10 Things You Didn't Know About Muhammad Ali

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The legend of Muhammad Ali is known across the entire world. He has been dubbed one of the greatest athletes of all time. Winning boxing championships and acting as a political force to be reckoned with since the early 1960s. As we laid to rest one of the world's finest sportsman, here are ten amazing facts about his talent both inside and out of the ring.

No. 1

At the young age of 12 years old, Muhammad Ali then known as Cassius Clay had his bike stolen from him, in his hometown of Louisville Kentucky. He reported the theft to a local police officer and warned the officer that he would pummel the thief once he was found. The officer, a man named Joe Martin decided to teach Clay had a box. Within the coming weeks, Clay became a natural boxer and determined that he would pursue the sport as a full-time career. Btw, his bike was never recovered.

No. 2

Cassius Clay was named after a famous white anti-slavery abolitionist. But two would go on to share multiple similarities. Despite playing, eventually changing his name, the original Cassius Clay served under President Lincoln and edited a popular antislavery newspaper that distributed its contents to the south. He was often person attacked by those who supported Confederate ideologies and suffered multiple stab wounds and gunshots in his time. Actively facing the bigotry mirrored in Muhammad Ali's later life. The original Cassius Clay died at the age of 92 before changing his name to Muhammad. The boxer first adopted the title of Cassius x

No. 3

Muhammad Ali's form of training was rigorous and bizarre. His honest means of training involved his younger brother throwing rocks at him as hard and fast as he could. Ali studied his brothers are movements and eventually learn to predict when and where the boys hands would move. He became so good at dodging rocks that it frustrated his brother. The training helped enormously however as Ali could go on long spans of time in the ring without ever receiving a single hit. In one amazing display of his athletic talent, he dodged 21 punches in a span of 10 seconds. All while back against the ropes float like a butterfly indeed.

No. 4

In 1963, Ali attempted his hand at music and poetry. Releasing an album aptly titled 'I am the greatest' and featuring a cover of the infamous song stand by me by Ben E King. Hollywood also write poetry and even wrap his responses to questions asked by fans, despite the genre not having yet been invented. He also had an incredibly short acting career featuring a stint on Broadway in the show but quite though the show closed after a mere five days.

No. 5

While it's odd to think of the world's greatest boxer as a man with any fears. It's true that Ali began his career petrified of flying as he flew to international venues Ali was provided a parachute that he never took off while in the air. The parachute was never needed however as Ali was never involved in any plane crashes. It is unclear if he ever got over his fear of flying.

No. 6

One of the most famous stories about Muhammad Ali comes after his return to his home state of Kentucky after winning the Olympic gold medal for boxing. He entered a restaurant that rejected his, do not serve African-Americans. The waiter is reported to have said, "sorry we don't serve Negroes" Ali was only responding, "well, that's okay, I don't need a meal." Ali claims this event was enough for him to walk over to the Ohio River and toss the metal into the water. This part of the story is still in some dispute as some historians believe he may have just lost it.

No. 7

Ali was not shy about his conversion to Islam and his friendship with civil rights leader Malcolm X. It was this religious change of heart that prompted him to reject the US military draft during the war in Vietnam. Ali was escorted peacefully to prison where he was indicted for serving five years minimum for draft dodging. However, he never spent his sentence in jail as his case was under constant means of appeal. He paid $10,000 fine but was banned from the sport of boxing for three years. He finally returned with a renewed license in 1970, and one year later the Supreme Court freed him of his previous conviction of draft dodging.

No. 8

In 1974, Ali faced off with been undefeated champion George Foreman. They battled in the country of Zaire for paychecks reported up to 5 million dollars. All he wanted American audiences to be able to watch the match live but this proved to be a problem due to the time difference over the Atlantic. To solve this, Ali and Foreman boxed that around 4 am in Africa so American viewers could watch at a decent time. Ali defeated Foreman stripping him of his undefeated status and regained his heavyweight title.

No. 9

One of all these greatest celebrity enemies, though, was Frank Sinatra, who was keen to see Ali lose during 1970. One fight of the century against Joe Frazier, however, tickets to the match were in such high demand that Sinatra had to take drastic action just to see the fight. He took a guest photography position with Life magazine and was hired to cover the fight. Sinatra's photos ended up not only in the magazine but on the front. Frazier won the famous battle.

No. 10

However, one of Ali's greatest endeavors was by far his involvement in getting Saddam Hussein to release 15 American hostages In 1990. As the Gulf War was just getting underway, Ali traveled to Iraq, where he debated and negotiated the release of the American hostages. Ali succeeded in bringing all of them back to the United States. Despite this, then President George HW Bush was adamant the move was dangerous, and the only function is propaganda that served Iraq and harms the international opinion of the United States. To those 15 men, however, it was clear that Muhammad Ali was not just a world-famous boxer he was a hero of the most personal nature.