Muhammed Ali Essay examples -- essays research papers

Muhammed Ali Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest heavy weight champions. His natural abilities were complemented by his flashy flamboyant personality. It was his ability that won him the heavy weight championship on three separate occasions, but only his â€Å"Float like a butter fly sting like a bee† antics won him the title of the â€Å"people’s champ† (â€Å"Ali† 2).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Born Cassius Clay Jr. on January 17, 1942 in Louisville Kentucky, he was far from over privileged. His father Cassius Clay Sr., worked to support the family as a sign and mural painter. His mother Odessa Clay, worked part time as a domestic. He attended school at Duvalle middle school with his brother Rudolph Clay. After this, he went on to high school at Central High in Louisville Kentucky. Though devoted fully to nearly every aspect of life, he was a rather poor student. He blames this mostly to his preoccupation with boxing. His studies in school reflected the fact that he started training to be a boxer at a young age.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Ali was a mere twelve years old, his bicycle was stolen from his home in his criminally active neighbor hood in Louisville Kentucky. He reported the theft to a near by police department, which appointed Joe Martin to handle his case. Joe Elsby Martin supervised the training of young boxers, and invited Ali to join the gym. He arranged for Ali to train with Fred Stoner who taught Ali the basics of moving with speed and grace. He motivated Ali to be like a dancer in the ring. Even at his young age, he was able to develop the skills needed to become a powerful yet skilled boxer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ali had a lot of success even in high school as an amateur. He claimed a victory in 100 out of 108 matches. The hardware he collected was unheard of for someone his age. He claimed six Kentucky and two National Golden Gloves championships. In addition, on his way to greatness, he won two Amateur Union championships. His accomplishments were numerous throughout his young career but the most impressive was probably the Gold Medal he won at the Olympic Games in 1960. He competed in the light heavy weight division, in which he would later admit, is where he mastered his renowned skills of ring chatter. He would use degrading remarks to distract and frustrate his opponents. This woul... ...e helped negotiate for the release of four kidnapped Americans, who were being held in Lebanon. He later met with the leaders of the Soviet Union and Africa and founded the World Organization for Right, Liberty, and Dignity (WORLD).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1996, he was given the esteemed honor of lighting the torch at the Olympic Games in Atlanta (â€Å"Ali† 1). Then in 1999 he became the first boxer to appear on cover of a Wheaties box. These awards came years after his boxing career. He now lives in Berrien Springs, Michigan, where he is married to his forth wife. Spread between these women are nine of his children. His oldest daughter Khaliah Ali is currently pursuing a career in boxing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Muhammad led an illustrious career as a boxer. Through the ups and downs and all of the adversity, he managed to keep his optimistic outlook and his diligent work ethic. He overcame his legal matters, and survived through the persecution of his religion, he still managed to accomplish more than any boxer, and a majority of any athletes. Though it was just self-proclaimed confidence, he turned out to be just what he told the world, â€Å"The Greatest†