Muhammed Ali Accomplishments

Without a doubt, Muhammed Ali faced many challenges, and that makes his many accomplishments even more impressive. To start off his fighting journey, he won his first amateur fight at the age of 14 (Nonstop Sports). After 4 years of intense training, “Muhammed Ali was chosen to represent the USA in 1960 at the Rome Olympics.” Astonishing in fighting, he was named the 3-time heavyweight champion, being the first to do this (“Muhammed Ali”). Additionally, he had multiple ups and downs throughout his career: “He finished his professional boxing career with a record of 56-5, with 37 knockouts and 19 successful title defenses.” From endless punches to the head, Muhammed Ali was forced to retire after getting diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

He was consistently criticized for his religious beliefs after he changed his birth name, Cassius Clay, and converted to Islam (“Muhammed Ali”). “Many boxing insiders and fans were outraged that Ali was associated with the Nation of Islam--which was then known in the United States as the Black Muslims--because they mistakenly believed the group was prejudiced against whites.” For many reasons, he was proud of who he had become, and never was afraid to stand up for it: "The real name is Islam. That means peace. Islam is a religion and there are 750 million people all over the world who believe in it, and I'm one of them." Appallingly, he was drafted into the war but refused to enlist. Ali had said, “If I thought going to war would bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people, they wouldn't have to draft me; I'd join tomorrow.” Following his beliefs he stated, “But I either have to obey the laws of the land or the laws of Allah. I have nothing to lose by standing up and following my beliefs. So I'll go to jail. We've been in jail for 400

Ali learned tactics to use against each of his opponents, to beat them successfully. In the video “Muhammed Ali- The Greatest of All Time”, George Foreman kindly says, “I am honored to be mentioned in the same sentence as him. He is the greatest of all time. And he outwitted me and outboxed me.” Strikingly, he had only lost 5 times out of his 56 matches (“Muhammed Ali”). To add to the contenders, Sonny Liston was the biggest one to beat: “Liston could not answer the bell for the seventh round, and Ali was declared the new heavyweight champion of the world.” Mentioned by Britannica School, Joe Frazier became the new heavyweight champion while Ali took a leave of absence. Later in the ring, Ali was defeated “in round 15, Frazier threw a hook that finally sent Muhammed Ali to the ground and gave him the first serious career knockdown” (Nonstop