If a total stranger was asked to name two or three professional boxers to have ever lived, Muhammad Ali is bound to be mentioned. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky on January 17, 1942 with the name Cassius Clay, but he dropped his Aslave name@ and changed it to Muhammad Ali, when he joined the Nation of Islam after his first fight with Sonny Liston for the world championship. Ali is known best as a boxer, but when the proper research is done, you will find that he is an extraordinary person, and a black right=s activist. Everything about him is unique. Most obvious are his cocky attitude in the ring, and his completely unique, and seemingly unorganized, fighting style. His effect on the boxing world up to the present is incredible. His existence has changed how ordinary people, and fans all over look at boxing. Muhammad Ali is the most influential athlete to have ever been involved in the world of American sports. .
The Ways of Ali .
Ali was the first boxer to use his loud mouth and overconfident attitude to draw crowds, and get fights. He was not modest about his skills at all, but instead paraded around, and proclaimed that he was the best, and used slogans like: AFloat like a butterfly, sting like a bee@, AI am the greatest@, and AI am beautiful.@ These last two created controversies from the media. He even had AThe World=s Most Colorful Fighter@ written on the side of his tour bus (Remnick 174). He was seen as an overconfident black man who did not know his place. Though he was generally very overconfident, in the ring and during the fights he was considerate towards his opponents, and upheld a sportsmanlike attitude (Miller 5). He also aggravated many people by predicting his fights, not only that he would win, but when and in what round (Reemtsma 27-28). However, the cocky things he would say brought him new fans, and enticed people to attend his fights.
Ali stood out from the normal boxer because he made enemies as fast as he made fans.
