ALI, MUHAMMAD

born Jan. 17, 1942, Louisville, Ky., U.S. Muhammad Ali (right) fighting Ernie Terrell, 1967. original name Cassius Marcellus Clay American professional boxer, the first boxer to win the heavyweight championship three separate times. As an amateur boxer, he attracted notice in 1960 by winning the Amateur Athletic Union light heavyweight and Golden Gloves heavyweight championships. He won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. He turned professional soon afterward and became world heavyweight champion by defeating Sonny Liston, who retired after six rounds, on Feb. 25, 1964. Gifted with unusually fast reflexes, excellent hand-leg coordination, and finely honed defensive skills, Ali successfully defended his title nine times from 1965 to 1967 and was universally recognized as champion after outpointing World Boxing Association (WBA) champion Ernie Terrell in 15 rounds on Feb. 6, 1967. Ali often proclaimed his invincibility in doggerel verse and made the boast I am the greatest! his personal slogan. In 1964 he joined the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims)adopting a Muslim nameand in 1967 he refused, on religious grounds, to submit to induction into the armed forces. He was subsequently convicted of violating the Selective Service Act and in consequence barred from the ring and stripped of his title, although the conviction was ultimately reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971. Ali had meanwhile resumed boxing in 1970 and had defeated two other title contenders, but on March 8, 1971, he lost a 15-round decision to the heavyweight champion, Joe Frazier. For nearly three years Ali fought other title contenders, including Jerry Quarry, Floyd Patterson (making a brief comeback attempt), Joe Bugner, and Ken Norton. Finally Ali won a unanimous decision over Frazier on Jan. 28, 1974, that led to his meeting with the new champion, George Foreman, on Oct. 30, 1974, in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo). His eighth-round knockout of Foreman regained for Ali the undisputed world heavyweight title. An Academy Award-winning film, When We Were Kings (1996) documents this fight. After defending his title successfully 10 times, he lost it to Leon Spinks on Feb. 15, 1978, in a split decision. Ali regained the WBA title from Spinks seven months later on a unanimous decision, thus becoming the first boxer to win the heavyweight championship three times. In 1979 Ali announced his retirement, at that point having lost only three decisions in 59 fights. He returned to fight World Boxing Council champion Larry Holmes in 1980 and Trevor Berbick of Canada in 1981 but lost both fights. In 1984 it was confirmed that Ali was suffering from a series of symptoms variously known as punch drunk syndrome, or chronic encephalopathy of boxers; it is characterized by parkinsonian symptomsslurred speech, facial immobility, poor balance, and difficulty in walking. Ali was selected to light the Olympic flame at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, Ga. Additional reading Thomas Hauser, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times (1991); and a work by Ali's doctor, Ferdie Pacheco, Muhammad Ali: A View from the Corner (1992), are biographies. Elliott J. Gorn (ed.), Muhammad Ali, the People's Champ (1995), collects conference papers tracing his impact outside of boxing. Thomas Hauser, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times (1991); and a work by Ali's doctor, Ferdie Pacheco, Muhammad Ali: A View from the Corner (1992), are biographies. Elliott J. Gorn (ed.), Muhammad Ali, the People's Champ (1995), collects conference papers tracing his impact outside of boxing.