He was the 1960 Rome Summer Olympics gold medalists in the light heavyweight category and became the first ever boxer to win the most prestigious lineal heavyweight championship (the best ever on his weight category) not once, not twice, but yes three times. (Who-is-the-Greatest-Boxer-of-All-Time)?.
On June 20, 1967, heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali was sentenced to five years in prison for refusing to serve in the military. Ali and his managers claimed that government had tried to arrange a deal whereby Ali would enter the Army but not be sent to fight, according to Time magazine. Ali declined, but the government denies the deal was ever offered (The Man). .
Afterwards, Ali read a statement explaining his actions: "I have searched my conscience and I find I cannot be true to my belief in my religion by accepting such a call. If justice prevails, if my Constitutional rights are upheld, I will be forced to go neither to the Army nor jail. In the end I am confident that justice will come my way for the truth must eventually prevail" (The Man).
His appeal would reach the Supreme Court in 1971. In Clay v. United States, the Court ruled 8-0 that Ali met the three standards for conscientious objector status: that he opposed war in any form, that his beliefs were based on religious teaching and that his objection was sincere. His conviction was reversed. It was March 8, 1971, Ali would finally be allowed to fight again (January 17, 2010, Denis Cumming). .
The fight became an extension of the strife that existed within the country, as Ali had become a symbol of the left-wing anti-establishment movement during his government-imposed exile from the ring, while Frazier, as a matter of convenience, was adopted by the conservative, pro-war movement. According to the 2009 documentary Thriller in Manila, the match, which had been dubbed "The Fight," gripped the nation, but also split it down the middle.
