Muhammed Ali Cultural Influences

There were social, economic and cultural influences on Muhammad Ali which affected his lifetime achievements. All of these factors made the great figure Muhammed Ali is known to be. He fought more than 100 amatuer bouts and won two national Golden Glove Championships, two national Amateur Athletic Union boxing titles and a gold medal in the light heavyweight bracket at the 1960 Olympic games in Rome.(“Ali, Muhammad”) 1964-Wins Heavyweight title- Sonny Liston; 1974-Beats George Foreman for title in “The Rumble in the Jungle”; Beats Frazier in “Thrilla in Manilla” (Conklin 95) Muhammad's trophy case is obviously stuffed with countless awards but these remarkable accolades and legendary events put him in the conversation for the greatest athlete that has ever lived.

Muhammed Ali was a very popular topic in the mid- to late 90’s. Ali transformed himself from merely being the people’s champ to the champion

Ali had two sets of role models. One was that of the respectable fighters such as Joe Louis and Archie Moore. But Ali saw how America treated Joe Louis (Meyers 113). Joe Louis and Archie Moore were both African American boxers Muhammad Ali looked up as a child and influenced him as a boxer and as a person. Ali saw the way both of the boxers were being discriminated by other people and by America and he could relate to those idols based on his own life experiences. Later in his career he was called on to act as an ambassador for his religion as probably the most famous Muslim American in history, other than his mentor, Malcolm X (Rubin). Malcolm X was a famous black muslim man who was a huge figure in the Civil Rights Movement. Malcolm X was a big name in the news back then. This man was definitely a factor that attracted Muhammed to the Nation of Islam when he became a professional boxer. Ali saw Malcolm X as a symbol of a peaceful African American muslim man which attracted him to the Nation of