The abolitionist a second cousin of Kentucky Senator Henry Clay edited an antislavery newspaper commanded troops in the Mexican-American War and served as minister to Russia under President Abraham Lincoln in defying Southern conventions of the time Ali faced more than death threats. He was beaten stabbed and shot by political opponents but lived to the age of 92. The morning after defeating Liston the new heavyweight champion confirmed reports that he had become a member of the Nation of Islam. With Malcolm X at his side the champ told reporters that he had renounced his surname which he called his slave name and would be known as Cassius X until Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad gave him a holy name. That name Muhammad Ali was bestowed on March 6, 1964. During his 43 month forced exile from the ring Ali took to the stage in the title role of the musical “Buck White.” The production opened inside New York’s George Abbott Theatre on December 2, 1969 but Ali’s stage career would be a brief …show more content…
The album also included two songs by the boxer including a cover of the Ben E. King hit Stand by Me. Perhaps not surprising given Ali’s gift of gab but his great grandfather Abe Grady was an Irishman who emigrated to the United States and settled in Kentucky in the 1860s. There he married a freed slave and one of their grandchildren was Ali’s mother, Odessa Lee Grady Clay. In 2009 Ali visited his great grandfather’s ancestral hometown of Ennis Ireland and met fellow members of the O’Grady clan. In 1974 a 32 year old Ali earned a title shot against undefeated 25 year old champion George Foreman. Seeking to generate positive publicity for his country Zaire’s dictatorial president Mobutu Sese Seko paid each fighter $5 million to stage the fight in his capital city of Kinshasa. In order for American audiences to watch the fight live in prime time the bout began in the early morning hours before the sun dawned on Africa. In what was dubbed the “Rumble in the Jungle,” Ali won in an eight-round knockout to regain the heavyweight title that had been stripped from him seven years