Life of Muhammad Ali Clay

Introduction

There are very few names that the world will remember forever; Muhammad Ali Clay is one of those names. Muhammad Ali Clay is one of the most successful boxers of all time. There are various boxers that came conquered and left when their time ended. Muhammad Ali clay was an exceptional case because he came; he conquered and became a legend. Muhammad Ali Clay was born on January 17 1942. Muhammad Ali Clay left his mark on the sports industry with his unique style of offense and sophisticated defense. The purpose of this paper is to enlighten and discuss three major areas in the life of Muhammad Ali Clay; religion, war against injustice and racism, and his assistance in the social work and charity. This paper aims to explore each and every perspective about the life of Clay and discuss the twists and turns in his life due to the change in his priorities.

According to several researches conducted on the sports industry it was realized that Muhammad Ali Clay used to dance in the ring. The passion and determination of Clay towards boxing was the ingredient behind his unique style and the success that he achieved in his career. He was the best heavyweight champion of all time and except few matches he won each and every one of them. Mike Tyson was one of the main rivals of Clay; he states that Clay was the toughest opponent he every faced, the sophisticated offensive style of Clay was difficult to understand and counter. Clay was named as Athlete of the twentieth century in a meeting of international journalists. Muhammad Ali Clay gained worldwide fame from his athletic performance and his political activism.

Discussion and Analysis

From Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali Clay: Religion

In 1964 Muhammad Ali Clay surprised the world when he defeated Sonny Liston for the throne of boxing at the age of no more than 22 years at the time. Nevertheless, the world was shocked again when he accepted Islam as his religion. According to Brookes after Ali's victory over Sonny Liston Clay announced his conversion to Islam in 1965 and adapted a new name “Muhammad Ali”; however, he did not change his last name "Clay" because it represented the concept of slavery as it can be realized from its meaning (mud) (Brookes, 99). The conversion of religion brought many difficulties for Clay; some people called it a publicity stunt and some called it disrespect for his previous religion.

According to Walker Muhammad Ali Clay responded to the criticism by saying “I have converted to Islam not because of publicity or because I do not respect my previous religion. I do not care whether my conversion to Islam diminishes my popularity; all I care about is to spread the message of peace and harmony, and my I believe my religion will assist me in that” (Walker, 55). Muhammad Ali did not want any fame or popularity when he converted his religion and he overcame each and every obstacle ...