hockberg
Member
Gender: Male
Bhakta
|
# Posted: 17 Jan 2007 18:51
Legendary heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, is 65 today. 
Ali was the first man to win the heavyweight title of the world three times and won the BBC's Sports Personality of the Century award in 1999.
Apart from his achievements in the ring Ali has also come to be seen as one of the iconic figures of the 20th century for the way he lived his life away from boxing.
He refused to fight in the Vietnam War, was stripped of his world title and banned from boxing.
He was allowed to fight again in 1970 after three years out of the ring and finally regained his title in 1974 when he beat George Foreman in the "Rumble in the Jungle", probably the most talked-about fight in history.
A powerful activist for black rights, both in America and around the world, he changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali in 1964 after joining the Nation of Islam.
In later years Ali has been affected by Parkinson's disease, which has been attributed to repeated blows to the head during his boxing career.
|
