Heavyweight fighter Cassius Clay spent many hours at City Parks Gym in New York in the 1960s
Twelve men stood in a line in the Military Entrance Muhammad Ali the world heavyweight champion in boxing and one of the most famous athletes in the world Ali looked on as the induction hearing got under way Processing Station in Houston Texas on April 28 1967 Among them was twenty-five-year-old on that spring day He and the others in the line were being asked to swear themselves into military service The officer in charge of the hearing called out Ali’s name It was a moment months in the making Upon being drafted into or required to join the military in 1966 Ali had filed as a conscientious objector or a person morally opposed to war The officer overseeing his case had agreed that Ali’s plea was sincere and had recommended Ali be cleared of military obligation Usually that would have been enough But Ali’s wasn’t just any case He was a star and one publicly critical of the Vietnam War 1957 1975 His request had been refused 7
Above Muhammad Ali faces Ernie Terrell in the ring in 1967 before being stripped of his boxing title for draft evasion Right Ali signed this photo for a fan in Frankfurt Germany at the height of his career Now the situation was coming to a head By stepping forward and swearing the oath Ali would be turning his back on his own deeply held beliefs By standing still he would be branded a criminal Ali didn’t move An officer led Ali from the room explaining the consequences of refusal Ali would be arrested He risked a prison sentence He would be stripped of his freedom and almost certainly his boxing title Ali returned to the induction hearing He was being given a second chance to agree to military service Again his name was called But again Ali didn’t budge He was committed to refusing military assignment regardless of the consequences 8
It is in the light of my consciousness as a Muslim minister and my own personal convictions that I take my stand in rejecting the call to be inducted Ali explained in a statement I do so with the full realization of its implications I have searched my conscience Two months later Ali was formally charged with felony draft evasion He was sentenced to five years in prison fined 10,000 and stripped of his passport as well as his boxing titles But the champ’s fight was just beginning BORN CASSIUS CLAY Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr was born on January 17 1942 in Louisville Kentucky He was named for his father who in turn had been named for a famous but controversial Ali delivers a friendly punch to his father Cassius Clay Sr during a news conference on January 4 1980 9
