Muhammad Ali glares at Sonny Liston after knocking him unconscious. His persona inside and out of a boxing ring inspired millions.
At a time when racism and hatred against the African-American community was peaking, Ali not only refused to serve the US Army in Vietnam, he campaigned against the war too, knowing the backlash it would bring.
Ali reasoned his refusal in these words:
“My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America”
He had to face arrest, fine, his boxing license was cancelled and he was stripped of his championship. That did not stop him from staying true to what he believed in.
Muhammad Ali arrested for refusing to be drafted for the Vietnam War in 1967.
He was the people’s champion, after all. Gold belts meant nothing to him.
During that time, he was the most hated man in the United States. So much so that his hometown voted to remove him as a US citizen.
Muhammad Ali explains his reasons to not join the army during the Vietnam war
But as they say, time is the best judge.
The once most hated man in the US has an airport named after him after people voted for it. The announcement was made on the legend’s birth anniversary on January 18.
“Muhammad Ali belonged to the world, but he only had one hometown, and fortunately, that is our great city of Louisville,” Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said.
The Louisville Airport to be named after Muhammad Ali.
He added that it was important that Louisville furthered the legacy of the great boxer and humanitarian.
Thanks to the different, not remotely ideal, but better times we are living in. He might have faced hatred in his days, but today, the legacy of Muhammad, and what he stood for, stands as tall as his sporting talents.
He is not only, and arguably, the greatest sportsman to have ever lived, but one of the most influential people in human history.
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