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Muhammad Ali was an American boxer, activist and poet. Born Cassius Clay, he changed his name after converting to Islam. Nicknamed \u201cThe Greatest\u201d, he won a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics and became the heavyweight champion of the world.<\/p>\n
In the mid-1980s, he made public his diagnosis with Parkinson\u2019s disease, a condition that may have been linked to head blows sustained during bouts.<\/p>\n
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As a kid I got very involved in his story because everyone said I looked a bit like him. He was the greatest boxer of his era, and arguably the greatest sportsman of the 20th century. I found it inspiring that someone who was world famous looked like me! I was also attracted by his clever wordplay \u2013 be it his famous \u201cfloat like a butterfly, sting like a bee\u201d quip or his \u201cI\u2019ve wrestled with alligators\u201d freestyle rap. That was one of the reasons I decided to become a poet. He\u2019s been called the first rapper, and rightly so in my eyes.<\/p>\n
First and foremost, he was his own man. Yes, he was a braggart, a boaster and a showman \u2013 but he was also a man of courage, as he showed both in the ring and in the way he wasn\u2019t afraid to defy the conventions of the time, for instance in his stance against the Vietnam War<\/a>. In a similar vein, he changed his name from Cassius Clay \u2013 which he regarded as a slave name \u2013 to Ali. Last, not only was he a handsome man but also an intelligent, witty one, as he frequently showed.<\/p>\n Lots of things, among them his opposition to the Vietnam War. That led to him being stripped of his boxing titles and facing jail after being found guilty of evading the draft, though he successfully appealed against his conviction. He also spoke up for himself and took care of the business end of things as well as the boxing. You can see why white supremacists loathed him and subjected him to so many death threats. I think he\u2019s one of the most underrated black rights activists of the whole civil rights movement<\/a>.<\/p>\n First, the way he stood up to the US military and refused to fight the Viet Cong. Second, his brilliance in the ring \u2013 you only have to watch footage of his fights against the likes of Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier and George Foreman (in the \u201cRumble in the Jungle\u201d) to see that he really was the greatest boxer of all time. Third, the way he\u2019d often come back and win despite taking a heavy beating. And fourth, the dignity and grace with which he faced up to Parkinson\u2019s disease later in life.<\/p>\n Not really \u2013 he had to do the bragging and the boasting to make it to the top of his profession.<\/p>\n I\u2019d ask him what it was like in the Deep South in the sixties, when he couldn\u2019t drink from the same water fountain as a white man, and how much he thought things had really changed since then.<\/p>\n Craig Charles hosts a weekday show on BBC Radio 6 Music from 1 to 4pm. The Craig Charles Trunk of Funk Vol 2<\/em> album is out now on Soul Bank Music<\/strong><\/p>\n This content first appeared in the March 2022 issue of BBC History Magazine<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nWhat made Ali a hero?<\/h3>\n
What was his finest hour?<\/h3>\n
Is there anything that you don\u2019t particularly admire about him?<\/h3>\n
What would you ask Ali if you could meet him?<\/h3>\n