Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali was a worldwide famous athlete, boxer and champion. 

Best known for

At the age of 12 Ali became an outstanding amateur fighter. 

He picked up a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960. 

Muhammad Ali gained victory in the fight against Sonny Liston in 1964. He has become the World heavyweight champion. 

Same year he altered his birth name Cassius Clay into Muhammad Ali. 

In 1966 Ali denied serving in the Vietnam army. One year later he was found guilty of refusing induction into the armed forces. Ali was banned from boxing for 3.5 years. 

Ali returned to the ring in 1971. 

He has experienced two defeats against Joe Frazier and Ken Norton. The championship called Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman was prominent in the history of boxing. 

In 2005 Ali earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

Religious beliefs

Muhammad Ali was raised as Baptist but decided to convert to Islam when he was 22 years old in 1964. He is claimed to be one of the most known Muslims in the world.

Sexual orientation

Muhammad Ali was straight and had been married 4 times. He had 9 children in total: 7 daughters and 2 sons.  Most of his wives converted into Islam religion. (Source: dailymail.co.uk, 06/09/2016)

Worth to know

The author of the book Ali: A Life, Jonathan Eig pointed out that in the letter to his then-wife Khalilah Camacho-Ali, Muhammad confessed that he was inspired to convert to Islam by a cartoon in the newspaper Muhammad Speaks that showed "a story about how white slave owners beat their slaves, while insisting that they pray to Jesus". He also wrote: "It (the cartoon) did something to me. And it made sense.” (Source: time.com, 06/02/2017). 

His shoe size was 13 US or 47 EU. Two independent sources have proved it (Source: nation.co.ke, 06/08/2016; theguardian.com, 09/26/2016).