Today the man many consider to be the greatest athlete ever turns 68 years old. Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Clay in Louisville, KY on January 17, 1942. After winning the Gold Medal in boxing at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome Ali amassed a professional record of 56 wins, 5 losses and 37 Knock outs.
In 1967, Ali refused to be inducted into the U.S. military, based on his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. He was arrested and found guilty on draft evasion charges, stripped of his boxing title, and his boxing license was suspended. He was not imprisoned, but did not fight again for nearly four years while his appeal worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was successful.
In 2001 Will Smith took on the challenge of his career in playing the iconic boxer and political figure in Ali. In this clip from the film Muhammed Ali is arrested for refusing the draft and uttering the famous words “No Vietcong ever called me Nigger…you my opposer!”
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