Boxing

Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay):
Cassius Clay was born on January 17,1942 in the city of Louisville. He became interested in boxing at the age of 12. He became interested in boxing because someone had stolen his bike. He said if he found out who had done it, he would beat them up. A policeman, Joe Martin said he would teach him how to box.
   In 1954, Cassius had his first fight on TV against a white boy named Ronny O'Keefe. They boxed three rounds in six minutes. Cassius even won with the judge scoring against him.
   At 14, he saw his name in the paper for the first time. That was for the light heavyweight title in the Louisville Golden Gloves Tournament. At the age 17 years old and six feet tall and weighed 170 pounds. Because of Clay's big talk, boxers thought they had lost before they started.
   When he joined the Black Muslims, they started calling him Muhammad Ali "Worthy of All Praise". He joined because he was tired of the white people making fun of him. Ali did not smoke, drink, go to movies or dances. He didn't believe he should join the army or fight in wars. People did not understand Clay's religion. A man took Clay's title away because of his religion. Clay refused to go to war, so he faced 5 years in prison. The year was 1967 and they said he could not fight until 1970. Because of this, he suffered financially. He stayed with his religion.
   In 1971, he fought Joe Frazier. He was still in trouble with the court, so they called Joe the Champion. He was a strong athlete. In 1971, Clay was defeated by Joe Frazier. In June 1971, the Supreme Court said if he really believed in his his religion, he no longer had to face prison. They also told him the championship would belong to him the whole time.
   On July 26, 1971, Clay boxed Jimmy Ellis in Houston who had been his sparring partner quite awhile. Clay won the fight. In 1972, Ali had bouts with several boxers, he won all the fights. Early in the year of 1973, Joe Frazier lost to George Forman. After one more fight with Joe Frazier, he would hang up his gloves. Clay had a wife and 4 kids. Clay was the 1996 Summer Olympics Torch Lighter