Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Sports & Recreation Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali is the "Quintessential American." In his stand for religious and racial freedom, for his humility, generosity, braggadocio, deep and abiding physical and mental courage, though always larger than life – Ali exhibited many typical and deep-rooted American traits. He struck a number of positively resonant notes in the American psyche, that make him now a revered person (Walter). Muhammad Ali is a widely known person, not only for being one of the all-time greatest fighters in history, but also for being one of the most prominent and influential persons of the twentieth century. Muhammad Ali was not always called by that name, born on January 17, 1942 in Louisville Kentucky, named after his father, Cassius Clay. Twelve year old Cassius was turned on to boxing after his brand-new bike was stolen at an annual Black bazaar called The Louisville Home Show; Joe Martin, a policeman who taught young boys how to box, was in the basement of that event. Cassius complained to him that he was going to beat the person who stole his bike and Officer Martin decided to push the frustrated youngster towards boxing. Six weeks later Cassius would win a three minute, three round split decision in his very first match (Ehrmann). Muhammad’s had two very special things about him; his boxing skills and his ability to move and motivate people and the power to stand up for what he believed in. Cassius Clay fought Sonny Liston and won, becoming the new World Heavyweight Champion and two days later shocked the world again by announcing that he had joined the Nation of Islam, becoming Muhammad Ali. 1964 was a big year for Muhammad Ali, after becoming World Champ and changing his religion and his name, he was quickly becoming the most recognizable and the most outspoken athlete in the world. Americans, at this point, were not to fond of Ali. They continued to call him Cassius Clay and rooted for him to lose in upcoming matches, but Ali continued to be unstoppable in the ring. As the years went on Ali went on winning but the years were passing and that was having some affect on him. In 1970 Muhammad fought against Jerry Quarry and even though Ali did win the fight it was noticeable that he was moving slower than he did in the late 1960’s. He began taking more punches instead of dodging and dancing from them like he used to do, but he was Out to recapture the title of Heavyweight Champion, Ali jumped back into training camp to train. The bout was one of three legendary fights between Ali and Frazier. Since the title was taken from him and was not lost in the ring many people felt Ali was still rightfully the Heavyweight Champion. Ali openly ridiculed Frazier showing lack of fear for his opponent. Despite all of Ali’s negative remarks, Frazier was a tough opponent. The actual fight was even in the early rounds, but Ali was absorbing more punishment than he ever did before. In the fifteenth round the unthinkable happened: Frazier hit Ali on the jaw with a bone crushing left hook and that knocked him to the canvas. Ali did bounce back up as fast as he went down, but when the fight ended, it was clear that Frazier was the winner. It was Ali’s first professional loss but he was not ready On March 13, 1973, Ali was given his second professional loss (and a broken jaw) by Ken Norton, but Ali won the rematch. Ali-Frazier II took place the next year and because Frazier had lost the title to brutal newcomer George Foreman, neither were champions, but even so the fight was still a legendary one. Ali came out the winner and Frazier demanded for a rematch but first Ali had to travel to Zaire to get his title back from the current undisputed World Champ, George Foreman. The big battle between Ali and Foreman was to take place in Africa because Don King, an ex-con and up-and-coming boxing promoter, suggested he could give the fighters 5 million dollars each if the fight was held in a foreign country. Ali was very excited about being in a place operated entirely by black people. The fight took place outside in 90 degree weather on October 30. Thirty seconds into the second round, Ali stopped dancing and started leaning to lean on the ropes.. Dundee and everybody else in his corner was shocked and was screaming for him to move, but Ali stayed. He blocked, dodged and took the heavy punches of Foreman for six rounds straight. With the intense heat beating down on him, Foreman began to get tired and his punches started getting softer as the time went by. In the eight round, he was extremely tired, but he did not have any respect for Ali’s punching power and pursued him with his guard down. As Foreman missed a punch, he turned around and was greeted with a barrage of blows. A right hand knocked him down for the first time in his professional career and when the referee signaled the K.O., a mob of fans jumped into the ring to greet the new heavyweight A little while later Muhammad was ready to fight Frazier for the third time. The early rounds began to Ali, who used his speed to throw off the challenger. But in the middle rounds, it was Joe Frazier who had his opponent against the ropes. It was a hard battle with both opponents losing energy in the late rounds. In the last rounds, Ali started to dominate again, knocking Frazier’s mouthpiece out and closing up his eyes. Finally, when Frazier went to his corner after the fourteenth round, his trainer decided to throw in the towel. After Frazier announced he was not able to return, Ali collapsed in his corner. Even though he won, Ali was in bad physical shape. After the vicious battle against Frazier, Muhammad Ali stated that fight was the closest thing to death he knew of. After that fight the rest of his career went downhill. Ali went in and out of retirement and fought little fights against “easy” opponents, but even they were not that easy. With his health deteriorating rapidly, somehow Ali had his mindset on fighting one more match. Ali entered the ring for the final time on December 11, 1981. From the start, the actual fight was a drag, with Ali looking sluggish while his mediocre opponent showed little skill. In the end, the judges ruled in favor against Ali. The next morning Ali announced he was leaving boxing for good. Ali led a full life when it came to boxing but that was not the only thing he was known for. Muhammad Ali had strong beliefs and he stood up for what he believed in. In 1966, with the Vietnam War growing, Ali was to be drafted. As a dedicated fighter who did not want to end his career and as a Muslim who did not have “no quarrel with them Viet-Cong,” he refused to be drafted. This became a big controversy, many Americans felt betrayed because Ali betrayed the country. Although this caused Ali to be stripped of his title Ali held strong and won it back later the right way, in the ring. Ali was a strong fighter and an inspirational character. He fought with everything he had and lived with everything he had, with him, nothing was ever done half way. He is truly a good person to look up to. He clearly filled his position well, being a well known person, not only for being one of the all-time greatest fighters in history, but also for being one of the most prominent and influential persons of the twentieth century. Bibliography: Works Cited Ehrmann, Johannes. “Muhammad Ali Page.” 2000 http://www.float-like-a-butterfly.de/ 2 November 2000. The Courier Journal. “The Making of a Champ, Muhammad Ali.” April 2000 http://www.courier-journal.com/ali/ 2 November 2000 Sports Placement Services. “Muhammad Ali, The Greatest.” June 2000 http://www.sportsplacement.com/ali.htm 2 November 2000 Walter, John C. Muhammad Ali: The Quintesenntial American. 2000 http://www.americansc.org.uk/Forum/muhammad_ali.htm 2 November 2000 “Muhammad Ali: Former Heavyweight Champion of the World African 1986 Recipient.” 1996 http://www.neco.org/awards/recipients/muhammadali.html 2 November 2000 Word Count: 1314
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