Muhammad Ali Biography

Fast Facts

• Beat more champions and top contenders than any heavyweight champion before him and won the title of Heavyweight Champion three during his career
• Was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005
• Met his boxing trainer, who happened to be a policeman, when he reported his stolen bike and told the officer, Joe Martin, that he wanted to beat up whoever stole it
• Quote: "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth․"
• Refused to join the U․S․ Army on the grounds that it went against his religious beliefs, but the U․S․ Department of Justice found that his objections were actually political and he was arrested and stripped of his title and boxing license
• Used several unorthodox boxing styles, keeping his arms low and avoiding punches via foot speed and lying on the ropes to avoid heavy punches, a technique eventually named "the rope-a-dope․"
• Was known for predicting the round in which his boxing opponents would fall and taunting them as he fought to rile up the crowd
• Met Nelson Mandela when he was released from prison in South Africa
• Has devoted his time and money to helping the developing world, feeding the hungry at home and abroad
• Joined the Nation of Islam in 1964, which gave him the name Muhammad Ali