Muhammad ali history channel

Black, Muslim and proud, Muhammed Ali won the heavyweight title three times and became a voice for black and white American youth. His father, Clay Senior, was a sign painter, while his mother, Odessa Grady Clay, was a household domestic.

Robbed of his bike in school, Cassius Clay started to box at As a high school student, he won the national Golden Gloves middleweight championship in and , and the AAU national light heavyweight title in , then the light heavyweight gold medal at the Olympics.

Muhammad ali history channel

He had his first professional fight on 29 October,

For his sixth professional fight against Lamar Clark in , Clay composed a ditty predicting how and when he would beat his opponent. His prediction was correct, knocking Lamar out in the 2nd round.

The rhymes became part of his persona.

The clear outsider, Clay challenged and beat Sonny Liston on 25 February, Misreading Clay's exuberance as nervousness, Liston was typically over-confident and was unprepared f