Black History Fact of the Week: Muhammad Ali
Boxer put his career on the line
On June 25, 1967, heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali was stripped of his title as heavyweight champion.
The action was a result of his defiant stand against what he thought was an unjust war. He refused induction into the Army after being drafted, stating that he was a practicing Muslim minister and that his religious beliefs prevented him fighting in the Vietnam War. During the controversy, Ali argued that he had no quarrel with the Viet Cong.
Ali’s stance put him afoul of the U.S. government, and the Justice Department began its pursuit of the highly revered boxer.
Though at the peak of his professional prowess, Ali put his career on the line and stood his ground, forfeiting the right to compete for three and half years. Ali was found guilty, but cleared his name after a lengthy court battle.
After his forced hiatus from the “sweet science,” he returned to the ring to become the first boxer to win the heavyweight title for the third time.
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Muhammad Ali, whom many proclaim as the greatest boxer of all time, celebrated his 70th birthday Jan. 17. Noted for his lightning quick feet, hands and mouth, the Louisville, Ky., native won the Golden Gloves Tournament in 1959 and an Olympic gold medal in 1960. During the 1960s, Ali won all his bouts, the majority of them by knockout. Among his most noted matches were a number of bouts he fought against Joe Frazier and George Foreman.
Do you consider yourself a fighter? I’ve always considered myself one. For most of my life every time I got knocked down, I got right back up, stronger than ever. But now that I look back, I got up because God’s righteous right hand pulled me up.
View Park resident and retired Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) police officer David Anthony couldn’t believe his eyes when he entered the Lock n’ Load gun and ammo store in Henderson, Nev.
But there it was right in plain view, a pristine 60mm machine gun positioned high on a shelf for sale; a weapon, he feels, that kept him and his platoon alive during his tour of duty as a 19-year-old machine gunner in 1968 in the Vietnam War.
To Laila Ali, being an athlete means living like a role model, whether one wants to or not.
And, as the boxer and former athlete told CNN at the Tuesday premiere of the Jackie Robinson biopic “42,” she doesn’t have much sympathy for athletes who think otherwise.
Ali said that she hopes the film, which shows Robinson breaking Major League baseball’s color barrier, will remind moviegoers of that.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The Los Angeles Dodgers will open their 2013 season today against the World Series champion San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium, which underwent $100 million worth of improvements during the offseason.
The upgrades — including new high-definition video boards in left field and right field, wider concourses and expanded restrooms — will make attending a game “a lot more comfortable, a lot more entertaining and a lot more fun,” said team president and CEO Stan Kasten.
