BIOGRAPHIE MOHAMED ALI

January 17, 1942 Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. was born in Louisville, Kentucky. His mother worked as a housekeeper and cook serving white women from privileged backgrounds. His father sold religious and commercial prints. At the age of 12, Cassius Marcellus had his bicycle stolen. In anger, he met with police officer Joe Elsby Martin Sr. and told him that he wanted to find the thief and give him a beating. The policeman advises him to start with boxing lessons. The next day he takes his first class and a few weeks later he wins his first fight. Classified as an amateur, he won his first gold medal at the National Golden Gloves in the middleweight category. He won the gold medal in heavyweight at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. He then turned professional. He faced Tunney Hunsaker for his first professional fight which he won. His victories began to make him known throughout America. He boxed for the first time in the cities of New York and Los Angeles. February 25, 1964 (22 years old) He becomes the world champion of boxing, heavyweight category by beating the ex-champion Sonny Liston in 6 rounds, boxer until then considered invisible. While traditionally the champion fights twice a year, Mohamed Ali participates in 5 fights in 1966 which he wins On May 8, 1966, he refused to join the American army, which was at war with Vietnam at the time, because he said that no Vietnamese had ever called him a nigger. He won the case and could therefore return to boxing. October 30, 1974 After 14 fights and 39 exhibition fights to return to the highest level, Mohamed Ali recovers his heavyweight boxing title by beating George Foreman. In 1981, despite several attempts to return to his former level, Mohamed Ali gradually retired. In 1984, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, which slowly affected his motor skills. In 1999 the BBC crowned him with the title of \"Sportsman of the Century\". In 2005, President Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Citizenship and the Medal of Freedom. December 17, 2005 Mohamed Ali receives the Otto Hahn Peace Medal for \"the cultural emancipation of black people worldwide\". June 10, 2016 He died as a result of respiratory problems, in Scottsdale, Arizona