Muhammad Ali accidentally discovered his talent when he was 12 years old, when he was stolen. This incident led to him getting to know the coach and policeman John Martin. He then began working with Martin to win the Golden Glove Award in 1956 for the lightweight. In 1960 he left with the American Olympic team to Rome to take part in the Olympics, where he managed to beat the Polish Zbigniew Peterskovsky.
In 1964, after becoming a professional athlete, he managed to defeat Sony Leston to become the World Heavyweight Champion. After that happened the biggest event in the life of Muhammad Ali, as he was looking for some spiritual matters and decided to join a group of black Muslims called the ‘Nation of Islam’.
Then Muhammad Ali started another type of fighting as he stood up to the American war on Vietnam. When he was asked to join the US Army for the war, he refused, to be arrested for treason, and almost stripped of his surname and boxing license.
The US Court of Justice filed a lawsuit against Boxer Muhammad Ali, found him guilty of violating the laws of science service and was sentenced to five years in prison in June 1967. But he did not enter prison and remained free during the period of appeal of this decision, and he was no longer able to practice Boxing in this period that spanned three years, and was a black period in his career and sports. In 1971, the court removed this charge from the hero boxer.
Muhammad Ali returned to the ring before the Supreme Court decision in 1970, when he managed to beat Jerry Curry. The following year, he lost at the hands of Joe Fraser in what is known as the ‘Battle of the Century’. Ali and Fraser fought with great power and determination, and the fight continued for 14 rounds before Fraser punched Mohamed Ali with his left fist in the fifteenth round. Ali quickly regained his strength but the referees awarded the title to Joe Fraser. This was Muhammad Ali’s first loss after 31 wins. That loss was followed by another loss to Ken Norton, but Muhammad Ali did not know to surrender and defeated Fraser in 1974.
In 1974 Ali fought another historic battle against the unbeatable heavyweight champion, George Foreman. This fight was called ‘the hustle and bustle of the forest’. During the early stages of this match, Ali seemed to be a victim against the huge, young, Foreman, but he managed to silence all critics with a legendary professional performance. He managed to drain his opponent’s energy in his distinctive style, before defeating him with a knockout in the eighth round to obtain the title of heavyweight champion.
Ali met his opponent, Fraser, in 1975, in a fight called ‘Thrilla in Manila’, in which both opponents made a terrible force and endured painful attacks, after which the coach of Fraser announced in the fourteenth round the defeat of Fraser and the victory of Muhammad Ali.
After losing his title to Leon Spinks in February 1978, Muhammad Ali managed to defeat him in September, becoming the first boxer to win a heavyweight title three times. After a short break, he returned to the ring to face Larry Holmes in 1980, but he lost to him and then in 1981 to Trevor Berbick. Where he announced his retirement after sports.
After retiring from the fight, Mohamed Ali devoted himself to charity work, and declared that he had Parkinson’s disease in 1984. He was one of the people who helped raise funds for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center in Phoenix, Arizona. During these years, he supported the Special Olympics and other organizations and institutions. In 1996, he carried the Olympic torch at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and that moment was an influential moment in the history of world sports.
In 2005 Muhammad Ali received the Presidential Gold Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush. The Muhammad Ali Center in his city Louisville was also opened. That same year he said: “I am an ordinary man who worked hard to develop his talents, many fans wanted to create a museum to honor my accomplishments. But I wanted something more than a building that contained my souvenirs. I want a place that can inspire people to be the best they can be and encourage them to Respect each other. ‘
