Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) was a three-time lineal heavyweight boxing champion known for his activism and refusal to join the Vietnam War draft, which led to his conviction being overturned by the Supreme Court. He combined his boxing career with a strong commitment to civil rights, advocating for racial equality and opposing war, while inspiring many figures in sports and activism. Despite personal controversies and failures, Ali's legacy emphasizes courage, artistic expression, and moral consistency.

1. Muhammad Ali
(1942-2016)
Elizabeth Tang
MGMT 671
April 11, 2017

2. The boxer: “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”
 Origins
 1960: won Olympic gold medal in light heavyweight
division (age 18)
 Threw medal into Ohio River after a “whites-only”
restaurant refused to serve him
 “The Greatest”: only 3x lineal heavyweight
champion (won title in 1964, 1974, 1978)
 Accolades
 The Ring: Fighter of the Year (6x)
 Sports Illustrated: Greatest Athlete of 20th Century
 ESPN SportsCentury: 3rd Greatest Athlete of 20th
Century

3. The Civil Rights activist: “I am America”
 Born Cassius Clay
 1964: joined Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam
(separatist group)
 Converted to Islam + replaced his "slave name“ with
“Cassius X” + later “Muhammad Ali”
 Later: followed teachings of the late Malcolm X
 X had left NOI after criticizing [Elijah] Muhammad’s
religious and sexual failings
 Ali later disavowed NOI + supported X’s vision of racial
integration
 Integrated religious and political beliefs into his
professional persona
"I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get
used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours;
my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me."

4. The conscientious objector: “no Viet Cong never called me n****r”
 1966: refused to join draft for Vietnam War (2 years after
winning heavyweight title)
 Courage: willingly gave up 4 years of success, fame,
and wealth at his athletic peak to stand up for his beliefs
 Arrested + found guilty of draft evasion charges
 Penalty: 5 years prison (not served), $10k fine, stripped of
boxing title, denied boxing license in every state
 Appeal: Supreme Court unanimously overturned his conviction
in 1971
 Punishment for not being obedient: “Overnight he became a n--
--r again” (one of his managers)
“I ain't got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me
n****r. . . . My enemy is the white people, not Viet Cong or Chinese or
Japanese. . . . You won't even stand up for me in America for my
religious beliefs — and you want me to go somewhere and fight, but
you won't even stand up for me here at home?”

5. The global icon: “Part of Muhammad's greatness was his ability to be
different things to different people”
 Other activism during + after boxing career
 Supported rights of Palestinian refugees, Native Americans,
Sudanese famine victims
 Opposed Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
 Negotiated successfully with Saddam Hussein for release of
American hostages
 Inspired a generation of counterculture activism,
especially among athletes
 When Billie Jean King fought for gender equality in sports, he told her:
“Billie Jean King! YOU ARE THE QUEEN!”
 When Martin Luther King, Jr., was criticized for anti-war activism, he said:
“Like Muhammad Ali puts it, we are all—black and brown and poor—
victims of the same system of oppression.”
 When Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island, he said Ali
gave him hope
 When John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised their fists on the Olympic
medal stand, one of their demands was to “Restore Muhammad Ali’s title”
 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: “He made all Americans, black and white, stand
taller. I may be 7’2" but I never felt taller than when standing in his
shadow”

6. The artist inside + outside the ring
 Integrated his love of art into his boxing career + non-
boxing career
 Freestyled with rhyme schemes + spoken word
 Including freestyling when trashtalking his opponents
 Recorded 2 spoken word albums + R&B song
 2 Grammy nominations
 Performed in several films + Broadway musical
 Wrote 2 autobiographies

7. Failures
 Academics: ranked 376 / 391 in high school
 Arrogance + trashtalking
 "I am the greatest! I shook up the world. I'm the prettiest thing
that ever lived.”
 Infamous for trash-talking: e.g., said his opponent Sonny Liston
smelled like a bear + vowed to donate him to a zoo after he beat
him
 Misogyny
 Divorced first wife for lack of modesty: "She wouldn't do what she
was supposed to do. She wore lipstick; she went into bars; she
dressed in clothes that were revealing and didn't look right."
 Cheated on second wife with 16-year-old girl; married her in
extralegal Islamic ceremony
 Sued by a woman for allegedly sexual assaulting her at age 12
 Discouraged daughter Laila from pursuing professional boxing
career: "Women are not made to be hit in the breast, and face
like that” (she ignored his advice)

8. Takeaways
 From his successes
 Be flexible: “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”
 True courage = willingly giving up what is valuable to you for what is right
 Always ask questions. Use empathy to identify injustices that do not affect you personally
 A single act of courage can help spark a movement
 There are many ways to integrate your love of art into your professional career and personal
 From his failures
 Be humble
 Be kind to your opponents
 Make sure your public ethics and private ethics are aligned. Make sure you have moral
consistency in your conduct and values.