Muhammad Ali born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr was one of the leading heavyweight boxers of the 20th century, and remains the only three-time lineal champion of that division.
Ali was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, and began training as an amateur boxer when he was 12 years old. At the age f o18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, then turned professional later that year
At the age of 22, in 1964, he won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a major upset. He then changed his name from Cassius Clay, which he called his "slave name", to Muhammad Ali.
Nicknamed "The Greatest", he was involved in several historic boxing matches
His records of beating 21 boxers for the world heavyweight title (shared with Joe Louis), as well as winning 14 unified title bouts (shared with former welterweight champion José Napoles), were unbeaten for 35 years.
Ali is the only boxer to be named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year six times.
Ali was also ranked as the greatest athlete of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated, the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC, and the third greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN SportsCentury
After retiring from boxing in 1981, at the age of 39, Ali focused on religion and charity. In 1984, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's syndrome, which some reports attribute to boxing-related injuries
Ali made limited public appearances, and was cared for by his family until his death on June 3, 2016
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