Muhammad Ali (nama lahir Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.; lahir di Louisville, Kentucky, Amerika Serikat, 17 Januari 1942 – meninggal di Phoenix, Arizona, Amerika Serikat, 3 Juni 2016 pada umur 74 tahun[2]) adalah pensiunan petinju Amerika Serikat. Pada tahun 1999, Ali dianugerahi "Sportsman of the Century" oleh Sports Illustrated.[3] Ali tiga kali menjadi Juara Dunia Tinju kelas Berat. Ali lahir di Louisville, Kentucky, Amerika Serikat. Namanya mengikuti nama ayahnya, Cassius Marcellus Clay, Sr. Ali kemudian mengubah namanya setelah bergabung dengan Nation of Islam dan akhirnya memeluk Islam Sunni pada tahun 1975.Ali sukses menyabet medali emas Olimpiade di kelas berat ringan pada usia 18 tahun. Pada 1964, dia kembali mengejutkan mata dunia dengan keluar sebagai juara dunia kelas berat usai mengalahkan Sonny Liston. Tak lama kemudian dia mengganti namanya menjadi Muhammad Ali setelah memutuskan untuk memeluk agama Islam. Ali akhirnya memutuskan gantung sarung tinju pada 1981 dan tiga tahun kemudian, dia diagnosis menderita Parkinson. Sebelum pertandingan melawan Larry Holmes ini, Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, dokter pribadi yang telah mendampingi Ali selama puluhan tahun, dengan terpaksa mengundurkan diri karena Ali tidak mau mendengarkan nasehatnya untuk menolak pertandingan melawan Holmes, dan lebih memilih bertanding melawan Holmes. Dalam salah satu buku biografi Ali, Pacheco mengemukakan bahwa selama latihan Ali sempat kencing darah akibat kerusakan ginjal terkena pukulan, dia juga mengemukakan bahwa Ali sudah memiliki gejala sindrom Parkinson sejak sebelum pertandingan ini.
11 Desember 1981, sekali lagi Ali yang sudah uzur, mencoba kembali ke dunia tinju melawan Trevor Berbick di Bahama dalam pertandingan yang diberi tajuk "Drama in Bahama". Dalam kondisi renta, Ali mampu tampil lebih bagus daripada saat melawan Holmes, walaupun akhirnya kalah angka 10 ronde. Setelah pertandingan ini, Ali benar-benar pensiun dari dunia tinju. Muhammad Ali dilaporkan meninggal dunia dalam usia 74 tahun pada Jumat (3/6) waktu setempat. Ali juga diketahui telah menderita penyakit Parkinson selama lebih dari 32 tahun. Penyakit tersebut diketahui 3 tahun setelah pensiun dari ring tinju. Namun dalam dua tahun terakhir, ia diserang penyakit gangguan pernapasan atau pneumonia dan sering keluar masuk rumah sakit.
Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, generally considered the greatest heavyweight in the history of the sport. Early in his career, Ali was known for being an inspiring, controversial and polarizing figure both inside and outside the boxing ring. He is one of the most recognized sports figures of the past 100 years, crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC. He also wrote several best-selling books about his career, including The Greatest: My Own Story and The Soul of a Butterfly. Ali, originally known as Cassius Clay, began training at 12 years old and at the age of 22 won the world heavyweight championship in 1964 from Sonny Liston in a stunning upset. Shortly after that bout, Ali joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name. He converted to Sunni Islam in 1975, and 30 years later began adhering to Sufism.
In 1967, three years after winning the heavyweight title, Ali refused to be conscripted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War. He was eventually arrested and found guilty on draft evasion charges and stripped of his boxing title. He did not fight again for nearly four years—losing a time of peak performance in an athlete's career. Ali's appeal worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court where, in 1971, his conviction was overturned. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the war made him an icon for the larger counterculture generation. Ali remains the only three-time lineal world heavyweight champion; he won the title in 1964, 1974, and 1978. Between February 25, 1964 and September 19, 1964 Muhammad Ali reigned as the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion.
Nicknamed "The Greatest", Ali was involved in several historic boxing matches. Notable among these were the first Liston fight, three with rival Joe Frazier, and "The Rumble in the Jungle" with George Foreman, in which he regained titles he had been stripped of seven years earlier. At a time when most fighters let their managers do the talking, Ali, inspired by professional wrestler "Gorgeous" George Wagner, thrived in—and indeed craved—the spotlight, where he was often provocative and outlandish. He controlled most press conferences and interviews, and spoke freely about issues unrelated to boxing. Ali transformed the role and image of the African American athlete in America by his embrace of racial pride and his willingness to antagonize the white establishment in doing so. In the words of writer Joyce Carol Oates, he was one of the few athletes in any sport to "define the terms of his public reputation".
