Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali (lahir Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; 17 Januari 1942 – 3 Juni 2016) adalah seorang petinju profesional, aktivis, penghibur, dan dermawan Amerika. Dijuluki The Greatest, ia secara luas dianggap sebagai salah satu tokoh paling penting dan terkenal di abad ke-20 dan sebagai salah satu petinju terhebat sepanjang masa. Ali lahir dan besar di Louisville, Kentucky. Dia mulai berlatih sebagai petinju amatir pada usia 12 tahun. Pada usia 18 tahun, dia memenangkan medali emas di divisi kelas berat ringan di Olimpiade Musim Panas 1960 dan menjadi profesional pada akhir tahun itu. Ia menjadi seorang Muslim setelah tahun 1961. Ia memenangkan kejuaraan kelas berat dunia dari Sonny Liston dengan kekalahan besar pada tanggal 25 Februari 1964, pada usia 22 tahun. Pada tanggal 6 Maret 1964, ia mengumumkan bahwa ia tidak lagi dikenal sebagai Cassius Clay tetapi sebagai Muhammad Ali. Pada tahun 1966, Ali menolak wajib militer, dengan alasan keyakinan agama dan etika yang menentang Perang Vietnam. Dia dinyatakan bersalah karena menghindari wajib militer sehingga dia menghadapi hukuman 5 tahun penjara dan gelar tinju dicopot. Dia tetap keluar dari penjara saat dia mengajukan banding atas keputusan tersebut ke Mahkamah Agung, yang membatalkan hukumannya pada tahun 1971, namun dia tidak bertarung selama hampir empat tahun dan kehilangan periode performa puncaknya sebagai seorang atlet. Tindakan Ali sebagai penentang Perang Vietnam membuatnya menjadi ikon bagi generasi tandingan budaya yang lebih besar, dan dia adalah sosok yang sangat menonjol dalam kebanggaan rasial bagi orang Afrika-Amerika selama gerakan hak-hak sipil dan sepanjang kariernya. Sebagai seorang Muslim, Ali awalnya berafiliasi dengan Nation of Islam (NOI) milik Elijah Muhammad. Dia kemudian mengingkari NOI, menganut Islam Sunni, dan mendukung integrasi rasial seperti mantan mentornya Malcolm X. Ali adalah petinju kelas berat terkemuka abad ke-20, dan dia tetap menjadi satu-satunya juara tiga kali di divisi tersebut. Rekor gabungannya mengalahkan 21 petinju untuk gelar kelas berat dunia dan memenangkan 14 pertarungan gelar terpadu bertahan selama 35 tahun. Dia adalah satu-satunya petarung yang menduduki peringkat kelas berat terbaik dunia sebanyak dua belas kali oleh BoxRec. Dia telah tujuh belas kali menduduki peringkat sepuluh kelas berat terbaik BoxRec, ketiga terbanyak dalam sejarah. Dia memenangkan 8 pertarungan yang dinilai oleh BoxRec sebagai Bintang 5, terbanyak ketiga dalam sejarah divisi kelas berat. Ali adalah satu-satunya petinju yang dinobatkan sebagai Fighter of the Year versi majalah The Ring sebanyak enam kali. Dia dinobatkan sebagai petinju kelas berat terhebat sepanjang masa, dan sebagai atlet terhebat abad ke-20 oleh Sports Illustrated, Sports Personality of the Century oleh BBC, dan atlet terhebat ketiga abad ke-20 oleh ESPN SportsCentury. Dia terlibat dalam beberapa pertandingan dan perseteruan tinju bersejarah, terutama pertarungannya dengan Joe Frazier, seperti Pertarungan Abad Ini dan Thrilla di Manila, dan pertarungannya dengan George Foreman, yang dikenal sebagai The Rumble in the Jungle, yang disebut "bisa dibilang acara olahraga terbesar abad ke-20" dan ditonton oleh rekor pemirsa televisi yang diperkirakan mencapai 1 miliar pemirsa di seluruh dunia, menjadi siaran langsung televisi yang paling banyak ditonton di dunia pada saat itu. Ali menjadi pusat perhatian pada saat banyak petarung membiarkan manajer mereka yang berbicara, dan ia sering kali bersikap provokatif dan aneh. Dia dikenal suka bicara sampah, dan sering bergaya bebas dengan skema rima dan puisi lisan, mengantisipasi unsur hip hop.

Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, activist, entertainer and philanthropist. Nicknamed The Greatest, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated figures of the 20th century and as one of the greatest boxers of all time. Ali was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. He began training as an amateur boxer at age 12. At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics and turned professional later that year. He became a Muslim after 1961. He won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22. On March 6, 1964, he announced that he no longer would be known as Cassius Clay but as Muhammad Ali. In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military, citing his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War. He was found guilty of draft evasion so he faced 5 years in prison and was stripped of his boxing titles. He stayed out of prison as he appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, which overturned his conviction in 1971, but he had not fought for nearly four years and lost a period of peak performance as an athlete. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War made him an icon for the larger counterculture generation, and he was a very high-profile figure of racial pride for African Americans during the civil rights movement and throughout his career. As a Muslim, Ali was initially affiliated with Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam (NOI). He later disavowed the NOI, adhering to Sunni Islam, and supporting racial integration like his former mentor Malcolm X. Ali was a leading heavyweight boxer of the 20th century, and he remains the only three-time lineal champion of that division. His joint records of beating 21 boxers for the world heavyweight title and winning 14 unified title bouts stood for 35 years. He is the only fighter to have been ranked as the world's best heavyweight by BoxRec twelve times. He has been ranked among BoxRec's ten best heavyweights seventeen times, the third most in history. He won 8 fights that were rated by BoxRec as 5-Star, the third most in the history of the heavyweight division. Ali is the only boxer to be named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year six times. He has been ranked the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time, and as the greatest athlete of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated, the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC, and the third greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN SportsCentury. He was involved in several historic boxing matches and feuds, most notably his fights with Joe Frazier, such as the Fight of the Century and the Thrilla in Manila, and his fight with George Foreman, known as The Rumble in the Jungle, which has been called "arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th century" and was watched by a record estimated television audience of 1 billion viewers worldwide, becoming the world's most-watched live television broadcast at the time. Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many fighters let their managers do the talking, and he was often provocative and outlandish. He was known for trash-talking, and often free-styled with rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry, anticipating elements of hip hop.