Muhammad Ali

Ali, Muhammad (Cassius Marcellus Clay; 1942–), U.S. boxer. Ali won an Olympic gold metal in 1960 and the heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in 1964. He was stripped of this title in 1967 by the World Boxing Association while appealing a conviction for draft evasion, later overturned. One of the greatest and most outspoken heavyweights in boxing history, he defeated George Foreman for the title in 1974, lost it in 1978 to Leon Spinks, and won it back from Spinks later that year. Larry Holmes defeated Ali in 1980. Ali changed his name after adopting the Black Muslim religion in 1964.