Boxer Muhammad Ali, male, was born on January 27, 1942 in the United States.

Original name: Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.

Amateur boxing record: 103 wins and 5 losses

Professional boxing record: 57 wins and 5 losses

Main honors:

1960 Olympic Games Champion in Rome, Italy

Defeated Sonny Lis on February 25, 1964 Dayton, won the WBA heavyweight title

On July 26, 1971, he defeated Jimmy Ellis and the North American Boxing Federation heavyweight championship

On September 10, 1973, he defeated Ken -Norton, regained the North American Boxing Association heavyweight championship

Defeated George Foreman on October 30, 1974 to regain the WBA heavyweight title

September 15, 1978 Defeated Spinks and regained the WBF heavyweight boxing championship belt

On June 27, 1979, Ali returned to boxing and was knocked down by Holmes in the 10th round

Ali lost to Trevor Bobick in his last boxing match on December 11, 1981.

He was the first athlete in history to win the heavyweight title three times.

One of the 25 greatest athletes of the 20th century awarded by the Olympic Committee.

In the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Ali lit the main torch.

On November 9, 2005, in Washington, the capital of the United States, President Bush awarded Ali the "Presidential Medal of Freedom."

As we all know, Ali is one of the greatest heroes born in boxing in the 20th century. His emergence transcended boxing and sports and became an idol of an era. There is no doubt about Ali's boxing talent. His light heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics seemed to determine that Ali was destined to become a great boxer. He is witty and humorous and likes to use language and poetry to fool his opponents, and his superb skills and famous "butterfly dance steps" constitute his great achievements as a boxer. After deposing "The Devil" Liston to become the world heavyweight champion on February 25, 1964, Ali was almost invincible and successfully defended the title nine times until he refused to perform military service and went to Vietnam to fight and was stripped of his boxing title.

In 1974, after his comeback, Ali defeated the "devil" George Foreman, who was very similar to Liston, and regained the championship. After 10 successful title defenses, he lost to Leon Spinks. But half a year later he regained the title from Spinks and became the first person in boxing history to win the world heavyweight championship three times.

During Ali's professional boxing career, he had "ring conversations" with all the best boxers. In particular, the "three duels" with Joe Frazier became a classic in the annals of boxing history. After retiring from boxing, Ali has been committed to religion, charity and the maintenance of world peace, and has been supported by many countries, from the president to ordinary people. However, Ali has been suffering from Parkinson's disease since he suffered more than 29,000 blows to the head during his professional boxing career.

The Life of Muhammad Ali

January 17, 1942, Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Boxing champion Cassius Clay, later Muhammad Ali, was born here. As was the case in other states across the United States at the time, racial segregation was a part of life in Kentucky. This was a place for residents of color to eat, who were not allowed into restaurants reserved for whites. Although many people protested against this, it was actually accepted by most people.

Ali and his brother Rudolph grew up in this environment, and Ali hoped to use his own power to change everything since he was a child. His mother still remembers this.

Ali's mother, Odessa Clay, said: "He was a happy little boy who was always running around doing something and having a good time. He always loved and always wanted to fight. He started boxing. He always told me that sooner or later he would bring back the Olympic gold medal, and he did it. Another time, when he was four years old, he once told me that one day, he would become a world champion. , yes, he did it too."

Ali has been practicing boxing in a local gym since he was 12 years old. Ali's enlightenment coach Joe Martin said: "In the gymnasium upstairs in the building below, black marketeers in this area gather there every year to display their clothing and various products, and of course Some balloons, candies and other things that children like. When he was 12 years old, he came on a bicycle, but when he was buying balloons or candies, someone stole his bicycle. , he said he was looking for the police, and someone told him there were police downstairs, so he went straight downstairs. He said he didn't know the gym was here and just had to take a look. He also said that if he found the bicycle thief, he would go straight downstairs. Beat him with a whip. I said to him, "You might as well learn to box first." He said, "I'm willing to learn." I said, "You can start from tonight or tomorrow night." He came as soon as it got dark the next day. He rarely fails to come. Every time I arrive, he is already here. He is still practicing here after I leave."

In early 1960, Ali, who had just turned 18, began to participate in amateur boxing matches. Ali, who has been training for six years, dazzled people when he debuted. Ali's first coach said: "I remember he did some ridiculous things, and it was a fight with the heavyweight champion boxer in Chicago who had golden gloves. We got there because it was his first time. It was time to weigh. The man was weighing first and then he stood on the scale and turned to me and asked: 'Where are you in a hurry tonight, Mr. Martin?' I didn't know what he meant. :'No! It's not decided yet, why?' He said: 'I think if you are in a hurry, I will knock this guy down in the first round, and you can leave earlier.'"

Sure enough, in the game, the opponent was no match for Ali at all. The one wearing dark shorts is Ali. At the end of the first round, Ali knocked down his opponent with consecutive heavy punches, ending the game early and fulfilling what he had boasted to his coach before the game.

With his outstanding performance, the 18-year-old Ali became a member of the American team and competed in the 1960 Rome Olympics. In the 81kg competition, Ali won all three matches and successfully entered the final. His opponent was the Polish Pieczkoski, a three-time European champion and 1956 Olympic bronze medalist.

His superb skills on the court are impressive. Some people describe his punches as sharp as a bee stinging, and his footwork as light and flexible as a flying butterfly. In addition, young Ali not only performed outstandingly on the court, he was also very active in life. In the Olympic Village, he greeted everyone and joked with everyone, becoming the most famous athlete there.

After three rounds, Ali defeated his opponent by points and won his only Olympic gold medal. And his original footwork is also vividly called the butterfly step.

After returning to China, Ali felt people’s enthusiasm from the airport. For a time, he also became a popular target among Americans. The honor in front of him made Ali mistakenly believe that he had used victory to change people's prejudice against people of color, but the still cruel reality shattered his dream. Ali's brother Rudolf Ali said: "Muhammad Ali came back from the Olympics in 1960 and he won the Olympic gold medal in Rome. In those days when he came back, there was no desegregation. He had the gold medal around his neck. He went to a restaurant in the downtown area for dinner, but no one served him.

He said: ‘I am the champion! I'm a gold medalist! ’ The answer was: ‘We don’t care who you are! '"

An angry Ali threw his gold medal into the sea. He said, I am no longer willing to serve for such a country.

On October 29, 1960, It was a new beginning for Ali. On this day, he participated in his first professional fight and won. Over the next more than a year, Ali almost won seven times. , winning by knocking his opponent to the ground directly.

Through victory after victory, in 1964, the 22-year-old Ali finally won the heavyweight boxing competition with Sony Liston. This will also be his first boxing championship match. On February 25, 1964, Ali defeated Liston in Miami and became a new generation of boxing champions. , Professional boxing has entered the Ali era.

Speaking of professional boxing, there is a scene that you will be familiar with, and that is the verbal quarrels between the players inside and outside the ring. On the one hand, they hope to create psychological effects on their opponents. Pressure, in addition, it is a way of publicity, which can be regarded as a way of self-promotion. But one thing you may not know is that the initiator of this incident is Muhammad Ali.

Generally speaking, professional boxers back then were relatively simple and rarely expressed their opinions directly to the outside world. The most common channel for them to communicate with the outside world was through their agents. But that was not the case with Ali when he was young. Fast, sharp-tongued, and aggressive in speaking, it was often difficult for his opponents and even the reporters who interviewed him.

February 25, 1964, 22-year-old Ka in Miami, Florida, USA. Hughes Clay, also known as Muhammad Ali, defeated Sonny Liston in the seventh round and became the new heavyweight boxing champion of the world. But at the time, not everyone recognized this confident man. Arrogant young man.

At the post-match press conference, Ali said: "Who is the best? (Who do you fight next) Who is the best? You see, they didn’t say anything! Unfair, there is no justice anywhere! There is no justice! They don't give me justice! (Who are you fighting? Who are you fighting?) (Tell them who you are fighting.) I have told you, who is the best? I'll give you another chance, who is the best? "

On February 26, the day after Clay became the new boxing champion, he announced to the world that he had converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali.

In May 1964, Ali set foot on African soil for the first time, where he was received at the level of heads of government and felt the extraordinary enthusiasm of the local people.

After returning to Chicago from Africa, Ali met Sanji Roy, a black girl who was one year older than him. On August 14, 1964, the two held a wedding.

During a TV interview. , the reporter asked: "So do you think your personality has changed after you won this (boxing champion) title? "

Ali replied: "Yes, I have relaxed a bit, or become more stable. You can see I have a very lovely wife, I don't talk like I used to, she doesn't like me talking too much. She told me to be quiet and that actions speak for themselves. She said I didn’t need to say anything more. She didn’t like to talk herself, she just liked to listen. "

Sanjay Roy, Ali's first wife, said: "I met Ali on a Wednesday, or in the afternoon of that day, and I never left him again. He asked me to marry him five minutes after I walked in the door of his house. I didn’t think about it and I said ‘Okay! '"

On May 25, Ali faced Sony Liston again, but this time, Ali, who was in good condition, did not waste time. He knocked his opponent to the ground in just one round. Despite the victory, Ali was booed by the crowd.

In the United States at that time, black people, as a minority, were discriminated against by the authorities, while Muslim black people became the weakest among the weak. Therefore, from the day Ali changed his name, he became a traitor to the mainstream American society at that time.

Ali's next opponent was Patterson, who was the only boxer at the time who had twice been a challenger to the boxing title.

In a pre-match TV interview, Ali said: "I like to give my opponents nicknames. You know the rabbit is an animal that is very afraid of its own shadow. Once it is cornered, He froze and couldn't move, so I called Patterson "Rabbit" because he had the characteristics of a rabbit."

Former heavyweight boxing champion Floyd Patt. Sen said: "I just want to fight him, not for money, but to regain the championship and make it belong to all Americans, not just to Muslim blacks."

According to the rules at the time, every professional game There were 15 rounds of the boxing match. After withstanding Ali's fierce attack in the first 11 rounds, Patterson lost the ability to fight back in the 12th round due to lack of physical strength. The referee stopped the fight and Ali once again retained the title of boxing champion. But almost no one in the audience was on Ali's side.

Just when Ali, who had achieved three consecutive championships, was proud of the professional boxing world, there were problems in his family. Due to emotional discord, Ali and Roy divorced on January 10, 1966, ending their marriage after less than a year and a half.

In the mid-1960s, the Vietnam War broke out. As the war continued to escalate, Ali also faced the issue of military service. His public anti-war declaration in the media shocked the United States. The 2003 Hollywood movie "Muhammad Ali" faithfully reproduced this scene.

Ali said: "I will never go thousands of miles away to murder the poor people there. If I want to die, I will die here. Let's fight to the death! If I want to die, you will be the one." My enemies have nothing to do with the Chinese, Vietnamese, or Japanese. I want freedom, but you don’t give it. I want justice, but you don’t give it. I want equality, but you don’t give it to me. You fight! You have not stood up to protect my rights and beliefs in the United States. You can't do this in your own country!"

In February 1966, the Illinois Athletic Commission held a press conference and demanded that Ali publicly apologized for his anti-war words and deeds.

Ali: "I am not going to apologize here like the apology arranged for me by the press."

Reporter: "Then what about those unpatriotic remarks you made? "

Ali: "If necessary, I will explain it directly to the government or relevant people."

Reporter: "Then you are not going to apologize for your speech this time. "

Ali: "This has to be explained to the government. "

Reporter: "If I remember correctly, you said you were the people's champion, right? "

Ali: "Yes, sir."

Reporter: "Do you think your behavior is befitting of a people's champion?"

Ali: "Yes. Yes, sir."

Since then, many states in the United States have revoked Ali's boxing license, so he has participated in many boxing title defenses held outside the United States.

. There, Ali became a hero again.

May 21, 1966, London, England. Ali defeated challenger Cooper in the sixth round.

May 29, Toronto, Canada. Ali defeated Schwarro on points.

August 6, London, UK. Ali knocked Bryan down in the third round.

September 10th, Frankfurt, Germany. Ali knocked out Mildenberger in the 12th round.

On November 14, back in DeHouston, Texas, Ali defeated challenger Williams in the third round and successfully defended his title for the seventh time.

On January 17, 1967, Ali, who was still troubled by the issue of military conscription, celebrated his 25th birthday.

A dozen days later, he will face another challenger, Terrell. But at a live TV press conference before the game, Ali's name once again became the focus of attention.

Ali: "Why don't you call me by my name, man?"

Reporter: "So what's your name? A few years ago, you told me your name was Cassius Clay."

Ali: "I never told you my name is Cassius Clay, my name is Muhammad Ali."

Reporter: "You can. Announced in the center of the court before the end of the game, if you don't do this now,

For the sake of broadcasting, can I just call you 'he'?"

Reporter: "One week. You and Trail almost had a fight before, but many people said it was a stunt for advertising."

Ali: "They have the right to think so, because I did do it for advertising in the past. Advertising has done a lot of this kind of thing. But this time it was serious, and I almost did it."

Reporter: "So do you hate him?"

Ali. : "No, no, I don't hate him! I don't hate anyone, but I don't like him and what he does. He keeps calling me Cassius Clay even though he knows my name is Muhammad Ali."

During the game, Ali, who had red stripes on his shorts, always had an absolute advantage, but he was in no rush to knock down his opponent. He kept shouting at Teller: "Say! What is my name!! What is my name!!!"

After 15 rounds of competition, Ali finally won by points, eighth. The second title defense was successful.

March 22, 1967, New York, USA. Ali knocked down challenger Frey in the seventh round and retained the title of boxing champion again. But not long after, the boxing crown that Ali had won nine times in a row was forcibly withdrawn. The reason was that the U.S. District Court revoked Ali’s boxing licenses in various states across the United States and confiscated his passport for refusing to perform military service. He will also face a penalty of 5 years in prison. From then on, Muhammad Ali was idle at home.

Faced with strong pressure, Ali did not give in. He often appeared in various rallies and even TV programs to promote anti-war propaganda. At the same time, he did not give up training. Finally, Ali returned to the world in 1970 and continued to write the myth of boxing champion.

On August 17, 1967, 25-year-old Ali married his second wife, 17-year-old Belinda.

A year later, Ali's eldest daughter Mariam was born. This allowed Ali, who was idle at home, to enjoy a rare period of family happiness.

Ali was teasing the child at home and said: "This family just has one more big mouth. Nothing more than one more big mouth. Give me the bottle!"

In the late 1960s, anti-war voices in the United States became increasingly louder, and as a representative of anti-war people, Ali also received more support. In 1970, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to restore Ali's qualifications as a boxer. The former boxing champion finally returned to the world after more than two years of training.

However, due to not participating in official competitions for more than two years, coupled with the increase in age and weight, Ali's performance after his comeback was not satisfactory. The much talked about butterfly footwork was also difficult to achieve. Cast during the game.

On May 8, 1971, Ali, as a challenger, was knocked down twice by the then boxing champion Frazier during the game, and the challenge failed.

On May 31, 1973, he lost to Ken Norton by points, experiencing his second defeat after his comeback. This makes people begin to wonder, is Ali's era really gone forever?

In stark contrast to Ali, young George Foreman began to emerge. In the same confrontation with these two boxers, Foreman achieved a complete victory.

On January 22, 1973, Foreman, wearing red shorts, knocked Frazier down six times and won the boxing championship belt in just two rounds.

In March 1974, he once again defeated Norton with an absolute advantage and successfully defended his title. After winning 40 games in a row, Foreman's next opponent will be Muhammad Ali.

The organizer of this game was agent Don King, who was just starting out at the time but is now a powerful figure in the professional boxing world. He arranged the game in an African country, Kinshasa, the capital of the former Zaire. And people also call this game a jungle battle.

Although Ali was not a boxing champion at the time and was at a disadvantage compared to Foreman, the locals respected him as a god. Ali's popularity far exceeds anyone's imagination. In this sense, the opponent Foreman will face will be Ali and the entire Kinshasa.

Professional boxing agent Henry Schwartz said: "When Foreman arrived in Zaire, someone translated for him the words on the sign there, which meant: Ali, kill him! George became more than He was even more depressed before, and since then, George has wanted to leave Zaire. Let's play somewhere else, or not play at all. This was George's feeling at the time. "

On October 30, 1974, in Kinshasa, Ali challenged boxing champion Foreman. The stadium built specifically for this game was packed, and the challenger Ali was also in the ring, directing all the spectators to chant rhythmically: "Ali, kill him!"

Wearing white shorts The land is Ali. After the game started, Foreman quickly forced Ali into the corner of the ring and launched a fierce attack. Ali, on the other hand, gave up moving completely and just passively leaned on the rope to parry, waiting for an opportunity to fight back. This situation lasted for seven rounds. Just when people thought Ali was doomed, a turning point came in the eighth round. Ali, who was waiting for work, used a combination of punches to knock Foreman to the ground, whose physical strength was declining. He won the jungle battle cleanly and regained the boxing championship belt after 7 years.

Since then, Ali has won the title of boxing champion ten times in a row, including the fight of the century in October 1975 when he defeated Frazier in Manila, Philippines.

In September 1978, Ali defeated Spinks on points and won the boxing championship belt for the last time. Shortly thereafter, the 36-year-old Ali announced his retirement from boxing. In this way, he ended his career with an impressive record of winning the heavyweight title 22 times in 20 years.

During this period, Ali divorced his second wife, Belinda. In June 1977, he married for the third time, this time the bride was Beronica Boishi. Ali has since been diagnosed with Parkinson's syndrome. Despite this, he still travels around the world as an ambassador of culture and sports. It is worth mentioning that Ali and his wife Po Shi visited China in 1985 and were warmly welcomed by the Chinese people. Ali is no stranger to China. As early as 1979, he visited Beijing and was cordially received by Comrade Deng Xiaoping.

Shortly thereafter, Ali ended his third marriage. On November 19, 1986, Ali married his current wife, Lonnie. Ali's wife Lonnie Ali said: "Muhammad Ali and I are good friends, husband and wife, and he is like a brother to me, so this is an unusual combination."

1996 On August 2, halftime of the men's basketball final of the Atlanta Olympic Games. Mr. Juan Antonio Samaranch, the then President of the International Olympic Committee, hung a special Rome Olympic gold medal on Ali's chest. Although the arena at that time was filled with many basketball stars from the Dream Team, people still gave their warmest applause to their hero—Muhammad Ali.

As a former Olympic boxing champion, Ali threw his gold medal into the sea because he opposed the racial discrimination policies implemented by the previous US government.

This recovered gold medal not only fulfilled one of Ali's wishes, but also showed people's appreciation and affirmation of the boxing champion for not fearing power and helping those in need.

In September 1999, Ali and his third wife's daughter Laila entered the women's professional boxing world and quickly achieved good results. Ali's daughter Laila Ali said: "I don't want to compare myself with my father. We are completely different. But one thing is that as his daughter, I naturally have some unique boxing skills that others cannot have. At this stage, I think I’m great!”

Some businesses have taken a fancy to the commercial value of the father and daughter in boxing. Recently, a sports brand used computer technology to let Ali and his daughter Competing in the ring. In such a game, what we see is not victory or defeat, but a continuation of vitality.

Ali’s heroic performance on the field was consistent with his personality.

Ali, Pele, Jordan and others should be outstanding representatives among the greatest athletes.

Among Time magazine’s 100 Celebrities of the 20th Century,

Ali was ranked first in the heroes and idols category!

Hope to adopt it, thank you

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