground.
Muhammad Ali’s life is an inspiration to all of us. We get to learn from them that – no matter how many times you fall. It does matter how often you get up after falling. Every winner is a loser who tried once more.
AFTER READING THIS BOOK YOU WILL LEARN-
- How did Muhammad Ali start boxing.
- Which punch proved fatal to Muhammad Ali.
- When and why did Ali change his religion.
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THE HISTORY OF MUHAMMAD ALI’S FAMILY WAS NOT GOOD-
The history of Muhammad Ali’s family was full of troubles. Let us begin with his great-grandfather John Henry Clay.
John Henry Cray was a slave. His owner’s name was Henry Clay, after whom he was named. Henry was a very good companion to Abraham Lincoln and is related to his ideas. They also wanted the slaves to have freedom and be sent to Africa. He was the founder of the American Colonization Society which worked on this issue.
As a slave to a good owner, Ali’s great-grandfather somehow acquired a small land where he brought up his family. In the coming times, the life of slaves became easier.
The problem started when Hermann Heaten Clay, the son of John Henry Clay, the grandfather of Muhammad Ali, stole some money from a friend by taking the name of Charles Dickey. Later, when a friend of Charles Dickey asked for the money, Harmon refused to pay the money and shot him for which he had to face a sentence of 6 years.
After leaving prison, Hermann Heaten Clay married Muhammad Ali’s grandmother Edith Greathouse.
The first son of Hermann and Edith was Everett Clay. Everen was also sent to prison for the murder of his wife. This was followed by Hermann and Edith’s second son, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. He was the father of Muhammad Ali.
Cassius married Odissa Grady Clay and in January 1942, they had a son named Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. Yes, he is the same Muhammad Ali who brought glory to his name all over the world.
DESPITE BEING POOR, MUHAMMAD ALI WAS RAISED VERY WELL-
Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali’s real name) started talking like elders and living like them from a very young age. Although he was poor, he was raised very well. When he cried in the hospital, his voice sounded louder than the rest of the children. But he did not cry much further as he was raised with great love.
Ali’s mother says that he always tried to move around from his cradle. From the age of 10 months, he started doing his work on his own and did not let anyone come in his work. Because of this, his room was always scattered. Muhammad Ali was very stubborn in childhood. He used to get very angry and he would not listen to anyone. This nature of his later made him a great boxer.
Muhammad Ali was very stubborn in childhood. He used to get very angry and he would not listen to anyone. This nature of his later made him a great boxer.
Muhammad Ali’s father proved to be a good husband and a good father. He painted his house pink as it was his wife’s favorite color. He worked as a painter and also built a house for his children.
Ali’s younger brother Rudolf Arnett Clay was born in 1944. Being poor, they did not have good clothes and shoes, but they never let their children go to bed hungry.
But the situation is not always the same. With Sathy, he had some more money, so that he bought toys, pets and a bicycle for his children.
MUHAMMAD ALI PURSUED HIS CAREER. STARTED WITH A BOXING CLUB-
When Ali was 12 years old, he went for a walk with his brother on his bicycle. Suddenly, a loud thunderstorm started and they stayed in the Colombian auditorium. When the weather was cool, both brothers came out of the auditorium and saw that their bicycle was not there.
He got the bicycle on Christmas and Muhammad Ali got very angry after his first cycle was stolen. Some people advised him to report the theft.
Ali went to the police with his brother. The officer with whom he was writing the report was Joanna Elsby Martin, who ran a boxing club under the Columbia Auditorium.
Martin was surprised to see how a 12-year-old skinny child was so angry at his bicycle being stolen and raped to kill the robber. Martin suggested to Ali that he become part of her boxing club, for which Ali said yes. This same decision made him an average boy in Ali’s school. The scent of the boxing club and the atmosphere there made Ali feel good and he worked hard with all his emphasis there. His hard work soon started paying off.
Muhammad Ali fought his first battle at the age of 12. For 6 years he fought about 100 battles, which gave him the opportunity to fight in front of the world for the first time.
AT THE AGE OF 18, MUHAMMAD ALI WON THE FIRST GOLD MEDAL-
In 1960, Ali was selected for the US Olympic team. It was in Olympic Rome that Ali’s boyhood passion made him famous.
Ali was confronted with great people and the US did not expect him to survive in front of them. But he proved everyone wrong. He was pitted against Tony Madigan of Australia, Bignew Petzikovsi of Poland and Gennadie Rautkov, the champion of Russia.
Muhammad Ali started very well. Defeated his Belgian contestant in the second round. People were shocked when Ali defeated Shatkov without sweating.
He had to fight with Tony Madigan. Their fight continued for a long time. When the time was over, the judge declared Ali as the winner as he was overshadowing Madigan.
In the end he had a fight with Petzikovsi who used his left hand. Ali was not used to it but still he learned a lesson from it.
Ali did not use his left hand and his agility to fight. He continued to focus on his right side. Although he had to eat some four boxes, in the third round, he soaked him with blood and the judge decided in favor of Ali. In this way he won his first gold medal at the age of 18 for the US in the Olympics.
AFTER JOINING THE NATION OF ISLAM, ALI CHANGED HIS RELIGION AND ALSO HIS NAME-
After winning the medal at the Olympics, Ali boxed for four years and won almost all of them. After defeating Sonny Liston, he started making the list of the world’s greatest heavy weight boxer.
When Ali met Malcolm X at a party, many changes began in his life. Malcolm was a spokesperson for the X Nation of Islam and the Black Muslim Movement. Malcolm did not meet Ali by coincidence. Ali had previously shown interest in doing something for America’s Black community, and Malcolm X slowly made him his friend.
After this, Ali met Eliza Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam, who was desperate to connect Ali with the Nation of Islam.
Ali already wanted to fight against racism and this gave him a chance. The very next day after meeting Malcolm X, Ali called a press conference where he put his thoughts before the people.
At the conference, Ali announced that he was abandoning Christianity and embracing Islam and that he believed that Allah was his God, asking him to spread peace. In this conference, Ali said that he is against the idea that black people have to adjust to the society of white people. They wanted to fight the fight to make black people stronger.
A few days later, on March 6, 1964, Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. abandoned Christianity and made Islam his religion. Along with this, he named his name Muhammad Ali.
ALI ALSO FACED A LOT OF PROBLEMS IN THE 1960s-
America was at war with Vietnam in the 1960s. In this war, America was forcibly sending black people to war. Ali did not like this. Black people were being exploited and Ali was strongly against it.
In 1967, Ali’s organization asked Ali to raise its voice against it. Ali pleaded in court that the election to enter the army is being held on the basis of coercion and race and it has to be stopped. But he could not get his word heard from the State Court and the Supreme Court. Ali was also one of the black people who also asked him to join the army. 26 men were invited to join forces with Ali. Ali had his lawyer. When they took Ali’s name, they refused to stand and kept opposing it again and again.
A Navy officer warned them that if they do not stand, they will have to pay 5 years in jail and a fine of $ 10,000. But Ali was stubborn since childhood. He flatly refused.
After this, Ali got the news that because of his act he was banned by the World Boxing Association for three years. In addition, all the boxing associations banned him from playing for America for three years.
Ali did not get angry on this or he might not have shown it even if he had come. He said that he would go home to eat his mother’s hand.
HE WAS BANNED BY ALI OF ISLAM WHEN HE WAS TO RETURN TO BOXING AFTER THREE YEARS-
The Nation of Islam had some strict rules and those who disobeyed those rules were expelled. Ali was also one of them.
Eliza gets upset when he finds out that Ali is about to be removed from the ban. He was against smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol or committing acts of violence. So he went to meet Ali at his house and requested Ali to leave boxing.
Ali used to respect Eliza a lot. But he did not like this thing about Eliza. Ali was not ready to leave boxing at all. But they also wanted to do something to spread peace. Ali was caught in the religion crisis.
But they soon came out of it and they chose boxing. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Ali had been expelled from the Nation of Islam and that Muhammad Ali had once again become Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.
Apart from Ali, many people refused to listen to Eliza. They were not ready to leave their dreams and their family members, due to which Eliza expelled many of her companions. But this was a side story. Many people gave up their dreams and along with Eliza remained a member of the Nation of Islam. He left his relationships and his work altogether. One of them was Luis Farakhan, a famous singer at the time. Louis became the leader of the Nation of Islam in 1975 after Eliza’s death.
Ali once again set out to achieve greatness on his boxing journey. He gave a message to all of us that we have not come here to obey the rules of this world and live according to this world, we have come here to create a world for ourselves.
FRAZIER’S LEFT HOOK TORE SOME OF ALI’S “BRAIN VEINS”-
In 1971, when Ali once again came out to fight, he was confronted with then-champion Joan Frazier. His fight was named Fight of the Century, which was one of the biggest fights.
The fight took place on 8 March 1971 in Madison Square. The loser or winner would have been given $ 2.5 million, which was equivalent to $ 15 million in 2018.
The ticket for this fight sold out very quickly and this match must have been seen by about 300 million people on TV. The match was 15 rounds.
At the beginning of this fight, Ali showed his full thrust. For two matches, he kept punching the Frazier. But Ali was exhausted after six rounds. He did not box for three years. Its effect was visible. After 8 rounds, Ali was hanging from the ropes just to stand on his feet. It was now the turn to blow the box. In the 15th round, Frazier hit Ali with a forceful left hook which caused Ali to fall to the ground. He could not stand for a few seconds, but he rose again and held himself for 2 minutes.
In the end the Frazier was declared the winner. Later it was revealed that Ali’s brain was shocked due to the left hook which caused some veins in his brain to burst.
IN 1978, ALI FOUGHT HIS LAST BATTLE-
After losing to Frazier, Ali fought him again twice and he won both times. Ali then encountered Ken Norton. Norton broke Ali’s jaw in 1973 and defeated Ali to become World Champion. 1974 Norton was defeated by George Foreman and took the title of World Champion from him. The foreman had so far won everyone but he was outnumbered by Ali.
The battle of Ali and Foreman took place in Zaire in October 1974. Ali adopted a different manoeuvre in this battle. His manoeuvre was named Rope-a-Dope. Ali initially spanked Foreman. He ran here and there and hanged with ropes, defended himself and made fun of him. In the end, when Foreman got tired, he started punching at the foreman and defeated him. He became the World Champion for the second time.
Ali remained the World Champion for a few years but was then confronted with Leon Spinks. Spinks defeated Ali in the first match and snatched the title of World Champion from him.
Ali and Spinks encounter once again in September. Spinks was so happy in his victory that he did not take the training that cost him.
The match was not as spectacular but it was Ali’s last match. In this, Ali defeated Spinks and won the title of World Champion for the third time. He was the first heavyweight champion to win the World Champion title three times.
AFTER BOXING, ALI DID A LOT OF WORK TO MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH AND SPREAD PEACE IN THE WORLD-
Ali had eaten a lot of punches on his head, the effect of which was now visible on him. After 1981 they understood that they were no longer fit for boxing and would have to find some more work. Ali became very famous and was a perfect fit for the comedy show.
Ali often slept on the show. He was slowly falling ill and the effect was clearly visible. But still he would find different ways to make people laugh. He pretend that he was sleeping and then start punching in the air. Then he would get up and say that he was dreaming of boxing. Sometimes on falling asleep, he suddenly woke up singing a song, which made people laugh a lot.
In 1985, Ali helped free many American citizens from terrorists. He was a member of an organization of Ronald Reagan that rescued the people of America.
Ali then spoke to an Iranian leader named Ayatollah Khomeini. After this meeting, a US citizen was released from captivity.
Ali continued to cooperate in such situations. But over time he became very weak and in 1984 he was first diagnosed for Parkinson’s Decius. The disease remained with him till his death. He died on 3 June 2016. In the last days of his death, he continued to raise funds for the research of Parkinson’s Decius and to spread peace. He became a source of inspiration for this world.
A SHORT LOOK AT THE ALI’s LIFE-
Muhammad Ali was born into a poor family. From a young age, he started boxing and became the world champion. After changing his religion, there were many changes in Ali’s life. He also had to face many difficulties for this. But each time he proved himself danger for all difficult and danger situations and finally won.
