Kdo se je poročil s Veronica Porché Ali?

Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "the Greatest", he is often regarded as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. He held the Ring magazine heavyweight title from 1964 to 1970, was the undisputed champion from 1974 to 1978, and was the WBA and Ring heavyweight champion from 1978 to 1979. In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC.

Born 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 joined the Nation of Islam in the early 1960s, but later disavowed it in the mid-1970s. He won the world heavyweight championship, defeating Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22. During that year, he denounced his birth name as a "slave name" and formally changed his name to Muhammad Ali. In 1967, Ali refused to be drafted into the military, owing to his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War, and was found guilty of draft evasion and stripped of his boxing titles. He stayed out of prison while appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, where his conviction was overturned in 1971. He did not fight 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 of the 1960s generation, and he became a prominent, high-profile figure of racial pride for African Americans during the civil rights movement and throughout his career.

He fought in several highly publicized boxing matches, including fights with Liston, Joe Frazier (including the Fight of the Century, to that point the biggest boxing event and the Thrilla in Manila), and George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle. At a time when many boxers let their managers do the talking, Ali became renowned for his provocative and outlandish persona. He was famous for trash talking, often free-styled with rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry, and is identified as a pioneer in hip-hop. He often predicted in which round he would knock out his opponent. As a boxer, Ali was known for his unorthodox movement, footwork, head movement, and rope-a-dope technique, among others.

Outside boxing, Ali performed as a spoken word artist, releasing two studio albums: I Am the Greatest! (1963) and The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976). Both albums received Grammy Award nominations. He also featured as an actor and writer, releasing two autobiographies. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy, and activism. In 1984, he made public his diagnosis of Parkinson's syndrome, which some reports attributed to boxing-related injuries, though he and his specialist physicians disputed this. He remained an active public figure, but in his later years made fewer public appearances as his condition worsened, and was cared for by his family.

Muhammad Ali (rojstno ime Cassius Marcellus Clay mlajši), ameriški boksar, * 17. januar 1942, Louisville, Kentucky, ZDA, umrl 3. junij 2016, Phoenix, Arizona.

Muhammad Ali je trikratni svetovni boksarski prvak v težki kategoriji in splošno velja za najboljšega boksarja v težki kategoriji vseh časov. Kot amaterski boksar je osvojil zlato olimpijsko medaljo v poltežki kategoriji na Poletnih olimpijskih igrah 1960 v Rimu, kasneje pa je kot prvi trikrat osvojil naslov svetovnega boksarskega prvaka v težki kategoriji.

Prvotno mu je bilo ime Cassius Clay, leta 1964 pa se je preimenoval po pridružitvi islamski verski organizaciji Nation of Islam, leta 1975 je tudi prevzel sunitsko islamsko vero. Leta 1965 je zavrnil služenje vojaškega roka zaradi veroizpovedi in nasprotovanja Vietnamski vojni. Zaradi tega je bil aretiran, obsojen izogibanja služenja vojaškega roka, odvzet mu je bil naslov boksarskega prvaka, njegova boksarska licenca pa je bila začasno preklicana. Ni bil zaprt, toda skoraj štiri leta ni boksal, med tem ko je čakal na razsodbo Vrhovnega sodišča o njegovi pritožbi, ki je uspela.

Ali, z vzdevkom The Greatest (slovensko Največji), je sodeloval v več zgodovinskih boksarskih dvobojih. Trije od teh so bili proti Joeju Frazierju, eden pa proti Georgu Foremanu, ki ga je Ali premagal s prekinitvijo za svoj drugi naslov svetovnega prvaka v težki kategoriji. V svoji karieri je doživel le pet porazov (štiri z odločitvijo in le enega s prekinitvijo) in izjemnih 56 zmag (37 s prekinitvijo in 19 z odločitvijo) Ali je bil znan po svojem neobičajnem boksarskem slogu, ki ga je opisal kot »lebdi kot metulj, piči kot čebela« (»float like a butterfly, sting like a bee«), in strategiji Rope-a-dope. Znan je bil tudi po svojem običaju, da je pred dvobojem zmerjal svojega nasprotnika po televiziji in včasih tudi osebno, pogosto v rimah. Slednje ga je skupaj z neobičajnim boksarskim slogom povzdignilo v kulturno ikono. V starosti je zbolel za Parkinsonovo boleznijo, kot posledica poškodb, ki jih je bil utrpel v boksarski karieri. Leta 1999 ga je znana športna revija Sports Illustrated proglasila za športnika stoletja, BBC pa za športno osebnost stoletja.