Muhammad Ali – ‘The Louisville Lip’

By: Shivani Kapur

The life of a sportsman is outlined by sweltering workout sessions accompanied with innumerable sacrifices. All this and more, with just one goal – to win the Olympic Gold. But to win it, and then renounce it on the grounds of morality is a feat which surpasses all the rest. It was in the year 1960 that Muhammad Ali a.k.a. Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. threw his Gold in the river after being subjected to racial abuse. Hailing from a modest household in Louisville, Kentucky, Ali’s foremost tryst with boxing came at the age of 12 where his bicycle was stolen outside Columbia Auditorium. A fuming Cassius threatened to ‘whup’ the offender. He was then advised by a policeman to ‘learn boxing first’. This was Ali’s first piece of advice which led to his first lesson. The lesson turned into a life-long love affair with boxing as a sport. Ali’s life spanned over spectacular achievements both inside and outside the ring. He is a part of the International Boxing Hall of Fame and has victories over seven other names included in that Hall. Ali’s boxing career Muhammad Ali rose to fame after he defeated the boxing giant Liston. Liston was impervious to Ali’s abilities and came to the match almost unprepared. Ali won the opening rounds due to his swift moves. All throughout the match, he did not let the pressure off even once. Virtually blinded by a foreign substance that went into his eyes, Ali had the match by the scruff by the end of the sixth round. Liston astounded the world when he failed to turn up in the final round feigning a shoulder injury. His most notable feat was the Olympic Gold in light-heavyweight category in the Rome Olympics in 1960. In 1967, the war in Vietnam almost put an end to Ali’s boxing career. He refused to fight in the war claiming that his religion Islam, forbade Muslims to fight in wars unless it was instructed by Allah himself. This resulted in him being stripped of his title and his boxing license cancelled. Ali did not fight for another two and a half years! Ali’s comeback was shortly followed by a match-up against Joe Frazier in the year 1971. Termed as the ‘Fight of the century’ it was a much anticipated match between two undefeated giants in the world of boxing. Though Ali lost the match after being floored by Frazier in the 15th and the final round, it saw the beginning of a long professional duel between the two. In 1974 Ali fought the champion George Foreman in a fight that was called ‘The Rumble in the Jungle’. Adopting unusual strategy Ali disregarded technique and tradition and started off in the most unusual fashion by going for a rarely used punch called the right hand lead. In the seven rounds that followed Ali received hundreds of punches but with little effect on Ali. Ali delivered the final combination of the knockout in the eighth round and eventually won the title. Life outside the ring Muhammad Ali converted to a Sunni Muslim at a very young age. He has been married four times and has nine children. His daughter, Laila Ali is also a pro boxer and woman’s middleweight champ. In the 1980’s Muhammad Ali was diagnosed with Pugilistic Parkinson’s syndrome. The doctors attributed this to the innumerable blows that Ali had received on his head during his career. He also lit the torch in the 1996 Olympic Games held in Atlanta. Muhammad Ali belonged to an era which went on to be called the Golden Age of Heavyweight boxing. In a recent survey he was named in the list of Forbes celebrity 100 coming in the 13th place after Donald Trump. He has used his popularity for betterment of humanity and thrown himself completely into charity work. It is guesstimated that Ali has helped provide 22 million meals to the deprived. He is a huge inspiration and will always be remembered as one of the great men to have stepped into the ring.