Muhammed Ali Paper

Muhammed Ali had greaet courage and because of his courage he not only was the best of his time, but he was the youngest boxer to win an Olympic gold medal. He faced great dangers of retrieving that medal because at a young age a nineteen year old shouldn't be taking that many hits to the head. Actually no boxer should, but for Ali to face men that were in their late to early twenties that were experienced boxers and were in the ring to hurt Ali made it even more dangerous. Ali's saw before helped him achieve a gold medal in the Olympics. By Ali winning his gold medal it helped him get the reputation he needed in order to fight at a more professional level. Soon he would win the title he dreamed of winning.

On May 25, 1965 Muhammed Ali fouught the most feared man in boxing Sonny Liston. Sonny Liston was the heavyweight champion and was big and strong like an ox. Most boxers that fought the great Liston could't fight more than three rounds without being knocked out by Liston. Most people thought that since Liston was stronger that Ali and more expieriened that he was going to crush Ali like every other oppenent he fought, but Liston had another thing coming. The courage it takes to be able to fight not only somebody that was a heavyweight champion, but someone that was bigger and stronger than you would make someone step into the ring knees shaking from being too nervous. Yet Ali's trainers didn't see one sign nervous in him. One trainer said, "Ali seemed confident and ready to fight and thats what I saw before and during the fight". During the fight Ali's speed immediately frustrated Liston because Ali's reaction time was sharp to the point he was barely hit the first round. Of coarse this irritated Liston and eventually he would lose his patience with Ali, which would be the cause of his downfall. Ali's knockout left the audience stunned and jaw dropped. After this knockout the media was begging to know more about the great Ali as he was approaching his prime, but eventually he would give everything up.

On April 28, 1967 Muhammed Ali was drafted into the army. Ali wouldn't step up when his name was callen and just by not stepping up he knew he was jepordizing his career and his popularity by not stepping up to the army during his draft call. The average athlete wouldn't just give up the sport he plays because of the money he makes . Now if you're the best in the world at your sport the typical athlete would definately not even involve his personal beliefs with the fans he's attracting and the money he's making yet Ali was willing to give it all up during his prime to support the nation of islam. Ali giving up his fame at that time would be like Lebron giving up basketball right now to support his personal beliefs. Ali had a meeting about his situation with other famous athletes and he even said himself, "I'm going to have to face the consequences for my beliefs and im willing to face them to any extent". The amount of courage it takes to give up something your the best at, to go to jail for five years, his passport was taken away, and to pay a ten thousand dollar fine is just unbelievable. Nobody in the history of any sport would do what Ali has done and nobody will have the amount of confidence, maturity, or courage to just accept the sentence that he was sent because of standing up for his beliefs.

Later in Ali's career Ali continued fighting, but due to his long fighting career and spending a few years in jail he slowed down. After Ali was released from jail he wanted to prove to everyone that he still was the best and at this point he let his own courage get the best of him because from fighting all of his life, Ali took too many blows to the head which caused him to get Parkinson's disease. Ali had a great overall career and one of Ali's trainers qouted that, "if someone were to have Ali's traits then they would have the courage of a lion".