Muhammad Ali: Happy birthday champ

By Boxing News - 01/17/2010 - Comments

Image: Muhammad Ali: Happy birthday champBy Dennis Broadhurst: Muhammad Ali, the most famous sportsman in history, the greatest boxer of all time, the greatest. Muhammad is maybe still the most recognizable face on earth and in the 70s was perhaps the most famous man in the world. He has been an inspiration to many millions of people, myself included, inside and outside of the boxing ring.

As a boxer Muhammad achieved more than any, in 1960 he won the Olympic gold as a light-heavyweight, he later went on to win the heavyweight championship of the world three times, the first man to do so. The “golden age” of heavyweight boxing started with Cassius Clay and ended with Muhammad Ali. Ali faced the best and beat the best in Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, George Foreman and Earnie Shavers. In beating all of these great fighters he secured his place as the greatest heavyweight champion of all time.

Outside of the ring Ali was just as unique, converting to Islam in 1964 Ali became somewhat of a hate figure in the late 1960s and this escalated when he refused to fight in Vietnam. Ali was stripped of his boxing title and over three years of his prime but took it all in his stride, eventually defeating the US Government. Ali’s refusing to fight in Vietnam later made him a hero to many after the views on the war changed. Those close to Ali say that he is one of the kindest people in the world, frequently donating money to the poor and going on many humanitarian missions around the world.

Whoever you are you can look to Ali for inspiration, and I would just like to say, Happy Birthday champ!



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