Muhammad Ali

By Chris Kotschwar
Real Name, Religious Background and Facts
Muhammad Alis real name was Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. He changed his name in 1964
after winning the heavyweight championship in 1964. This is when he revealed that he was a
member of the Nation of Islam. His boxing career started when he was 12 years old and his Bike
was stolen. The officer he reported the crime to suggested that he learned how to fight and thus
Muhammad Ali became a boxer just because someone stole his bike. His real name was in honor
of a white abolitionist who was a farmer and anti-slavery crusader who emancipated 40 slaves he
inherited from his father. Muhammad Ali was banned from boxing for three years because he
refused to serve in the U.S. army for religious reasons.
Achievements
In 1959 he won the National Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight Champion, and the
National Amateur Athletic Union champion. In 1960 he won National Golden Gloves Light
heavyweight Champion again, National Amateur Athletic Union Champion again, and Gold
medal in the Rome Olympics for light-heavyweight boxing. In the years 1964-67 he won World
Heavyweight Champion. In 1970 He won the Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial award. In 1974
he won the Sportsman of the Year Award (Sports Illustrated), and the Fighter of the Year Award
(Boxing Writers Association). In the years 1974-78 and 1978-79 he won World Heavyweight
Champion. In 1979 he won the Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters award, and a street
named after him in Louisville Kentucky. By 1985 he was Recognized for long meritorious
service by the World Boxing Association. Then in 1987 he was Elected into the Boxing Hall of

Fame. The in 1990 Inducted into International Boxing Hall of Fame. In 1996 he lit the Olympic
Torch in Atlanta. Then in 1997 he got awarded the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage by ESPN and
got the Essence Living Legend Award.