WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.899 Welcome back to The Deep Dive, the place where 00:00:01.899 --> 00:00:04.200 we sift through the sources so you can walk away 00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:07.040 instantly well -informed. Today we are tackling 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:11.419 just a monumental figure, a man who really transcended 00:00:11.419 --> 00:00:14.500 sport to become this massive force in 20th century 00:00:14.500 --> 00:00:16.839 history. We are, of course, talking about Muhammad 00:00:16.839 --> 00:00:20.449 Ali. You know, to call him simply a great boxer 00:00:20.449 --> 00:00:23.109 or even the greatest boxer, it just doesn't cut 00:00:23.109 --> 00:00:25.589 it. It's reductive. It really is. Our mission 00:00:25.589 --> 00:00:28.350 today is to move beyond that mythology of the 00:00:28.350 --> 00:00:31.710 greatest and to really unpack the pivotal moments 00:00:31.710 --> 00:00:34.609 of his life. We're going to explore how Cassius 00:00:34.609 --> 00:00:38.030 Marcellus Clay Jr. evolved from, well, an astonishingly 00:00:38.030 --> 00:00:41.170 gifted athlete into a radical, cultural, and 00:00:41.170 --> 00:00:43.869 religious icon. An icon who challenged the most 00:00:43.869 --> 00:00:46.189 powerful political institutions in America. And 00:00:46.189 --> 00:00:48.810 won. Okay, let's - unpack this. Our sources today 00:00:48.810 --> 00:00:50.829 are, I mean, they're incredibly dense. They cover 00:00:50.829 --> 00:00:52.869 everything from the precise fight statistics. 00:00:53.049 --> 00:00:55.070 He was the only three -time lineal heavyweight 00:00:55.070 --> 00:00:57.049 champion, for starters. Right. All the way to 00:00:57.049 --> 00:00:59.030 his philosophical and religious transformations 00:00:59.030 --> 00:01:03.090 and even the existence of secret government spying 00:01:03.090 --> 00:01:05.849 operations launched specifically against him. 00:01:05.930 --> 00:01:08.250 Yeah. It's incredible stuff. So the mission for 00:01:08.250 --> 00:01:10.870 you, the listener, is to understand the profound 00:01:10.870 --> 00:01:14.280 mechanism of his societal impact. Because Ali 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:16.700 didn't just react to events. No, not at all. 00:01:16.780 --> 00:01:18.959 He dictated the terms of the conversation outside 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:21.840 the ring. He mastered the art of shaping public 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:24.739 narratives, even when those choices came at a 00:01:24.739 --> 00:01:27.900 just an astronomical personal and professional 00:01:27.900 --> 00:01:30.819 cost. And that ability right there, that ability 00:01:30.819 --> 00:01:34.099 to manufacture leverage, to be his own PR machine 00:01:34.099 --> 00:01:36.859 and political spokesman, that's what makes him 00:01:36.859 --> 00:01:39.180 revolutionary. Absolutely. We aren't just discussing 00:01:39.180 --> 00:01:41.920 a man who was voted the Sports Illustrated Sportsman 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:45.299 of the Century in 1999. And the BBC Sports Personality 00:01:45.299 --> 00:01:48.019 of the Century. Exactly. We are looking at a 00:01:48.019 --> 00:01:50.840 master tactician who used celebrity as a tool 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:54.040 for profound moral and political change. So the 00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:56.850 story begins in Louisville, Kentucky. Cassius 00:01:56.850 --> 00:01:59.709 Marcellus Flea Jr. was born there in 1942. And 00:01:59.709 --> 00:02:02.430 that name, Cassius Clay, it became something 00:02:02.430 --> 00:02:05.370 Ali later, you know, vehemently denounced. But 00:02:05.370 --> 00:02:08.289 the origins of the name itself tell you so much 00:02:08.289 --> 00:02:10.610 about the social landscape he inherited. Yes. 00:02:10.629 --> 00:02:14.210 Well. His father, Cassius Senior, was named after 00:02:14.210 --> 00:02:18.069 a 19th century Republican politician and abolitionist. 00:02:18.129 --> 00:02:20.210 An abolitionist. So that sounds like a positive 00:02:20.210 --> 00:02:23.150 legacy on the surface. On the surface, yes. But 00:02:23.150 --> 00:02:26.469 it's this incredibly powerful historical collision 00:02:26.469 --> 00:02:29.770 embedded in his very identity. Because while 00:02:29.770 --> 00:02:32.349 the original Cassius Clay was an abolitionist, 00:02:32.409 --> 00:02:35.229 he was still, you know, part of a system that 00:02:35.229 --> 00:02:38.550 upheld white supremacy in many ways. I see. And 00:02:38.550 --> 00:02:41.629 Ali later recognized that disconnect. He understood 00:02:41.629 --> 00:02:44.110 that his given name was ultimately tied to a 00:02:44.110 --> 00:02:47.090 lineage of property owners, not the African -American 00:02:47.090 --> 00:02:49.810 ancestry that defined his experience. And this 00:02:49.810 --> 00:02:51.849 is crucial context. It's the whole crucible. 00:02:51.870 --> 00:02:54.289 This environment, the Jim Crow South, was where 00:02:54.289 --> 00:02:56.750 his defiance was forged. And the sources point 00:02:56.750 --> 00:02:59.990 to specific formative experiences rooted right 00:02:59.990 --> 00:03:02.430 there in that environment. He grew up amid intense 00:03:02.430 --> 00:03:05.250 racial segregation, and two events in particular 00:03:05.250 --> 00:03:07.449 really stand out. The first one was being denied 00:03:07.449 --> 00:03:09.770 a drink of water at a store because of his race. 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:12.139 Just a simple drink of water. His mother recalled 00:03:12.139 --> 00:03:14.460 that it really affected him. That seemingly small 00:03:14.460 --> 00:03:18.020 everyday insult? Being denied a basic human necessity 00:03:18.020 --> 00:03:22.099 purely based on the color of your skin. It translates 00:03:22.099 --> 00:03:25.460 into this early burning sense of injustice. And 00:03:25.460 --> 00:03:27.159 that was followed by something far more horrific. 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:32.099 Yes. The 1955 murder of Emmett Till, a 14 -year 00:03:32.099 --> 00:03:34.599 -old black boy who was brutally killed in Mississippi. 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:38.120 Our sources state that young Cassius was strongly 00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:40.659 affected by the crime. So you have the daily 00:03:40.659 --> 00:03:42.699 indignities of segregation and then you have 00:03:42.699 --> 00:03:46.020 the horrific, terrifying reality of white violence 00:03:46.020 --> 00:03:48.419 against black youth. And our sources suggest 00:03:48.419 --> 00:03:51.219 this led him to act out, to even vandalize a 00:03:51.219 --> 00:03:54.400 local rail yard. This wasn't just a difficult 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:56.860 childhood. It was a childhood witnessing systemic 00:03:56.860 --> 00:03:59.759 brutality firsthand. So when we fast forward 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:02.360 to his later radical political stance, you can 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:04.159 trace the roots of that unwavering conviction 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:06.900 right back to these moments. He realized early 00:04:06.900 --> 00:04:09.319 on that success within the established. white 00:04:09.319 --> 00:04:11.180 sister. Like winning an Olympic medal. Right. 00:04:11.240 --> 00:04:13.780 It did not negate the brutal realities of injustice 00:04:13.780 --> 00:04:16.240 he saw right there at home. So let's talk about 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:18.060 the origin story of the boxing career itself, 00:04:18.139 --> 00:04:21.180 because the turning point was remarkably, almost 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:24.819 comically mundane. A stolen bicycle. A stolen 00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:28.620 bicycle. At age 12, he's fuming over the theft 00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:31.579 and he confronts a police officer who also happened 00:04:31.579 --> 00:04:34.360 to be a boxing coach, Joey Martin, threatening 00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:36.970 to wook the thief. And Martin's response was 00:04:36.970 --> 00:04:40.170 just perfect. He wisely tells this furious 12 00:04:40.170 --> 00:04:42.110 -year -old that he had better learn how to box 00:04:42.110 --> 00:04:44.410 first. And he took the advice. He started working 00:04:44.410 --> 00:04:47.110 with another coach, Fred Stoner, who helps mold 00:04:47.110 --> 00:04:50.709 that distinctive, quick dancing style. That unbelievable 00:04:50.709 --> 00:04:53.930 stamina. It's also a point of note that Ali attended 00:04:53.930 --> 00:04:56.230 Central High School and he struggled immensely 00:04:56.230 --> 00:04:58.810 with reading and writing due to dyslexia. That 00:04:58.810 --> 00:05:01.000 detail is often glossed over, isn't it? It is, 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:03.740 but it resurfaces years later during his draft 00:05:03.740 --> 00:05:06.519 classification, which is a critical moment we 00:05:06.519 --> 00:05:08.459 will definitely get to. His amateur career was 00:05:08.459 --> 00:05:12.000 just meteoric. A hundred wins and only five losses. 00:05:12.220 --> 00:05:14.360 And it all culminated in a light heavyweight 00:05:14.360 --> 00:05:17.120 gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. 00:05:17.259 --> 00:05:19.819 He was an international hero. He was on top of 00:05:19.819 --> 00:05:22.959 the world. And then that glory just evaporated 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:24.939 the moment he came back to segregated America. 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:28.639 This is where we get that famous. Though nuanced 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:32.139 anecdote, he was refused service at a whites 00:05:32.139 --> 00:05:34.779 only restaurant upon his return to Louisville. 00:05:34.939 --> 00:05:38.319 And in a moment of just absolute despair and 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:41.060 outrage, he claimed to have thrown his Olympic 00:05:41.060 --> 00:05:43.459 medal into the Ohio River. It's one of those 00:05:43.459 --> 00:05:45.439 stories that's almost too perfect to be true. 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:47.899 And the sources give us the complexity here. 00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:50.759 A biographer did confirm he was refused service 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:53.540 at the diner and that the anger was very real. 00:05:53.639 --> 00:05:56.000 But the medal itself. The actual medal may have 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:58.139 just been lost a year. later. But, you know, 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:00.579 the literal truth matters less than the symbolic 00:06:00.579 --> 00:06:02.699 truth here. I see what you mean. The anecdote 00:06:02.699 --> 00:06:05.139 perfectly captured the absurdity of the era. 00:06:05.319 --> 00:06:07.600 You can be America's golden boy on the world 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:09.800 stage, but you are still a second class citizen 00:06:09.800 --> 00:06:12.060 the moment you walk into a diner in your own 00:06:12.060 --> 00:06:14.319 hometown. That cognitive dissonance. It fuels 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:17.040 his entire future rebellion. He did eventually 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:19.079 receive a replacement medal, by the way, at the 00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:21.860 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where he lit the torch. 00:06:21.980 --> 00:06:24.339 A really beautiful bookend moment. He turned 00:06:24.339 --> 00:06:28.120 pro in October 1960. And by the end of 63, his 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:31.300 professional record was stunning, 19 -0 with 00:06:31.300 --> 00:06:34.860 15 knockouts. But this is the key moment. Ali 00:06:34.860 --> 00:06:37.040 realized boxing talent wasn't enough to make 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:40.480 him truly rich. He needed a persona. He needed 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:43.759 a brand. Yes. This is the birth of the Louisville 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.839 Lip, and it was engineered brilliance. It was 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:49.730 pure, unadulterated marketing. And the sources 00:06:49.730 --> 00:06:52.089 trace its inspiration directly to professional 00:06:52.089 --> 00:06:54.029 wrestling. Gorgeous George. To Gorgeous George 00:06:54.029 --> 00:06:56.930 Wagner, yeah. Ali saw him use this exaggerated 00:06:56.930 --> 00:06:59.589 villainy, trash talk, poetic boasting, all to 00:06:59.589 --> 00:07:02.449 attract huge crowds. George realized that fans 00:07:02.449 --> 00:07:05.029 would pay just as much, if not more, to see him 00:07:05.029 --> 00:07:07.069 lose than to see him win. And here's where it 00:07:07.069 --> 00:07:09.410 gets really interesting. Ali met Gorgeous George 00:07:09.410 --> 00:07:12.949 in Las Vegas in 1961. And George explicitly advised 00:07:12.949 --> 00:07:15.310 him, he said, if you talk big, you'll earn money 00:07:15.310 --> 00:07:18.009 other way. That was the blueprint. And Ali adopted 00:07:18.009 --> 00:07:20.620 it wholesale. He used rhyme and bravado to turn 00:07:20.620 --> 00:07:23.319 his fights into a spectacle. He became masterful 00:07:23.319 --> 00:07:25.500 at it, calling Doug Jones an ugly little man 00:07:25.500 --> 00:07:27.620 or the reigning British champion Henry Cooper 00:07:27.620 --> 00:07:30.240 a bum. He would predict the exact round of his 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:33.069 victory. And he often delivered. He did. The 00:07:33.069 --> 00:07:35.709 financial shrewdness behind that flamboyant mast 00:07:35.709 --> 00:07:38.470 is so often missed. The Louisville lip wasn't 00:07:38.470 --> 00:07:41.389 just arrogant. It was a business plan that generated 00:07:41.389 --> 00:07:44.209 immense gate receipts. And this coincided with 00:07:44.209 --> 00:07:47.089 some crucial personnel shifts. He left the veteran 00:07:47.089 --> 00:07:49.750 trainer Archie Moore's camp because he refused 00:07:49.750 --> 00:07:51.970 to do chores like washing dishes. Which is a 00:07:51.970 --> 00:07:55.170 sign, right. Even early on, Ali demanded that 00:07:55.170 --> 00:07:57.509 the focus be entirely on his athletic development 00:07:57.509 --> 00:08:00.269 and his celebrity. So he hired Angelo Dundee. 00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:03.800 a man he had met years earlier who would go on 00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:06.459 to become his legendary longtime trainer and 00:08:06.459 --> 00:08:09.180 corner man. So all this marketing genius, it 00:08:09.180 --> 00:08:12.220 set the stage for his first true arrival, challenging 00:08:12.220 --> 00:08:14.279 Sonny Liston for the world heavyweight title 00:08:14.279 --> 00:08:17.319 in February 1964. And you have to understand 00:08:17.319 --> 00:08:19.269 who Liston was. He was the reigning champion, 00:08:19.529 --> 00:08:21.410 he was intimidating, he was tied to the mob, 00:08:21.629 --> 00:08:24.389 and he had obliterated the former champion Floyd 00:08:24.389 --> 00:08:27.350 Patterson twice. Clay was an 8 -to -1 underdog. 00:08:27.490 --> 00:08:29.930 A massive underdog. The fear surrounding Liston 00:08:29.930 --> 00:08:32.190 was palpable. He was the physical manifestation 00:08:32.190 --> 00:08:34.850 of threat. So the only way Clay could combat 00:08:34.850 --> 00:08:36.769 that fear was through psychological warfare. 00:08:37.350 --> 00:08:40.049 Exactly. Amplifying his persona to a point of 00:08:40.049 --> 00:08:42.470 near delusion. He went completely over the top. 00:08:42.649 --> 00:08:45.789 He called Liston the big ugly bear, claiming 00:08:45.789 --> 00:08:49.399 Liston even smells like a bear. He drove a painted 00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:52.700 bus to Liston's gym shouting insults. And the 00:08:52.700 --> 00:08:55.559 weigh -in is legendary. Ali is screaming that 00:08:55.559 --> 00:08:57.960 Liston is going to die. Whether it was calculated 00:08:57.960 --> 00:09:00.399 or genuine, his pulse rate was measured at a 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:03.039 staggering 120 beats per minute. Which was more 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:05.460 than double his normal resting rate of 54. Right. 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:07.720 So whether that high heart rate was genuine panic 00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:10.320 or calculated showmanship or a perfect blend 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:13.139 of both, Ali convinced Liston, the press, and 00:09:13.139 --> 00:09:15.700 maybe even himself that he was utterly unhinged 00:09:15.700 --> 00:09:17.909 and unafraid. It was a terrifying thing. theatrical 00:09:17.909 --> 00:09:20.350 masterstroke. Absolutely. It was designed to 00:09:20.350 --> 00:09:22.190 rattle the opponent and boost the spectacle. 00:09:22.210 --> 00:09:24.960 And the fight itself delivered the upset. Clay's 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:27.799 speed and mobility were just dazzling. He made 00:09:27.799 --> 00:09:30.399 the powerful Liston look awkward and slow. He 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:32.779 opened a cut in the third round. But then came 00:09:32.779 --> 00:09:35.460 the great controversy of round four, a moment 00:09:35.460 --> 00:09:38.220 of profound crisis. What happened? Clay came 00:09:38.220 --> 00:09:40.720 back to the corner in blinding agony, screaming 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:42.539 that his eyes were burning and demanding that 00:09:42.539 --> 00:09:44.779 Dundee cut off his gloves. And the speculation, 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:48.559 as our sources document, was immediate and plausible. 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:51.879 that the pain was caused by an irritant or ointment 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:54.700 used on Liston's cuts, potentially deliberately 00:09:54.700 --> 00:09:57.649 applied to Liston's gloves by his corner. And 00:09:57.649 --> 00:10:00.210 boxing historians noted that at least two other 00:10:00.210 --> 00:10:02.429 Liston opponents had complained about their eyes 00:10:02.429 --> 00:10:05.490 burning violently during fights. So there's a 00:10:05.490 --> 00:10:08.710 pattern there. But Dundee, his trainer, he refused 00:10:08.710 --> 00:10:11.389 to panic. Instead of cutting the gloves, he pushed 00:10:11.389 --> 00:10:13.929 Ali back out for the fifth round and just told 00:10:13.929 --> 00:10:16.450 him to stick and move. A massive gamble. Huge. 00:10:16.649 --> 00:10:19.730 And Ali somehow survived round five, likely because 00:10:19.730 --> 00:10:21.590 the sweat and tears rinsed the irritant away. 00:10:21.950 --> 00:10:24.909 By the sixth, he was dominating and Liston failed 00:10:24.909 --> 00:10:27.419 to answer the bell for the seventh round. claiming 00:10:27.419 --> 00:10:30.620 an injured shoulder. Clay won by TKO. And he 00:10:30.620 --> 00:10:32.659 immediately rushed the ropes, shouting those 00:10:32.659 --> 00:10:35.379 immortal words, eat your words, I am the greatest, 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:37.419 I shook up the world, I'm the prettiest thing 00:10:37.419 --> 00:10:39.779 that ever lived. He became the youngest boxer, 00:10:39.980 --> 00:10:42.980 at age 22, to take the title from a reigning 00:10:42.980 --> 00:10:45.399 heavyweight champion in the modern era. In only 00:10:45.399 --> 00:10:47.940 20 bouts. But that victory only provided the 00:10:47.940 --> 00:10:51.000 platform for the real shockwave. Indeed. The 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:52.879 world had just witnessed an athletic miracle. 00:10:53.720 --> 00:10:56.340 But what came next was a profound social and 00:10:56.340 --> 00:10:59.039 political statement. Soon after the Liston fight, 00:10:59.240 --> 00:11:01.460 he declared his membership in the Nation of Islam, 00:11:01.620 --> 00:11:04.519 the NOI, and changed his name. First to Cassius 00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:08.299 X and then to Muhammad Ali. This was seismic. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:11.220 He denounced Cassius Clay as a slave name, stating 00:11:11.220 --> 00:11:13.799 publicly, Why should I keep my white slave master's 00:11:13.799 --> 00:11:16.500 name visible and my black ancestor's invisible, 00:11:16.860 --> 00:11:19.590 unknown, unhonored? This wasn't just a religious 00:11:19.590 --> 00:11:22.750 change. It was a political rejection of his inherited 00:11:22.750 --> 00:11:25.450 identity. And we should contextualize the Nation 00:11:25.450 --> 00:11:28.590 of Islam here for you. At that time, the NOI, 00:11:28.590 --> 00:11:31.730 led by Elijah Muhammad, espoused black separatism, 00:11:31.750 --> 00:11:33.750 self -alliance. And a theology that contracted 00:11:33.750 --> 00:11:36.590 sharply with the nonviolent integrationist goals 00:11:36.590 --> 00:11:39.470 of the mainstream civil rights movement, championed 00:11:39.470 --> 00:11:41.809 by figures like Martin Luther King Jr. So for 00:11:41.809 --> 00:11:43.610 many, Especially in the white establishment, 00:11:43.889 --> 00:11:46.929 the NOI was viewed as a radical, maybe even a 00:11:46.929 --> 00:11:49.309 dangerous organization. And Ali didn't shy away 00:11:49.309 --> 00:11:52.049 from this at all. He embraced the NOI doctrine, 00:11:52.250 --> 00:11:55.009 stating publicly, my enemy is the white people, 00:11:55.090 --> 00:11:58.490 not Viet Cong or Chinese or Japanese. This alignment 00:11:58.490 --> 00:12:00.850 immediately made him a target of intense scrutiny 00:12:00.850 --> 00:12:03.330 and condemnation. So this is a critical point. 00:12:03.409 --> 00:12:06.600 The flamboyant talker, the Louisville Lip. He 00:12:06.600 --> 00:12:09.279 had just staked his entire career, his wealth, 00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:12.940 his future on a profound, deeply felt moral and 00:12:12.940 --> 00:12:15.460 religious truth. He used the platform created 00:12:15.460 --> 00:12:18.000 by the entertainer Cassius Clay to empower the 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:21.100 revolutionary Muhammad Ali. And the controversies 00:12:21.100 --> 00:12:23.720 just spilled right back into the ring. The Liston 00:12:23.720 --> 00:12:27.039 rematch in May 1965 ended in the famous phantom 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:29.500 punch KO in the first round. In less than two 00:12:29.500 --> 00:12:31.750 minutes. Yeah. That punch remains one of the 00:12:31.750 --> 00:12:34.389 most debated moments in sports history. Liston 00:12:34.389 --> 00:12:36.750 was jarred by a chopping right, but speculation 00:12:36.750 --> 00:12:39.529 was rampant. Did he take a dive to pay off mob 00:12:39.529 --> 00:12:42.049 debts? Or was he reacting to debt threats allegedly 00:12:42.049 --> 00:12:45.610 made by NOI associates? Exactly. And the chaos 00:12:45.610 --> 00:12:48.230 that ensued, Ali standing over him screaming, 00:12:48.470 --> 00:12:51.509 the confused referee Jersey Joe Walcott stopping 00:12:51.509 --> 00:12:53.710 the fight after Ali refused to go to a neutral 00:12:53.710 --> 00:12:56.190 corner, it only fueled the suspicion that this 00:12:56.190 --> 00:12:58.610 was anything but a clean sporting event. Now 00:12:58.610 --> 00:13:02.039 we turn to a... a darker aspect of this era. 00:13:02.179 --> 00:13:04.679 All these documented use of psychological cruelty 00:13:04.679 --> 00:13:07.259 in the ring. Yeah, this is an area that demands 00:13:07.259 --> 00:13:09.700 some intellectual friction. In November 1965, 00:13:10.279 --> 00:13:13.360 he fought Floyd Patterson, a man he relentlessly 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:16.379 mocked as the rabbit, and an Uncle Tom. just 00:13:16.379 --> 00:13:18.620 because Patterson refused to call him Ali. And 00:13:18.620 --> 00:13:20.740 if Ali's goal was simply to sell tickets, this 00:13:20.740 --> 00:13:22.759 prolonged punishment was, you know, part of the 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:25.460 show. But the sources suggest a deeper intent 00:13:25.460 --> 00:13:28.360 here, a desire to humiliate opponents who represented 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:31.019 the status quo or who refused to acknowledge 00:13:31.019 --> 00:13:34.159 his new sacred identity. He seemed to toy with 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:36.700 Patterson, extending the fight until a TKO in 00:13:36.700 --> 00:13:39.080 the 12th round. And this tactic just intensified 00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:41.100 two years later in his fight against Ernie Terrell 00:13:41.100 --> 00:13:44.080 in February 1967, who also insisted on calling 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:46.600 him Clay. That's when Ali... Ali shouted, what's 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:49.200 my name, Uncle Tom? What's my name? Between punches 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:51.379 in the eighth round. Critics called that one 00:13:51.379 --> 00:13:54.759 of boxing's ugliest fights. The media commentary 00:13:54.759 --> 00:13:57.860 was vicious. Tex Mall wrote it was a barbarous 00:13:57.860 --> 00:14:00.200 display of cruelty. So how do we square this 00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:03.259 documented cruelty with his later status as a 00:14:03.259 --> 00:14:06.519 moral icon? It illustrates that Ali was a walking 00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:09.139 contradiction. a champion of the oppressed who 00:14:09.139 --> 00:14:11.580 sometimes became an oppressor in the ring, using 00:14:11.580 --> 00:14:14.639 shame and pain as leverage. It reminds us that 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:18.080 his moral journey was complex and often messy. 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:20.980 That period of intense conflict culminated in 00:14:20.980 --> 00:14:23.700 the defining moment of his early career, the 00:14:23.700 --> 00:14:27.159 draft refusal. Initially in 1964, he was rejected 00:14:27.159 --> 00:14:29.720 from the draft. This was due to those substandard 00:14:29.720 --> 00:14:32.000 scores on the armed forces test, which was largely 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:34.360 attributed to his dyslexia. And he had that great 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:37.139 line about it. Oh, a moment of classic self -deprecating 00:14:37.139 --> 00:14:39.580 humor and honesty. I said I was the greatest, 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:41.700 not the smartest. But the U .S. Army lowered 00:14:41.700 --> 00:14:44.559 its standards in early 1966. They reclassified 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:47.000 him 1A, making him eligible for service in the 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:49.259 escalating Vietnam War. And when he was notified 00:14:49.259 --> 00:14:52.080 in April 1967, he refused induction in Houston, 00:14:52.259 --> 00:14:54.240 citing his religious beliefs based on the teachings 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:57.000 of the Koran and his ethical opposition to the 00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:59.399 war. This is the moment that transformed him 00:14:59.399 --> 00:15:01.940 from a brilliant boxer into a global symbol of 00:15:01.940 --> 00:15:04.340 resistance. He stood up to the entire U .S. government, 00:15:04.500 --> 00:15:07.080 the military, the white establishment, everyone. 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:09.799 And the defining quote, which resonated across 00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:12.139 the world, was a revolutionary statement. I ain't 00:15:12.139 --> 00:15:15.000 got no quarrel with them, Viet Cong. No Viet 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:18.120 Cong never called me nigger. He explicitly connected 00:15:18.120 --> 00:15:20.639 the war abroad to the struggle for basic rights 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:22.940 at home. And the consequences were immediate, 00:15:23.159 --> 00:15:26.139 severe, and utterly catastrophic for his career. 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:29.100 He was stripped of all his titles. His boxing 00:15:29.100 --> 00:15:31.919 license was suspended. And in June 1967, he was 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:34.159 convicted of draft evasion, a sentence to five 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:36.879 years, and a $10 ,000 fine. He remained free 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:39.480 on appeal, but he lost nearly four years of his 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:42.960 physical prime from age 25 to 29. His trainer, 00:15:43.139 --> 00:15:45.679 Angelo Dundee, later looked back on this period 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:48.620 and said Ali was robbed of his best years. I 00:15:48.620 --> 00:15:51.039 mean, just imagine the fights we never saw, the 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:53.919 potential lost simply because he chose moral 00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:56.519 conviction over professional convenience. The 00:15:56.519 --> 00:15:59.440 cost of his protest was just extraordinary. So 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:03.879 Ali's years in exile from 1967 to 1970 are crucial 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:06.179 to his legacy, even though he wasn't fighting 00:16:06.179 --> 00:16:08.500 professionally. Initially, he was arguably the 00:16:08.500 --> 00:16:11.559 most hated man in the country. He was frequently 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:14.000 receiving death threats, public scorn. But as 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:16.100 the anti -war movement and the civil rights movement 00:16:16.100 --> 00:16:19.399 intensified, public opinion began this slow, 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:23.120 grudging shift. And he had the opportunity during 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:26.039 those years to become something else entirely, 00:16:26.419 --> 00:16:29.820 a revolutionary orator. He transformed into a 00:16:29.820 --> 00:16:32.580 highly sought -after activist speaker, particularly 00:16:32.580 --> 00:16:34.759 on college campuses. He wasn't just talking about 00:16:34.759 --> 00:16:37.600 boxing anymore. No, he was advocating for African 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:40.139 -American pride, self -determination and racial 00:16:40.139 --> 00:16:43.460 justice. He delivered his famous Black is Best 00:16:43.460 --> 00:16:45.820 speech after being invited by the Black Power 00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:48.659 Committee at Howard University. And by 1970, 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:51.080 he was receiving widespread acclaim from the 00:16:51.080 --> 00:16:53.500 black political establishment. He even received 00:16:53.500 --> 00:16:55.899 the Martin Luther King Award. With Ralph Abernathy 00:16:55.899 --> 00:16:58.679 calling him a living example of soul power. So 00:16:58.679 --> 00:17:00.799 this exposure to intellectual circles and the 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:03.019 subsequent shift in public sentiment, it made 00:17:03.019 --> 00:17:05.849 him a massive political threat. And the institutional 00:17:05.849 --> 00:17:08.410 response just underscores the severity of the 00:17:08.410 --> 00:17:11.990 situation. We know from declassified files that 00:17:11.990 --> 00:17:14.430 the U .S. government wasn't just interested in 00:17:14.430 --> 00:17:16.750 whether he ducked the draft. They were viewing 00:17:16.750 --> 00:17:19.529 him as an internal enemy. Wait a minute. A genuine 00:17:19.529 --> 00:17:22.130 threat to the state. Absolutely. Our sources 00:17:22.130 --> 00:17:24.670 confirm the National Security Agency, the NSA, 00:17:25.049 --> 00:17:27.430 placed his personal communications under surveillance 00:17:27.430 --> 00:17:30.789 in a secret operation codenamed Minaret. Furthermore, 00:17:31.450 --> 00:17:34.829 the FBI targeted him through the notorious COINTELPRO 00:17:34.829 --> 00:17:38.109 operations. They accessed and analyzed his personal 00:17:38.109 --> 00:17:40.789 records all the way back to elementary school. 00:17:41.259 --> 00:17:43.400 They were trying to find anything they could 00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:46.140 use to discredit or neutralize him. That level 00:17:46.140 --> 00:17:48.599 of state surveillance just underscores the true 00:17:48.599 --> 00:17:51.160 power of his political protest. That surveillance 00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:54.839 underscores the true stakes. And his legal battle 00:17:54.839 --> 00:17:58.099 finally ended in June 1971 with the Supreme Court 00:17:58.099 --> 00:18:01.259 case, Clay v. United States, which overturned 00:18:01.259 --> 00:18:03.920 his conviction. By a unanimous 8 -0 decision. 00:18:04.339 --> 00:18:06.180 But it's important to note the nuance here, right? 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:09.779 It is. The Supreme Court didn't necessarily validate 00:18:09.779 --> 00:18:12.539 the merits of his conscientious objection claim 00:18:12.539 --> 00:18:15.299 itself, but rather found fault with procedural 00:18:15.299 --> 00:18:18.000 grounds. The appeal board had failed to state 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:20.799 clear reasons for denying his status. But the 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:22.980 result was the same. The conviction was reversed, 00:18:23.299 --> 00:18:25.519 paving the way for his full return to the ring. 00:18:25.740 --> 00:18:28.599 And the return was explosive. Even before the 00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:30.440 Supreme Court decision, he secured a license 00:18:30.440 --> 00:18:33.970 in Atlanta in October 1970. Which led straight 00:18:33.970 --> 00:18:36.490 to the first legendary fight of his comeback, 00:18:36.710 --> 00:18:38.490 the fight of the century against Joe Frazier 00:18:38.490 --> 00:18:41.150 in March 1971. And this was while his appeal 00:18:41.150 --> 00:18:44.309 was still pending. Yes. The rivalry was intense 00:18:44.309 --> 00:18:47.009 and it was politically framed. Both men were 00:18:47.009 --> 00:18:49.410 undefeated and had legitimate claims to the title. 00:18:49.549 --> 00:18:52.190 And Ali, leaning heavily into his antagonistic 00:18:52.190 --> 00:18:54.990 persona, he framed the fight politically. He 00:18:54.990 --> 00:18:57.490 called Frazier a dumb tool of the white establishment 00:18:57.490 --> 00:19:00.339 and frequently called him an Uncle Tom. And this 00:19:00.339 --> 00:19:03.240 accusation deeply wounded Frazier, who felt he 00:19:03.240 --> 00:19:05.619 was being unfairly judged just for working within 00:19:05.619 --> 00:19:08.559 the system. The fight itself was brutal. It lived 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:11.359 up to the massive hype. Frazier was relentless, 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:14.240 applying constant pressure, scoring repeatedly, 00:19:14.539 --> 00:19:17.400 especially to the body. All he was taking more 00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:19.900 punishment than ever before. This fight is where 00:19:19.900 --> 00:19:21.839 we saw the beginnings of the tactic that would 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:24.140 later define his career, the rope -a -dope strategy, 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:26.779 though it wasn't fully developed yet. But Frazier 00:19:26.779 --> 00:19:29.769 was too strong this time. He was. Ali, after 00:19:29.769 --> 00:19:32.029 observing immense punishment, was knocked down 00:19:32.029 --> 00:19:34.930 by a vicious left hook in the final 15th round. 00:19:35.390 --> 00:19:38.849 He got up quickly, but he lost by unanimous decision, 00:19:39.049 --> 00:19:42.470 his first professional defeat. And that loss 00:19:42.470 --> 00:19:45.950 forced Ali to reevaluate his preparation. Leading 00:19:45.950 --> 00:19:47.670 him to establish the Deer Lake, Pennsylvania 00:19:47.670 --> 00:19:50.190 training camp, which became his base for the 00:19:50.190 --> 00:19:52.470 rest of his career. During this rebuilding period, 00:19:52.589 --> 00:19:55.410 he had a couple of hilarious non -physical confrontations. 00:19:55.819 --> 00:19:58.019 We have to mention his interaction with the basketball 00:19:58.019 --> 00:20:01.480 star Wilt Chamberlain in 1971. Oh, yes. Chamberlain 00:20:01.480 --> 00:20:03.900 challenged Ali to a bout. And Chamberlain was 00:20:03.900 --> 00:20:07.359 enormous, 7 '1 and 60 pounds heavier than Ali, 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:10.500 a formidable athlete. He had obvious physical 00:20:10.500 --> 00:20:13.759 advantages, but Ali influenced him to call the 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:16.759 fight off simply by using trash talk. During 00:20:16.759 --> 00:20:19.700 a shared interview, Ali just taunted him constantly, 00:20:19.799 --> 00:20:23.279 shouting, Timber! And the tree will fall! That's 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:25.859 the power of the lip. chamberlain unsettled by 00:20:25.859 --> 00:20:27.960 the psychological mind games and the relentless 00:20:27.960 --> 00:20:31.119 ridicule abandoned what his team called this 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:34.900 boxing foolishness ali won that fight without 00:20:34.900 --> 00:20:37.299 throwing a single punch he followed that with 00:20:37.299 --> 00:20:41.059 wins in 1972 but 73 was a tough year he suffered 00:20:41.059 --> 00:20:43.380 his second loss and a broken jaw against ken 00:20:43.380 --> 00:20:45.819 norton He seriously considered retirement then, 00:20:45.900 --> 00:20:47.819 but he came back and won a controversial decision 00:20:47.819 --> 00:20:50.319 in the rematch, which set the stage for the second 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:52.839 Frazier fight. Which Ali won by unanimous decision 00:20:52.839 --> 00:20:56.420 in January 1974. But those bouts were merely 00:20:56.420 --> 00:20:59.359 the appetizers for the event that truly catapulted 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:02.539 him from boxing legend to global icon. The Rumble 00:21:02.539 --> 00:21:05.220 in the Jungle. Against George Foreman in Kinshasa, 00:21:05.339 --> 00:21:08.180 Zaire, in October 1974. And the context here 00:21:08.180 --> 00:21:10.500 is key. Foreman was younger, unbeaten, and a 00:21:10.500 --> 00:21:13.299 crushing, terrifying puncher who had demolished 00:21:13.299 --> 00:21:15.279 both Frazier and Norton quickly and brutally. 00:21:15.619 --> 00:21:19.569 Ali was a significant 4 -1 underdog. Absolutely 00:21:19.569 --> 00:21:22.269 no one thought he stood a chance. Not even his 00:21:22.269 --> 00:21:24.650 longtime supporter, Howard Cosell. Ali's promotion 00:21:24.650 --> 00:21:27.349 for this event was just legendary. He completely 00:21:27.349 --> 00:21:29.849 won over the African crowd, telling David Frost, 00:21:30.009 --> 00:21:31.950 if you think the world was surprised when Nixon 00:21:31.950 --> 00:21:34.069 resigned, wait till I whup foreman's behind. 00:21:34.329 --> 00:21:37.109 And the crowd chanted, Ali Bumaya, which means, 00:21:37.289 --> 00:21:40.349 I'll kill him. And that famous quote that he 00:21:40.349 --> 00:21:42.890 had wrestled with an alligator, handcuffed lightning, 00:21:43.089 --> 00:21:46.170 thrown thunder in jail, it just perfectly summed 00:21:46.170 --> 00:21:48.589 up the impossible task he faced. And then came 00:21:48.589 --> 00:21:51.180 the tactical innovation. The rope -a -dope. And 00:21:51.180 --> 00:21:53.000 this wasn't just leaning on the ropes. No, it 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:56.519 was a strategically genius maneuver. Ali retreated 00:21:56.519 --> 00:21:59.299 early on, he covered up, and he used the elasticity 00:21:59.299 --> 00:22:01.920 of the ropes to transfer the impact of Foreman's 00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:04.099 massive punches away from his body and head, 00:22:04.259 --> 00:22:06.579 distributing the force. He was forcing Foreman 00:22:06.579 --> 00:22:09.380 to waste immense energy and overextend, tiring 00:22:09.380 --> 00:22:11.579 his back and shoulder muscles. He was absorbing 00:22:11.579 --> 00:22:14.559 punishment, yes. but he was simultaneously draining 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:16.960 the youth and strength out of Foreman, all while 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:19.420 verbally taunting him, whispering things like, 00:22:19.559 --> 00:22:22.980 It was psychological warfare paired with physical 00:22:22.980 --> 00:22:26.000 engineering. Foreman literally punched himself 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:28.759 into exhaustion. And by the eighth round, Ali, 00:22:29.140 --> 00:22:32.339 still relatively fresh despite the blows, saw 00:22:32.339 --> 00:22:35.180 his opening and countered effectively, dropping 00:22:35.180 --> 00:22:36.960 a rubber -legged Foreman with a combination. 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:39.680 He regained the title by knockout. This fight 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:41.799 wasn't just a win, it was a cultural phenomenon. 00:22:42.619 --> 00:22:45.759 watched by an estimated 1 billion viewers worldwide, 00:22:46.059 --> 00:22:48.839 the most watched live TV broadcast at the time. 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:51.660 That victory launched the final and most brutal 00:22:51.660 --> 00:22:54.680 installment of the trilogy. The Thrilla in Manila 00:22:54.680 --> 00:22:58.599 against Joe Frazier in October 1975. This title 00:22:58.599 --> 00:23:01.180 fight was defined by sheer terrifying attrition. 00:23:01.380 --> 00:23:03.880 Fought in extreme suffocating heat nearly 100 00:23:03.880 --> 00:23:06.059 degrees Fahrenheit. This was the closest thing 00:23:06.059 --> 00:23:08.900 either man came to dying in the ring. Ali had 00:23:08.900 --> 00:23:11.079 to revert heavily to clinches and the rope -a 00:23:11.079 --> 00:23:13.880 -dope. The brutality just intensified dramatically 00:23:13.880 --> 00:23:16.759 in the later rounds. Ali, sensing Frazier tiring 00:23:16.759 --> 00:23:19.619 and his vision failing, launched a devastating 00:23:19.619 --> 00:23:22.700 attack in the 13th and 14th rounds. He was conducting... 00:23:22.700 --> 00:23:25.019 what one historian called target practice on 00:23:25.019 --> 00:23:27.519 Frazier's head, systematically closing both of 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:30.039 his eyes. And Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, 00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:32.799 recognized the life -threatening danger and stopped 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:35.220 the fight before the 15th round. Frazier's eyes 00:23:35.220 --> 00:23:38.079 were completely swollen shut. Yet the image that 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:41.319 defines the fight is not the victory, but Ali 00:23:41.319 --> 00:23:44.380 himself slumped on his stool, utterly spent. 00:23:44.680 --> 00:23:47.240 Admitting later, it was the closest thing to 00:23:47.240 --> 00:23:50.160 dying that I know. This fight secured his legend, 00:23:50.339 --> 00:23:53.259 but it exacted a heavy, perhaps permanent price 00:23:53.259 --> 00:23:55.859 on his physical health. The thriller in Manila 00:23:55.859 --> 00:23:58.359 really seemed to drain the last reserves of his 00:23:58.359 --> 00:24:00.920 physical time. It really did. Although he defended 00:24:00.920 --> 00:24:03.680 the title several more times, his later career 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:06.799 was marked by absorbing severe, unnecessary punishment. 00:24:07.160 --> 00:24:10.500 In May 1976, he defeated Richard Dunn. which 00:24:10.500 --> 00:24:13.680 was his last knockout win. And he used a taekwondo 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:15.720 -inspired move called the acupuncture. Which 00:24:15.720 --> 00:24:18.079 was taught to him by Grandmaster Jehoon Ri, who 00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:20.440 learned it from Bruce Lee. Amazing. But the physical 00:24:20.440 --> 00:24:22.619 danger signals were flashing red. They were. 00:24:22.839 --> 00:24:25.960 His September 1977 fight against Ernie Shavers, 00:24:26.140 --> 00:24:28.640 which he won by unanimous decision, saw him take 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:31.119 heavy blows to the head. This fight proved to 00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:33.460 be a critical turning point. Why was that fight 00:24:33.460 --> 00:24:35.900 so significant in hindsight? It was significant 00:24:35.900 --> 00:24:38.500 because of the response of his corner team. His 00:24:38.500 --> 00:24:41.000 longtime doctor, Freddie Pacheco, quit soon after 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:42.819 because the New York State Athletic Commission 00:24:42.819 --> 00:24:45.519 issued a report showing Ali's kidneys were falling 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:49.140 apart. Wow. Pacheco insisted Ali retire immediately, 00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:52.279 citing clear signs of neurological damage. But 00:24:52.279 --> 00:24:54.599 his warnings were rebuffed by Ali and his management 00:24:54.599 --> 00:24:56.980 team. And that led to the doctor's resignation. 00:24:57.849 --> 00:25:00.329 After losing the title to Leon Spinks in 1978, 00:25:00.789 --> 00:25:03.589 Ali won the rematch, becoming the first heavyweight 00:25:03.589 --> 00:25:06.210 champion to win the belt three times. But he 00:25:06.210 --> 00:25:09.750 retired briefly and then returned in 1980, primarily, 00:25:09.990 --> 00:25:12.450 our source's state, out of a pressing need for 00:25:12.450 --> 00:25:15.309 money. And that return was just tragic. It was. 00:25:15.630 --> 00:25:18.670 He fought Larry Holmes, his former sparring partner, 00:25:18.849 --> 00:25:21.670 in 1980. And Ali was already struggling with 00:25:21.670 --> 00:25:23.589 vocal stutters and trembling hands before the 00:25:23.589 --> 00:25:25.970 bout even started. Early signs of the neurological 00:25:25.970 --> 00:25:29.450 decline. Yes. And Holmes, feeling terrible about 00:25:29.450 --> 00:25:31.970 hitting his idol, easily dominated the fight. 00:25:32.190 --> 00:25:34.809 It was finally stopped by Angelo Dundee after 00:25:34.809 --> 00:25:37.569 the 10th round, the only stoppage loss of Ali's 00:25:37.569 --> 00:25:40.509 career. The scene was heartbreaking. Sylvester 00:25:40.509 --> 00:25:43.190 Stallone, who was ringside, famously compared 00:25:43.190 --> 00:25:46.230 watching the fight to watching an autopsy on 00:25:46.230 --> 00:25:48.670 a man who is still alive. And this fight is widely 00:25:48.670 --> 00:25:51.069 believed to have accelerated or significantly 00:25:51.069 --> 00:25:53.490 contributed to the Parkinson's syndrome he was 00:25:53.490 --> 00:25:56.170 eventually diagnosed with. He fought one final 00:25:56.170 --> 00:26:00.470 sad time against Trevor Burbick in 1981, losing 00:26:00.470 --> 00:26:03.549 a decision. having absorbed an estimated 200 00:26:03.549 --> 00:26:06.390 ,000 hits throughout his career. He was diagnosed 00:26:06.390 --> 00:26:09.609 with Parkinson's syndrome in 1984. Now, while 00:26:09.609 --> 00:26:11.569 he and the specialist physicians disputed that 00:26:11.569 --> 00:26:14.230 the syndrome was solely boxing related. As many 00:26:14.230 --> 00:26:16.430 people get Parkinson's who never boxed. Right. 00:26:16.609 --> 00:26:19.130 But the years of absorbing head trauma likely 00:26:19.130 --> 00:26:21.609 played a role. He later turned this diagnosis 00:26:21.609 --> 00:26:24.269 into a powerful force for good, working alongside 00:26:24.269 --> 00:26:27.150 the actor Michael J. Fox, who also has Parkinson's, 00:26:27.150 --> 00:26:29.970 to raise awareness and funds for research. Looking 00:26:29.970 --> 00:26:32.200 beyond the physical decline. Ali's religious 00:26:32.200 --> 00:26:34.680 and philosophical life continued to evolve. He 00:26:34.680 --> 00:26:36.819 shifted away from the Nation of Islam's separatist 00:26:36.819 --> 00:26:39.220 theology to mainstream Sunni Islam in the mid 00:26:39.220 --> 00:26:42.599 -1970s, influenced by Warith Deen Muhammad. This 00:26:42.599 --> 00:26:45.519 marked a move toward a more universal, less racially 00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:48.980 defined version of his faith. It did. And later 00:26:48.980 --> 00:26:51.039 in life, his daughter Hana noted he developed 00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:53.700 an interest in Sufism, the mystical branch of 00:26:53.700 --> 00:26:56.240 Islam, after reading the books of Inayat Khan. 00:26:56.809 --> 00:26:59.589 His convictions remain central, even as their 00:26:59.589 --> 00:27:01.910 expressions softened and broadened over time. 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:04.539 And his commitment to faith was visible on the 00:27:04.539 --> 00:27:07.259 global stage, especially after 9 -11. Yes, he 00:27:07.259 --> 00:27:09.960 stated publicly that Islam is a religion of peace 00:27:09.960 --> 00:27:14.420 and condemned jihadists as racist fanatics. His 00:27:14.420 --> 00:27:16.720 retirement was defined by his adherence to the 00:27:16.720 --> 00:27:19.339 Islamic duty of charity and good deeds. He helped 00:27:19.339 --> 00:27:21.920 feed over 22 million people afflicted by hunger 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:24.420 worldwide. His humanitarianism, however, occasionally 00:27:24.420 --> 00:27:27.779 ventured into high -stakes diplomacy with fascinatingly 00:27:27.779 --> 00:27:29.880 mixed results. He proved that celebrity doesn't 00:27:29.880 --> 00:27:32.059 automatically translate into institution. capital. 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:34.819 Not at all. Let's talk about the 1980 diplomatic 00:27:34.819 --> 00:27:38.079 mission. President Carter recruited Ali to persuade 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:40.319 African nations to boycott the Moscow Olympics. 00:27:40.539 --> 00:27:42.279 Protesting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. 00:27:42.660 --> 00:27:45.440 But the mission was widely seen as a diplomatic 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:48.240 disaster. Why was it such a failure? Well, the 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:51.099 problem was the perceived disrespect of the diplomatic 00:27:51.099 --> 00:27:54.799 process. Ali, despite his global fame, lacked 00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:57.259 the specific political and institutional training 00:27:57.259 --> 00:28:00.339 for such delicate talks. The Tanzanian government 00:28:00.339 --> 00:28:02.700 was reportedly insulted that President Carter 00:28:02.700 --> 00:28:05.539 sent an athlete to discuss such a serious political 00:28:05.539 --> 00:28:08.420 issue. And one official famously asked if the 00:28:08.420 --> 00:28:11.640 US would send Chris Everett to negotiate with 00:28:11.640 --> 00:28:14.670 London. That quote just perfectly encapsulates 00:28:14.670 --> 00:28:17.470 the disconnect. Ali, despite his profound convictions, 00:28:17.910 --> 00:28:21.029 was ill -equipped to explain complex geopolitical 00:28:21.029 --> 00:28:24.109 situations in a way that satisfied world leaders. 00:28:24.329 --> 00:28:26.789 It shows the limits to the power of pure celebrity. 00:28:26.890 --> 00:28:29.349 It does. Though he did manage to convince Kenya 00:28:29.349 --> 00:28:31.690 to boycott, the mission was largely a failure. 00:28:32.170 --> 00:28:34.930 However, he had a significant success in 1990. 00:28:35.210 --> 00:28:37.430 He traveled to Iraq before the Gulf War to meet 00:28:37.430 --> 00:28:39.890 with Saddam Hussein. And he successfully negotiated 00:28:39.890 --> 00:28:42.029 the release of American hostages held there, 00:28:42.150 --> 00:28:44.009 a mission he undertook without U .S. government 00:28:44.009 --> 00:28:46.269 support and despite receiving criticism from 00:28:46.269 --> 00:28:48.289 officials for even making the journey. And the 00:28:48.289 --> 00:28:51.250 sources reveal a fascinating, if sometimes contradictory, 00:28:51.529 --> 00:28:54.809 personal life alongside this unwavering humanitarian 00:28:54.809 --> 00:28:58.029 dedication. He was married four times, fathered 00:28:58.029 --> 00:29:01.470 nine children. The duality here is complex. His 00:29:01.470 --> 00:29:03.710 first marriage ended over his wife's refusal 00:29:03.710 --> 00:29:06.569 to join the Nation of Islam, and the second and 00:29:06.569 --> 00:29:09.630 third ended due to his continuous infidelity. 00:29:10.029 --> 00:29:13.109 So the sources present Ali as a walking contradiction, 00:29:13.490 --> 00:29:16.910 a humanitarian and deeply religious man who struggled 00:29:16.910 --> 00:29:19.150 profoundly with faithfulness in his personal 00:29:19.150 --> 00:29:22.730 life. How do we reconcile this duality within 00:29:22.730 --> 00:29:25.170 the framework of his growing religious faith? 00:29:25.559 --> 00:29:27.619 It seems to show that even a man of such immense 00:29:27.619 --> 00:29:30.900 conviction was deeply flawed and human. Absolutely. 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:34.180 Yet you see other moments of spontaneous, unwavering 00:29:34.180 --> 00:29:36.980 charity. His daughter Hannah recalls him fulfilling 00:29:36.980 --> 00:29:39.240 his charitable duties by spontaneously bringing 00:29:39.240 --> 00:29:41.380 homeless families home to stay in their guest 00:29:41.380 --> 00:29:43.480 room. And then there's the story of his daughter, 00:29:43.619 --> 00:29:46.519 Layla Ali. Right. Despite his previous outspoken 00:29:46.519 --> 00:29:49.380 opposition to women's boxing in 1978, his daughter 00:29:49.380 --> 00:29:51.700 Layla went on to become a highly successful professional 00:29:51.700 --> 00:29:54.640 boxer herself. And Ali attended many of her fights. 00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:56.539 It highlights that the man was always evolving. 00:29:56.779 --> 00:29:59.819 His deep -seated beliefs, particularly when confronted 00:29:59.819 --> 00:30:02.240 by the love for his family, could be tested and 00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:05.500 changed by reality. The impact Ali had outside 00:30:05.500 --> 00:30:09.500 of boxing is arguably... as large as his achievements 00:30:09.500 --> 00:30:12.460 inside the ring oh absolutely he is rightly identified 00:30:12.460 --> 00:30:15.819 as a foundational pioneer of hip -hop and spoken 00:30:15.819 --> 00:30:18.559 word so think about the specific techniques his 00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:22.200 trash talk his rhyming his aggressive flow and 00:30:22.200 --> 00:30:25.039 that confident boastful delivery of his endless 00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:27.859 quotables these techniques directly foreshadowed 00:30:27.859 --> 00:30:30.319 the foundational elements of classic mcs for 00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:33.720 sure his 1963 spoken word album i am the greatest 00:30:33.720 --> 00:30:36.180 was actually grammy nominated for best comedy 00:30:36.180 --> 00:30:38.690 album so there was immediate recognition of his 00:30:38.690 --> 00:30:42.130 rhythmic gift. Yes. Chuck D of Public Enemy referred 00:30:42.130 --> 00:30:45.289 to him as the original rapper, noting his freestyle 00:30:45.289 --> 00:30:48.329 skills and braggadocio set the tone. Can you 00:30:48.329 --> 00:30:50.230 break down the technical connection for us? Well, 00:30:50.269 --> 00:30:52.690 if you listen to his early rhymes, he used simple 00:30:52.690 --> 00:30:55.509 but effective rhyme schemes, AAVD or internal 00:30:55.509 --> 00:30:57.970 rhymes, often delivered over a steady rhythmic 00:30:57.970 --> 00:31:00.130 beat provided by the boxing reporters asking 00:31:00.130 --> 00:31:02.869 questions. This aggressive, narrative -driven 00:31:02.869 --> 00:31:05.970 rhyming style, which used cadence and wordplay 00:31:05.970 --> 00:31:08.410 for verbal dominance, was structurally adopted 00:31:08.410 --> 00:31:12.349 by early MCs like Curtis Blow, Run DMC, and later, 00:31:12.529 --> 00:31:15.529 figures like Jay -Z. He proved that verbal mastery 00:31:15.529 --> 00:31:18.359 was a marketable high -stakes... sport in itself. 00:31:18.660 --> 00:31:21.779 And his phrases just permeated pop culture instantly. 00:31:21.940 --> 00:31:24.180 His phrase, different strokes for different folks, 00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:27.740 popularized around 1966, later inspired the title 00:31:27.740 --> 00:31:31.039 of the 1979 sitcom, Different Strokes. His legacy 00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:33.400 isn't confined to entertainment, though. It's 00:31:33.400 --> 00:31:36.009 anchored in law as well. which is often overlooked 00:31:36.009 --> 00:31:38.089 by the mythology. What a great point. He was 00:31:38.089 --> 00:31:40.190 instrumental in the passage of the Muhammad Ali 00:31:40.190 --> 00:31:43.130 Boxing Reform Act in 2000, which was designed 00:31:43.130 --> 00:31:45.509 specifically to protect boxers' rights, their 00:31:45.509 --> 00:31:47.769 welfare, and financial transparency in the United 00:31:47.769 --> 00:31:49.529 States. He was still fighting for the rights 00:31:49.529 --> 00:31:51.549 of the athletes who came after him long after 00:31:51.549 --> 00:31:54.150 he retired. And while he spent much of his life 00:31:54.150 --> 00:31:56.549 as a global figure, his hometown of Louisville, 00:31:56.630 --> 00:32:00.109 Kentucky eventually embraced him entirely. But 00:32:00.109 --> 00:32:03.210 that process was definitely not instant. That's 00:32:03.210 --> 00:32:06.619 right. In 1978, renaming Walnut Street to Muhammad 00:32:06.619 --> 00:32:09.599 Ali Boulevard was deeply controversial. It passed 00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:12.240 the Board of Aldermen by a contentious six to 00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:14.980 five vote. And to demonstrate the division, 12 00:32:14.980 --> 00:32:17.460 of the 70 new street signs were stolen immediately 00:32:17.460 --> 00:32:20.019 after they were installed. Incredible. It just 00:32:20.019 --> 00:32:21.980 shows how long it took for the local establishment 00:32:21.980 --> 00:32:24.059 to reconcile the radical with the celebrity. 00:32:24.359 --> 00:32:26.319 But the sentiment truly changed. Oh, completely. 00:32:26.960 --> 00:32:29.920 By 2019, the city's main airport was renamed 00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:32.319 the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. 00:32:32.599 --> 00:32:35.420 The new logo even features Ali's silhouette, 00:32:35.720 --> 00:32:38.079 arms up and victorious against the background 00:32:38.079 --> 00:32:40.819 of a butterfly. A nod to float like a butterfly, 00:32:41.039 --> 00:32:43.759 sting like a bee. Exactly. And the Muhammad Ali 00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:46.680 Center, which opened in 2005, now focuses on 00:32:46.680 --> 00:32:49.440 themes of peace, respect and social responsibility, 00:32:49.819 --> 00:32:52.799 cementing his legacy not as a controversial figure, 00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:55.940 but as a moral compass. We also have some incredibly 00:32:55.940 --> 00:32:58.400 unique. cultural artifacts tied to his name, 00:32:58.500 --> 00:33:00.930 showing how wide his interests stretched. His 00:33:00.930 --> 00:33:03.829 amateur art, for one. Dozens of drawings and 00:33:03.829 --> 00:33:06.190 paintings he produced in the 1970s sold for nearly 00:33:06.190 --> 00:33:09.230 a million dollars at auction in 2021. And of 00:33:09.230 --> 00:33:11.410 course, there's his crossover into professional 00:33:11.410 --> 00:33:14.089 wrestling, which brings us full circle to Gorgeous 00:33:14.089 --> 00:33:16.950 George. Ali served as the special guest referee 00:33:16.950 --> 00:33:19.190 for the main event of the inaugural WrestleMania, 00:33:19.309 --> 00:33:23.549 sorry, in 1985, a massive cultural moment. And 00:33:23.549 --> 00:33:25.910 the sources even recount a chaotic moment years 00:33:25.910 --> 00:33:28.910 earlier when the wrestler Gorilla Monsoon put 00:33:28.910 --> 00:33:30.930 Ali in an airplane seat. spin and dumped him 00:33:30.930 --> 00:33:33.369 to the mat during a staged confrontation. It 00:33:33.369 --> 00:33:35.809 just demonstrates Ali's willingness to participate 00:33:35.809 --> 00:33:38.710 in pure spectacle. But perhaps the most profound 00:33:38.710 --> 00:33:41.930 detail that ties together his faith, his celebrity, 00:33:42.130 --> 00:33:44.829 and his defiance is his star on the Hollywood 00:33:44.829 --> 00:33:48.210 Walk of Fame. Which he received in 2002. It is 00:33:48.210 --> 00:33:50.509 a remarkable physical statement. It's the only 00:33:50.509 --> 00:33:52.869 one mounted on a vertical surface, on a wall. 00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:55.240 This was done out of deference to his request 00:33:55.240 --> 00:33:57.400 that the name Muhammad, which he shares with 00:33:57.400 --> 00:33:59.759 the Islamic prophet, should not be walked upon. 00:33:59.980 --> 00:34:02.440 It's a physical embodiment of the line he drew 00:34:02.440 --> 00:34:05.039 between his sacred identity and his secular fame. 00:34:05.450 --> 00:34:08.309 A non -negotiable demand for reverence that highlights 00:34:08.309 --> 00:34:12.070 the incredible power he commanded. So if we synthesize 00:34:12.070 --> 00:34:14.969 Ali's life, what you see is a master of self 00:34:14.969 --> 00:34:17.730 -promotion, the Louisville Lip, the braggart, 00:34:17.869 --> 00:34:21.030 who intentionally weaponized celebrity to fund 00:34:21.030 --> 00:34:23.829 and amplify his core mission of political and 00:34:23.829 --> 00:34:26.210 religious activism. He endured four years of 00:34:26.210 --> 00:34:28.710 professional exile and massive public hatred. 00:34:29.070 --> 00:34:31.570 ultimately to be vindicated by history and the 00:34:31.570 --> 00:34:34.469 Supreme Court. His moral courage, I think, rivaled 00:34:34.469 --> 00:34:36.550 his talent, setting him apart as a figure whose 00:34:36.550 --> 00:34:39.090 greatest and most costly fights were always outside 00:34:39.090 --> 00:34:42.170 the ring. He spanned sport, entertainment, activism 00:34:42.170 --> 00:34:45.730 and diplomacy with stakes that few, if any, public 00:34:45.730 --> 00:34:48.030 figures have ever matched. The fact that his 00:34:48.030 --> 00:34:50.429 2016 memorial service was watched by an estimated 00:34:50.429 --> 00:34:52.650 one billion viewers worldwide. That tells you 00:34:52.650 --> 00:34:54.920 everything. It tells you that his message. A 00:34:54.920 --> 00:34:57.059 message of self -determination, pride, and peace 00:34:57.059 --> 00:35:00.719 resonated globally, far, far past the ropes of 00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:03.059 the boxing ring. He took the most public identity 00:35:03.059 --> 00:35:05.300 imaginable, that of the heavyweight champion 00:35:05.300 --> 00:35:07.960 of the world, and used it not for commercial 00:35:07.960 --> 00:35:11.099 gain, but to challenge authority and pursue a 00:35:11.099 --> 00:35:13.900 higher moral conviction, enduring massive financial 00:35:13.900 --> 00:35:16.480 and professional loss in the process. And that 00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:18.719 brings us to the ultimate takeaway for you, the 00:35:18.719 --> 00:35:21.480 learner. Think again about that Hollywood Walk 00:35:21.480 --> 00:35:24.119 of Fame star, mounted vertically so that the 00:35:24.119 --> 00:35:27.039 name Mohammed is never walked upon. It's not 00:35:27.039 --> 00:35:30.039 just a footnote. It's a profound final demand. 00:35:30.380 --> 00:35:33.079 So what other public figure, with a brand so 00:35:33.079 --> 00:35:35.699 highly monetized and globally recognized, would 00:35:35.699 --> 00:35:38.000 successfully insist that their name be accorded 00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:40.639 such specific, non -negotiable religious reverence? 00:35:40.860 --> 00:35:42.460 And what does his demand for unwavering respect 00:35:42.460 --> 00:35:44.880 tell us about the unprecedented power he managed 00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:47.179 to command? The power to make the secular world 00:35:47.179 --> 00:35:48.440 bend to his sacred identity.