In 1967, Muhammad Ali was stripped of his heavyweight boxing title for violating the Selective Service Act. As a Muslim, Ali refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army. He won back the title in 1974, and later became the first boxer to win the heavyweight championship three separate times. Some call him the greatest heavyweight boxer ever.

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 17, 1942, Ali began boxing at the age of 12. A white policeman in Louisville, Joe Martin, took an interest in the talented black youth and got him to work out in the city's Columbia Gym. Black trainer Fred Stoner took over and molded Ali into a powerful boxer with the grace and agility of a dancer. In 1960, Ali attracted national notice by winning the Amateur Athletic Union light heavyweight, Golden Gloves heavyweight, and the Olympic Games light heavyweight championships. Yet, disgusted by racism...