Birthday: Mohammed Ali

Born Cassius Clay in 1942, Ali started boxing at the age of twelve. As an amateur he won Gold Glove Championships in 1959 and 1960 before winning a gold medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics. Shortly after the Olympics he turned professional and in 1964 he won the heavyweight title by beating the highly favored Sonny Liston. Two days after the fight Ali announced his conversion to Islam. He would defend his title eight times before being called into military service in 1967. He refused the call-up and was stripped of his world title.

Ali returned to the ring in 1971 and lost a tough battle against current World Champ Joe Frazier. Three years later he fought George Foreman in one of the best publicized boxing matches ever - the ‘Rumble in the Jungle.’ Ali knocked out Foreman and regained the heavyweight title. In 1975 Ali defended his title versus Joe Frazier in the ‘Thrilla in Manila.’ After ten more defenses of his title, Ali lost to Leon Spinks but again won it back from him in 1978. His final title loss was to Larry Holmes and shortly afterward Ali retired for good.

Outside of the ring Ali always fought social injustices, including war and civil rights. But in 1982 he began fighting a different kind of opponent – Parkinson’s disease. More specifically, Ali suffers from Pugilistic Parkinsonism, brought on by repetitive trauma to the head. Although the disease has slowed him down, he still remains active in world politics.

If Ali died today he would be worth 36 points for Izzy.