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118-577: The Muhammad Ali Center is a non-profit museum and cultural center dedicated to boxer Muhammad Ali in Louisville, Kentucky . Ali, a native of Louisville, and his wife Lonnie Ali founded the museum in 2005. The six-story, 96,750 sq ft (8,988 m) museum is located in the city's West Main District . It opened on November 19, 2005, at a cost of $ 80 million. It also includes a 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m) two-level amphitheater and

236-461: A "bum". He said he was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff and claimed that Madison Square Garden was "too small for me". Ali's trash talk was inspired by professional wrestler "Gorgeous George" Wagner 's, after he saw George's talking ability attract huge crowds to events. In a 1969 interview he stated that he met with George in Las Vegas in 1961, that George told him that talking

354-518: A "huge number" of Ukrainians refused to serve. Luhn gives three reasons for this. One was fear of death. Another was that some young Ukrainians were opposed to war in general. A third was that some were unwilling to take up arms against those whom they perceived to be their countrymen. The Ukrainian military itself has stated that, during a partial call-up in 2014, over 85,000 men failed to report to their draft offices, and nearly 10,000 of those were eventually declared to be illegal draft evaders. After

472-417: A "military ID card" certifying they have served – a card that is often requested by potential employers. Young men from poorer circumstances sometimes simply avoid showing up for the draft and attempt to function without a military ID card. Besides facing limited employment prospects, these men are vulnerable to being forced into service through periodic army sweeps of poor neighborhoods. Eritrea instituted

590-455: A $ 1 million lawsuit against radio producer Murray Woroner by accepting $ 10,000 to appear in a privately staged fantasy fight against retired champion Rocky Marciano. In 1969 the boxers were filmed sparring for about 75 one-minute rounds; they produced several potential outcomes. A computer program purportedly determined the winner, based on data about the fighters, along with the opinions of approximately 250 boxing experts. Edited versions of

708-514: A $ 10,000 fine. He paid a bond and remained free while the verdict was being appealed. My enemy is the white people, not Viet Cong or Chinese or Japanese. You my opposer when I want freedom. You my opposer when I want justice. You my opposer when I want equality. You won't even stand up for me in America for my religious beliefs—and you want me to go somewhere and fight, but you won't even stand up for me here at home? —Muhammad Ali to

826-615: A 1962 match. These early fights were not without trials. Clay was knocked down by both Sonny Banks and Cooper. In the Cooper fight, Clay was floored by a left hook at the end of round four and was saved by the bell, going on to win in the predicted fifth round due to Cooper's severely cut eye. The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963, was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch. The number two and three heavyweight contenders respectively, Clay and Jones fought on Jones' home turf at New York's Madison Square Garden . Jones staggered Clay in

944-464: A 1974 interview, Ali said, "If they say stand and salute the flag I do that out of respect, because I'm in the country". Ali would later say, "If America was in trouble and real war came, I'd be on the front line if we had been attacked. But I could see that [the Vietnam War] wasn't right." He also said, "Black men would go over there and fight, but when they came home, they couldn't even be served

1062-439: A barbarous display of cruelty." Ali denied the accusations of cruelty but, for Ali's critics, the fight provided more evidence of his arrogance. After Ali's title defense against Zora Folley on March 22, he was stripped of his title due to his refusal to be drafted to army service. His boxing license was also suspended by the state of New York. He was convicted of draft evasion on June 20 and sentenced to five years in prison and

1180-566: A big game would earn paying fans who either wanted to see him win or wanted to see him lose, thus Clay transformed himself into a self-described "big-mouth and a bragger". In 1960, Clay left Moore's camp, partially due to Clay's refusal to do chores such as washing dishes and sweeping. To replace Moore, Clay hired Angelo Dundee to be his trainer. Clay had met Dundee in February 1957 during Clay's amateur career. Around this time, Clay sought longtime idol Sugar Ray Robinson to be his manager, but

1298-681: A bout in Chicago on March 29, 1966 (the WBA, one of two boxing associations, had stripped Ali of his title following his joining the Nation of Islam). But in February Ali was reclassified by the Louisville draft board as 1-A from 1-Y, and he indicated that he would refuse to serve, commenting to the press, "I ain't got nothing against no Viet Cong ; no Viet Cong never called me nigger .", although

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1416-480: A boxing license in every state and stripped of his passport. As a result, he did not fight from March 1967 to October 1970—from ages 25 to almost 29—as his case worked its way through the appeals process before his conviction was overturned in 1971. During this time of inactivity, as opposition to the Vietnam War began to grow and Ali's stance gained sympathy, he spoke at colleges across the nation, criticizing

1534-462: A column supporting the group. Another group, New Profile , was started by Israeli peace activists to encourage draft refusal. University of Manchester sociologist Yulia Zemilinskaya has interviewed members of New Profile and Shministim, along with members of two groups of Israeli soldiers and reservists who have expressed an unwillingness to engage in missions they disapprove of – Yesh Gvul and Courage to Refuse . Despite commonalities, she found

1652-481: A crowd of college students during his exile from boxing Ali registered for conscription in the United States military on his 18th birthday and was listed as 1-A in 1962. In 1964, he was reclassified as Class 1-Y (fit for service only in times of national emergency) after he failed the U.S. Armed Forces qualifying test because his writing and spelling skills were sub-standard, due to his dyslexia . (He

1770-448: A difference between the draft refusers and the military selective-refusers: The analysis of these interviews demonstrated that, in their appeal to [the] Israeli public, members of Yesh Gvul and Courage to Refuse utilized symbolic meanings and codes derived from dominant militarist and nationalist discourses. In contrast, draft-resisters, members of New Profile and Shministim, refusing to manipulate nationalistic and militaristic codes, voice

1888-703: A draft several times, usually during war but also during the Cold War . Each time the draft has been met with at least some resistance. In Sketches of America (1818) British author Henry Bradshaw Fearon, who visited the young United States on a fact-finding mission to inform Britons considering emigration, described the New York Guard —although he did not name it—as he found it in New York City in August 1817: Every male inhabitant can be called out, from

2006-417: A hamburger." Ali's example inspired many black Americans and others. However, initially when he refused induction, he became arguably the most hated man in the country and received many death threats. People who supported Ali during this time were also threatened, including sports journalist Jerry Izenberg , whose columns defended Ali's decision not to serve. He wrote, "Bomb threats emptied our office, making

2124-604: A large and well-funded military, often focused on counter-insurgency . There is an obligatory military draft for all young men. Nevertheless, according to Public Radio International , two types of draft evasion are widespread in Colombia; one is prevalent among the relatively well-off, and another is found among the poor. Young men from the middle-to-upper classes "usually" evade the Colombian draft. They do so by obtaining college or medical deferments, or by paying bribes for

2242-485: A large-scale defection to the Soviet side. The käpykaarti (forest-dwelling Pine Cone Guard, mentioned above) was a diverse group including draft evaders, deserters, Communists, and Soviet desants (military skydivers). They lived in small groups, sometimes even in military-style dugouts constructed from logs, and often maintained a rotation to guard their camps. They received support from sympathizers who could buy from

2360-578: A license to box in any state for over three years. On June 4, 1967, in a first for sports professionals, a group of high-profile African-American athletes including Jim Brown , Bill Russell , and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar , as well as one political leader, Carl Stokes , assembled with Ali at the Negro Industrial Economic Union in Cleveland for what became known as the " Cleveland Summit " or the "Muhammad Ali Summit". The meeting

2478-441: A military draft in 1995. Three years later, it became open-ended; everyone under 50 [sic] can be enlisted for an indefinite period of time. According to The Economist , "release can depend on the arbitrary whim of a commander, and usually takes years". It is illegal for Eritreans to leave the country without government permission. Nevertheless, in the mid-2010s around 2,000 Eritreans were leaving every month, "primarily to avoid

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2596-523: A move that is expected to make it more difficult for Russians to remain in the country. Kazakhstan said it would extradite Russians wanted for evading mobilization. In early 2023, the Biden administration resumed deportations of Russians who had fled Russia due to mobilization and political persecution. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan agreed to share personal data of Russians fleeing mobilization. South Korea maintains mandatory military service . According to

2714-660: A much more radical and comprehensive critique of the state’s war making plans. Invoking feminist, anti-militarist and pacifist ideologies, they openly challenge and criticize dominant militarist and Zionist discourses. While the majority of members of Yesh Gvul and Courage to Refuse choose selective refusal, negotiating conditions of their reserve duty, [the] anti-militarist, pacifist, and feminist ideological stance of members of New Profile and Shministim leads them to absolutist refusal. According to London-based journalist Elisabeth Braw, writing in Foreign Affairs , draft evasion

2832-988: A pioneer in hip hop . He often predicted in which round he would knock out his opponent. As a boxer, Ali was known for his unorthodox movement, fancy footwork, head movement, and rope-a-dope technique, among others. Outside boxing, Ali attained success as a spoken word artist, releasing two studio albums: I Am the Greatest! (1963) and The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976). Both albums received Grammy Award nominations. He also featured as an actor and writer, releasing two autobiographies. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy, and activism. In 1984, he made public his diagnosis of Parkinson's syndrome , which some reports attributed to boxing-related injuries, though he and his specialist physicians disputed this. He remained an active public figure globally, but in his later years made fewer public appearances as his condition worsened, and he

2950-788: A plaza. On April 4, 2013, a new pedestrian bridge opened, helping residents and visitors connect from the Muhammad Ali Center's plaza to the Belvedere, the Waterfront, and other downtown attractions. The 170-foot-long walkway is nine feet wide, with exterior metal panels that complement the Ali Center plaza's design. In 2020, the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville and the SEEK Museum in Russellville were added to

3068-573: A practice that was facetiously called serving in the käpykaarti (Pine Cone Guard) or metsäkaarti (Forest Guard). Approximately 1,500 men failed to show up for the draft at the start of the Continuation War (1941–1944, pitting Finland against the Soviet Union), and 32,186 cases of desertion were handled by the courts. There were numerous reasons for draft evasion and desertion during this period: fear or war-weariness, objection to

3186-512: A public stand are sometimes referred to as draft resistance . Although draft resistance is discussed below as a form of "draft evasion", draft resisters and scholars of draft resistance reject the categorization of resistance as a form of evasion or avoidance. Draft resisters argue that they seek to confront, not evade or avoid, the draft. Draft evasion has been a significant phenomenon in nations as different as Colombia , Eritrea , Canada , France , Russia , South Korea , Syria , Ukraine and

3304-717: A report from the European Parliamentary Research Service, an organ of the Secretariat of the European Parliament , in the mid-2010s fully half of the 150,000 young men called up each year were thought to be evading the draft. During Dmitry Medvedev 's presidency, the service duration was reduced from two years to one. In September 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine over 600,000 mobilization-eligible citizens left

3422-619: A result, 669 mostly religiously motivated South Koreans were said to be in jail for draft evasion in 2013. Only 723 draft evaders were said to be in jail worldwide at that time. According to the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), in June 2013 Lee Yeda became the first South Korean to be granted asylum specifically because he evaded the South Korean draft. His asylum claim was granted by France. "[In South] Korea, it

3540-515: A system that appeared to trade the money of the rich for the lives of the poor. In January 1916, during World War I, the British government passed a military conscription bill. By July of that year, 30% of draftees had failed to report for service. Canada employed a military draft during World Wars I and II, and some Canadians chose to evade it. According to Canadian historian Jack Granatstein , "no single issue has divided Canadians so sharply" as

3658-522: A taboo in Eritrea – have increased. A 2018 article in Bloomberg News reported that Eritrea was considering altering some of its military draft policies. During World War II, there was no legal way to avoid the draft, and failure to obey was treated as insubordination or desertion , punished by execution or jail. Draft evaders were forced to escape to the forests and live there as outlaws, in

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3776-439: A unanimous 15-round decision. Terrell claimed that early in the fight Ali deliberately thumbed him in the eye, forcing him to fight half-blind, and then, in a clinch, rubbed the wounded eye against the ropes. Because of Ali's apparent intent to prolong the fight to inflict maximum punishment, critics described the bout as "one of the ugliest boxing fights". Tex Maule later wrote: "It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and

3894-638: A uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?" Ali antagonized the white establishment in 1966 by refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War . On April 28, 1967, Ali appeared in Houston for his scheduled induction into

4012-407: Is ... difficult to find a job for anyone who has not completed their national service," Lee was reported to have said. "Refusing to serve means that, in society, your life is terminated." Syria requires men over 18 to serve in the army for two years (except for college graduates, who need serve only 18 months). Draft evasion carries stiff punishments, including fines and years of imprisonment. After

4130-509: Is a rare phenomenon, since absence from a drafting event, in most cases, leads to an immediate search warrant. Evaders are taken by police officers to the draft board, or to the regional military office. In France, the right of all draftees to purchase military exemption – introduced after the French Revolution – was abolished in 1870. One scholar refers to the permissible buy-out as a "bastard form of equality" that bore traces of

4248-442: Is recreated based on his Deer Lake Training Camp . A two-level pavilion, housed within a large elliptical room, features Ali's boxing memorabilia and history. A large projector displays the film The Greatest onto a full-sized boxing ring. There are also booths where visitors can view clips of Ali's greatest fights on video-on-demand terminals, which also feature pre- and post-fight interviews. Another exhibit offers visitors

4366-489: The Korea JoongAng Daily , since the early 2000s, the country has been rocked by scandals involving celebrities who try to use their fame to evade the draft or receive special treatment from the military. South Koreans are reportedly so hostile to draft evasion that one South Korean commentator said that it is "almost like suicide" for celebrities to engage in it. Yoo Seung-jun was one of the biggest stars on

4484-642: The Ancien Régime . Draft evasion was a big problem for the French military under Napoleon . Near the start of the Napoleonic Era (encompassing the Napoleonic Wars ), it was estimated that about 200,000 people had either evaded a draft or deserted from the military, due to the surge in conscription; possibly facing harsh consequences. Around 1808, in the middle of the military conflict,

4602-560: The Astrodome in Houston on November 14, 1966. The bout drew a record-breaking indoor crowd of 35,460 people. Williams had once been considered among the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division, but in 1964 he had been shot at point-blank range by a Texas policeman, resulting in the loss of one kidney and 3.0 metres (10 ft) of his small intestine. Ali dominated Williams, winning a third-round technical knockout in what some consider

4720-583: The COINTELPRO operations that included illegal spying on activists involved with the civil rights and anti-war movements. One of the COINTELPRO targets was Ali, and their activities included the FBI gaining access to his records as far back as elementary school; one such record mentioned him loving art as a child. In March 1966, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces . He was systematically denied

4838-494: The Conscription Crisis of 1917 . Canadians objected to conscription for diverse reasons: some thought it unnecessary, some did not identify with the British, and some felt it imposed unfair burdens on economically struggling segments of society. When the first draft class (single men between 20 and 34 years of age) was called up in 1917, nearly 281,000 of the approximately 404,000 men filed for exemptions. Throughout

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4956-769: The Fight of the Century , the biggest boxing event up until then), the Thrilla in Manila , and his fight with George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle . Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many boxers let their managers do the talking, and he became renowned for his provocative and outlandish persona. He was famous for trash-talking , often free-styled with rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry , and has been recognized as

5074-453: The March on Washington in two fists". Coretta Scott King added that Ali was "a champion of justice and peace and unity". In speaking of the cost on Ali's career of his refusal to be drafted, his trainer Angelo Dundee said, "One thing must be taken into account when talking about Ali: He was robbed of his best years, his prime years." Ali's promoter Bob Arum did not support Ali's choice at

5192-555: The Nation of Islam . Ali then faced a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine . It had been scheduled for Boston the previous November, but was postponed for six months due to Ali's emergency surgery for a hernia three days before. The fight was controversial. Midway through the first round, Liston was knocked down by a difficult-to-see blow the press dubbed a "phantom punch". Referee Jersey Joe Walcott did not begin

5310-523: The Russian invasion of Ukraine , male Ukrainian nationals aged 18 to 60 were denied exit from Ukraine. Despite the ban on leaving Ukraine, an estimated 600,000–850,000 Ukrainian men fled to Europe after the Russian invasion. The Polish government offered, and the Lithuanian government considered, the repatriation of Ukrainian men living in their countries to Ukraine. The United States has employed

5428-579: The Syrian Civil War broke out in 2011, many draft-age men began fleeing the country, sometimes paying thousands of dollars to be smuggled out. Others paid to have their names expunged from the draft rolls. Meanwhile, the government erected billboards exhorting young people to join the army – and set up road checkpoints to capture draft evaders. By 2016, an estimated 70,000 draft evaders had left Syria, and others remained undetected within its borders. Observers have identified several motives among

5546-609: The United States . Accounts by scholars and journalists, along with memoiristic writings by draft evaders, indicate that the motives and beliefs of the evaders cannot be usefully stereotyped. Young people have engaged in a wide variety of draft evasion practices around the world, some of which date back thousands of years. This section aims to delineate a representative sampling of draft evasion practices and support activities as identified by scholars and journalists. Examples of many of these practices and activities can be found in

5664-810: The light heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with five losses. In his 1975 autobiography he recalled that shortly after his return from the Rome Olympics, he threw his gold medal into the Ohio River after he and a friend were refused service at a "whites-only" restaurant and fought with a white gang. The story was later disputed, and several of his friends, including Bundini Brown and photographer Howard Bingham , denied it. Brown told Sports Illustrated writer Mark Kram, " Honkies sure bought into that one!" Thomas Hauser 's biography of Ali stated that Ali

5782-430: The "real training", eventually molding "my style, my stamina and my system". For the last four years of Clay's amateur career he was trained by boxing cutman Chuck Bodak . Clay made his amateur boxing debut in 1954 against local amateur boxer Ronnie O'Keefe. He won by split decision. He went on to win six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union national title, and

5900-454: The 12-year-old fuming over a thief having taken his bicycle. He told the officer he was going to "whup" the thief. The officer told Clay he had better learn how to box first. Initially, Clay did not take up Martin's offer, but after seeing amateur boxers on a local television boxing program called Tomorrow's Champions , Clay was interested in the prospect of fighting. He then began to work with trainer Fred Stoner, whom he credits with giving him

6018-475: The 20th and 21st centuries. Laws against certain draft evasion practices go back at least as far as the ancient Greeks. Examples of draft evasion can be found in many nations over many time periods: 19th-century Belgium was one of the few places where most citizens accepted the practice of legally buying one's way out of the military draft, sometimes referred to as the practice of "purchasable military commutation". Even so, some Belgian politicians denounced it as

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6136-914: The Israeli Supreme Court ruled to reject the latter exception in June 2024. The draft has become part of the fabric of Israeli society: according to Le Monde senior editor Sylvain Cypel , Israel is a place where military service is seen not just as a duty but a "certificate of entry into active life". Yet by the middle of the decade of the 2000s, draft evasion (including outright draft refusal) and desertion had reached all-time highs. Fully 5% of young men and 3% of young women were supposedly failing their pre-military psychological tests, both all-time highs. Some popular entertainers, including rock star Aviv Geffen , grand-nephew of military hero Moshe Dayan , have been encouraging draft evasion (Geffen publicly said he would commit suicide if he were taken by

6254-588: The Minaret program concluded that it was "disreputable if not outright illegal". In 1971, Ali's Fight of the Century with Frazier was used by an activist group, the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI , to pull off a burglary at an FBI office in Pennsylvania; the anticipation for the fight was unlike anything else, so they believed the security would also be focused on the fight. This raid exposed

6372-501: The South Korean rock scene until 2002, when he chose to evade the draft and become a U.S. citizen. South Korea subsequently deported him and banned him for life. Some South Korean draft evaders have been sentenced to prison. In 2014, The Christian Science Monitor ran a headline claiming that South Korea had the "most draft dodgers in prison". The article, by veteran correspondent Donald Kirk , explained that South Korea's government did not allow for conscientious objection to war; as

6490-514: The Syrian draft evaders. One is fear of dying in that country's civil war. Others include obeying parental wishes and disgust with the government of Bashar al-Assad . Thomas Spijkerboer  [ Wikidata ] , a professor of migration law at VU University Amsterdam , has argued that Syrian draft evaders motivated by a refusal to participate in violations of international law should be given refugee status by other nations. In October 2018,

6608-473: The Syrian government announced an amnesty for draft evaders. However, an officer with Syria's "Reconciliation Ministry" told the Los Angeles Times that, while punishment would be canceled, military service would still be required. "Now the war is practically at its end, which means enlisting is no longer such a fearful situation", he said. "We expect we'll have very large numbers taking advantage of

6726-672: The U.S. Armed Forces, but he refused three times to step forward when his name was called. An officer warned him that he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $ 10,000. Once more, Ali refused to budge when his name was called, and he was arrested. Later that same day, the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and the World Boxing Association stripped him of his title. Other boxing commissions followed suit. Ali remained unable to obtain

6844-498: The U.S. Civil Rights Trail. The cultural center features exhibitions regarding Ali's six core principles of confidence, conviction, dedication, giving, respect, and spirituality. Throughout his life, Muhammad Ali strived to be guided by these core principles in his quest to inspire people around the world, dedicating himself to helping others, being the best athlete he could be and by standing up for what he believed in. An orientation theater helps present Ali's life. A mock boxing ring

6962-566: The Vietnam War and advocating African American pride and racial justice. Ali based himself in Chicago. According to most close to him, his Chicago years were formative. At the time, Ali was widely condemned by the American media , with fears that his actions could potentially lead to mass civil disobedience . Despite this, Ebony magazine noted in the late 1960s that Ali's popularity had increased during this time, especially among black people. While banned from sanctioned bouts, Ali settled

7080-428: The age of 18 to 45, on actual military duty. During a state of peace, there are seven musters annually: the fine for non-attendance is, each time, five dollars. Commanding officers have discretionary power to receive substitutes. An instance of their easiness to be pleased was related to me by Mr. —, a tradesman of this city. He never attends the muster, but, to avoid the fine, sends some of his men, who answer to his name;

7198-768: The amnesty". Tunisia has had a draft since gaining its independence in 1956. Most males are required to submit documents to local officials at age 18 and to begin service two years later. However, according to the Lebanon-based Carnegie Middle East Center , the Tunisian draft has long been poorly enforced and draft evasion has long been rampant. In order to minimize draft evasion, Tunisia began allowing young men to substitute "civilian" service (such as working on rural development projects) or "national" service (such as working as civil servants) for military service. But that has not helped:

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7316-625: The army and publicly considered himself a conscientious objector . Ali stated: "War is against the teachings of the Qur'an . I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger. We don't take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers". He also said, "We are not to be the aggressor but we will defend ourselves if attacked." He stated: "Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Vietcong." Ali elaborated: "Why should they ask me to put on

7434-408: The beginning of the third round Clay hit Liston with a combination that buckled his knees and opened a cut under his left eye. This was the first time Liston had ever been cut. At the end of round four, Clay was returning to his corner when he began experiencing blinding pain in his eyes and asked his trainer, Angelo Dundee , to cut off his gloves. Dundee refused. It has been speculated that the problem

7552-421: The bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by TKO . Liston stated that the reason he quit was an injured shoulder. Following the win, a triumphant Clay rushed to the edge of the ring and, pointing to the ringside press, shouted: "Eat your words!" He added, "I am the greatest! I shook up the world. I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived." At ringside post fight, Clay appeared unconvinced that

7670-455: The black market; failing that, they stole provisions to feed themselves. The Finnish Army and police actively searched for them, and if discovered, a firefight often ensued. The Finnish Communist Party was able to operate among draft evaders. Sixty-three death sentences were handed out to deserters; however, many of them were killed in military or police raids on their camps. Deserters captured near front lines would often be simply returned to

7788-680: The bout were shown in movie theaters in 1970. In the U.S. version Ali lost in a simulated 13th-round knockout, but in the European version Marciano lost due to cuts, also simulated. Draft evasion There are many draft evasion practices. Those that manage to adhere to or circumvent the law, and those that do not involve taking a public stand, are sometimes referred to as draft avoidance . Draft evaders are sometimes pejoratively referred to as draft dodgers , although in certain contexts that term has also been used non-judgmentally or as an honorific. Practices that involve lawbreaking or taking

7906-401: The bout. The outcome of the fight was a major upset. At the opening bell, Liston rushed at Clay, seemingly angry and looking for a quick knockout. However, Clay's superior speed and mobility enabled him to elude Liston, making the champion miss and look awkward. At the end of the first round, Clay opened up his attack and hit Liston repeatedly with jabs. Liston fought better in round two, but at

8024-755: The case was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971. Ali remained free in the years between the Appellate Court decision and the Supreme Court ruling. As public opinion began turning against the war and the Civil Rights Movement continued to gather momentum, Ali became a popular speaker at colleges and universities across the country; this itinerary was rare if not unprecedented for a prizefighter. At Howard University , for example, he gave his popular "Black Is Best" speech to 4,000 cheering students and community intellectuals, after he

8142-485: The causes with young people that nothing else could have done. Even those who were assassinated, certainly lost their lives, but they didn't voluntarily do that. He knew he was going to jail and did it anyway. That's another level of leadership and sacrifice. Ali was honored with the annual Martin Luther King Award in 1970 by civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy , who called him "a living example of soul power,

8260-684: The chance to explore sense of self, others and purpose through an interactive terminal program. Visitors are encouraged to share what they are fighting for in the Generation Ali Story Booths Two art galleries, the LeRoy Neiman Gallery and the Howard L. Bingham Gallery, feature rotating exhibits that are located on the third floor. Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali ( / ɑː ˈ l iː / ; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. ; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016)

8378-477: The count immediately after the knockdown, as Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner. Liston rose after he had been down for about 20 seconds, and the fight momentarily continued. However a few seconds later Walcott, having been informed by the timekeepers that Liston had been down for a count of 10, stopped the match and declared Ali the winner by knockout. The entire fight lasted less than two minutes. It has since been speculated that Liston purposely dropped to

8496-454: The country to avoid the draft. Reportedly, Georgia , Kazakhstan , and Mongolia became primary, visa-free destinations for Russians seeking to avoid President Vladimir Putin’s mobilization order . Finland , Poland and the Baltic countries announced they will not offer refuge to Russians fleeing mobilization. In January 2023, Kazakhstan announced they were tightening visa rules,

8614-523: The covenant of its founding principles?" Recalling Ali's anti-war position, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said: "I remember the teachers at my high school didn't like Ali because he was so anti-establishment and he kind of thumbed his nose at authority and got away with it. The fact that he was proud to be a black man and that he had so much talent   ... made some people think that he was dangerous. But for those very reasons I enjoyed him." Civil rights figures came to believe that Ali had an energizing effect on

8732-583: The decision to the Supreme Court , where his conviction was overturned in 1971. He did not fight for nearly four years and lost a period of peak performance as an athlete. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War made him an icon for the larger counterculture of the 1960s generation, and he was a very high-profile figure of racial pride for African Americans during the civil rights movement and throughout his career. He fought in several historic boxing matches, including his highly publicized fights with Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier (including

8850-519: The defense minister reported that, in 2017, only 506 young men turned up out of an eligibility pool of more than 31,000. In 2015, responding to perceived threats from pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military instituted a compulsory draft for males between 20 and 27 years of age. However, according to independent journalist Alec Luhn, writing in Foreign Policy magazine,

8968-627: The draft", according to The Economist . Human rights groups and the United Nations have also claimed that Eritrea's draft policies are fueling the migration. Most leave for Europe or neighboring countries; in 2015, Eritreans were the fourth largest group illicitly crossing the Mediterranean for Europe. Mothers are usually excused from the Eritrean draft. The Economist says that, as a result, pregnancies among single women – once

9086-432: The fight was stopped due to a Liston shoulder injury, saying that the only injury Liston had was "an open eye, a big cut eye!" When told by Joe Louis that the injury was a "left arm thrown out of its socket," Clay quipped, "Yeah, swinging at nothing, who wouldn't?" In winning this fight at the age of 22, Clay became the youngest boxer to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion. However, Floyd Patterson remained

9204-422: The fight. Patterson biographer W. K. Stratton claims that the conflict between Ali and Patterson was not genuine but was staged to increase ticket sales and the closed-circuit viewing audience, with both men complicit in the theatrics. Stratton also cites an interview by Howard Cosell in which Ali explained that rather than toying with Patterson, he refrained from knocking him out after it became apparent Patterson

9322-428: The finest performance of his career. Ali fought Terrell in Houston on February 6, 1967. Terrell, who was unbeaten in five years and had defeated many of the boxers Ali had faced, was billed as Ali's toughest opponent since Liston; he was big, strong and had a three-inch reach advantage over Ali. During the lead up to the bout, Terrell repeatedly called Ali "Clay", much to Ali's annoyance. The two almost came to blows over

9440-515: The first round, and the unanimous decision for Clay was greeted by boos and a rain of debris thrown into the ring. Watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay he (Liston) might get locked up for murder. The fight was later named "Fight of the Year" by The Ring magazine. In each of these fights, Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. He called Jones "an ugly little man" and Cooper

9558-473: The freedom movement as a whole. Al Sharpton spoke of his bravery at a time when there was still widespread support for the Vietnam War: For the heavyweight champion of the world, who had achieved the highest level of athletic celebrity, to put all of that on the line—the money, the ability to get endorsements—to sacrifice all of that for a cause, gave a whole sense of legitimacy to the movement and

9676-419: The ground. Proposed motivations include threats on his life from the Nation of Islam, that he had bet against himself and that he "took a dive" to pay off debts. Slow-motion replays show that Liston was jarred by a chopping right from Ali, although it is unclear whether the blow was a genuine knockout punch. Ali defended his title against former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson on November 22, 1965. Before

9794-607: The lines, but as the military situation deteriorated towards the end of the war, punishments were harsher: 61 of the death sentences given were in 1944, mostly in June and July during the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive , where Finnish forces were forced to retreat. At the conclusion of the war, the Allied Control Commission immediately demanded an amnesty for draft evaders, and they were not further punished. As of 2020, deliberate draft evasion

9912-442: The match, Ali mocked Patterson, who was widely known to call him by his former name Cassius Clay, as an " Uncle Tom ", calling him "The Rabbit". Although Ali had the better of Patterson, who appeared injured during the fight, the match lasted 12 rounds before being called on a technical knockout. Patterson later said he had strained his sacroiliac . Ali was criticized in the sports media for appearing to have toyed with Patterson during

10030-495: The mid-1970s. He won the world heavyweight championship, defeating Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22. During that year, he denounced his birth name as a " slave name " and formally changed his name to Muhammad Ali. In 1967, Ali refused to be drafted into the military, owing to his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War , and was found guilty of draft evasion and stripped of his boxing titles. He stayed out of prison while appealing

10148-509: The middle of the war, many Canadians – not least of all, conscripts committed to overseas service – were referring to NRMA men pejoratively as "Zombies", that is, as dead-to-life or utterly useless. Following costly fighting in Italy , Normandy , and the Scheldt , overseas Canadian troops were depleted, and during the Conscription Crisis of 1944 a one-time levy of approximately 17,000 NRMA men

10266-502: The military draft. During both World Wars, political parties collapsed or were torn apart over the draft issue, and ethnicity seeped into the equation, with most French Canadians opposing conscription and a majority of English Canadians accepting it. During both wars, riots and draft evasion followed the passage of the draft laws. Conscription had been a dividing force in Canadian politics during World War I, and those divisions led to

10384-500: The military). In 2007 the Israeli government initiated what some called a "shaming campaign", banning young entertainers from holding concerts and making television appearances if they failed to fulfill their military requirement. By 2008 over 3,000 high school students belonged to "Shministim" (Hebrew for twelfth graders), a group of young people claiming to be conscientiously opposed to military service. American actor Ed Asner wrote

10502-425: The name issue in a pre-fight interview with Howard Cosell. Ali seemed intent on humiliating Terrell. "I want to torture him", he said. "A clean knockout is too good for him." The fight was close until the seventh round, when Ali bloodied Terrell and almost knocked him out. In the eighth round, Ali taunted Terrell, hitting him with jabs and shouting between punches, "What's my name, Uncle Tom ... what's my name?" Ali won

10620-538: The number was closer to 500,000. Around this time period, a gendarmerie was assembled, aiming to hunt for the people who deserted the military or dodged drafts; the French also enforced the mandatory carrying of passports, among other measures. There has always been a military draft in Israel. It is universal for all non-Arab Israeli citizens, men and women alike, and can legally be evaded only on physical or psychological grounds or by strictly Orthodox Jews , although

10738-500: The same man is not invariably his deputy on parade: in this, Mr. — suits his own convenience; sometimes the collecting clerk, sometimes one of the brewers, at others a drayman: and to finish this military pantomime, a firelock is often dispensed with, for the more convenient wartime weapon—a cudgel. Courts-martial have the power of mitigating the fine, on the assignment of a satisfactory cause of absence, and in cases of poverty. Upon legal exemptions I cannot convey certain information. During

10856-489: The second part is probably apocryphal. Amidst the media and public outcry over Ali's stance, the Illinois Athletic Commission refused to sanction the fight, citing technicalities. Instead, Ali traveled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts against George Chuvalo , Henry Cooper , Brian London , and Karl Mildenberger . Ali returned to the United States to fight Cleveland Williams at

10974-422: The section on draft evasion in the nations of the world, further down this page. One type of draft avoidance consists of attempts to follow the letter and spirit of the draft laws in order to obtain a legally valid draft deferment or exemption. Sometimes these deferments and exemptions are prompted by political considerations. Another type consists of attempts to circumvent, manipulate, or surreptitiously violate

11092-412: The staff stand out in the snow. My car windshield was smashed with a sledgehammer." The New York Times columnist William Rhoden wrote, "Ali's actions changed my standard of what constituted an athlete's greatness. Possessing a killer jump shot or the ability to stop on a dime was no longer enough. What were you doing for the liberation of your people? What were you doing to help your country live up to

11210-486: The state of Kentucky. Clay's father's paternal grandparents were John Clay and Sallie Anne Clay; Clay's sister Eva claimed that Sallie was a native of Madagascar . He was a descendant of slaves of the antebellum South , and was predominantly of African descent, with Irish and English family heritage. His maternal great-grandfather, Abe Grady, emigrated from Ennis , County Clare , Ireland. DNA testing performed in 2018 showed that, through his paternal grandmother, Clay

11328-441: The substance or spirit of the draft laws in order to obtain a deferment or exemption. Nearly all attempts at draft avoidance are private and unpublicized. Examples include: Draft evasion that involves overt lawbreaking or that communicates conscious or organized resistance to government policy is sometimes referred to as draft resistance. Examples include: Draft evasion is said to have characterized every military conflict of

11446-408: The time, but in 2016 Arum stated: "when I look back at his life, and I was blessed to call him a friend and spent a lot of time with him, it's hard for me to talk about his exploits in boxing because as great as they were they paled in comparison to the impact that he had on the world. ... He did what he thought was right. And it turned out he was right, and I was wrong." Ali's resistance to the draft

11564-411: The war as an offensive war, ideological objections or outright support for Communism. Finnish Communists were considered dangerous and could not serve, and were subject to "protective custody" – in practice, detention in a prison for the course of the war – because earlier attempts to conscript them had ended in disaster: one battalion called Pärmin pataljoona assembled from detained Communists suffered

11682-514: The war, some Canadians who feared conscription left for the United States or elsewhere. Canada introduced an innovative kind of draft law in 1940 with the National Resources Mobilization Act . While the move was not unpopular outside French Canada, controversy arose because under the new law, conscripts were not compelled to serve outside Canada. They could choose simply to defend the country against invasion. By

11800-544: The youngest to win the heavyweight championship, doing so at the age 21 during an elimination bout following Rocky Marciano 's retirement. Mike Tyson broke both records in 1986 when he defeated Trevor Berbick to win the heavyweight title at age 20. The feat also made Clay the fastest boxer to win the championship (non-vacant) in the modern era, doing so in 20 bouts. Soon after the Liston fight, Clay changed his name to Cassius X, and then later to Muhammad Ali upon converting to

11918-535: Was "endemic" in the Soviet Union during the Soviet–Afghan War , which ended with Soviet defeat in 1989. A declassified Central Intelligence Agency report revealed that the Soviet elite routinely bribed its sons' way out of deployment to Afghanistan, or out of military service altogether. In Russia, all men aged 18 through 30 are subject to the military draft, continuing the Soviet practice. According to

12036-402: Was a Methodist , he allowed Odessa to bring up both Cassius Jr. and his younger brother, Rudolph "Rudy" Clay (later renamed Rahaman Ali), as Baptists . Cassius Jr. attended Central High School in Louisville. He was dyslexic , which led to difficulties in reading and writing, at school and for much of his life. He grew up amid racial segregation . His mother recalled one occasion when he

12154-505: Was a descendant of the former slave Archer Alexander , who had been chosen from the building crew as the model of a freed man for the Emancipation Memorial , and was the subject of abolitionist William Greenleaf Eliot 's book, The Story of Archer Alexander: From Slavery to Freedom . His father was a sign and billboard painter, and his mother, Odessa O'Grady Clay (1917–1994), was a domestic helper. Although Cassius Sr.

12272-540: Was an 8:1 underdog. Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the pre-fight buildup, dubbing him "the big ugly bear", claiming "Liston even smells like a bear" and "I'm gonna give him to the local zoo after I whup him." Clay turned the pre-fight weigh-in into a circus, shouting at Liston that "someone is going to die at ringside tonight." Clay's pulse rate was measured at 120, more than double his normal 54. Many of those in attendance thought Clay's behavior stemmed from fear, and some commentators wondered if he would show up for

12390-510: Was an American professional boxer . Nicknamed " the Greatest ", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century. Widely regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, he held the Ring magazine heavyweight title from 1964 to 1970. He was the undisputed champion from 1974 to 1978 and the WBA and Ring heavyweight champion from 1978 to 1979. In 1999, he

12508-417: Was cared for by his family. Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. ( / ˈ k æ ʃ ə s / ) was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky . He had one brother. He was named after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. (1912–1990), who had a sister and four brothers and who himself was named in honor of the 19th-century Republican politician and staunch abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay , also from

12626-588: Was covered in the 2013 documentary The Trials of Muhammad Ali . In a secret operation code-named " Minaret ", the National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted the communications of leading Americans, including Ali, Senators Frank Church and Howard Baker , Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. , prominent U.S. journalists, and others who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam. A review by the NSA of

12744-511: Was denied a drink of water at a store: "They wouldn't give him one because of his color . That really affected him." He was also strongly affected by the 1955 murder of Emmett Till , which led to young Clay and a friend taking out their frustration by vandalizing a local rail yard. He once told his daughter Hana, "Nothing would ever shake me up (more) than the story of Emmett Till." Clay was first directed toward boxing by Louisville police officer and boxing coach Joe E. Martin , who encountered

12862-473: Was due to ointment used to seal Liston's cuts, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner to his gloves. Though unconfirmed, boxing historian Bert Sugar said that two of Liston's opponents also complained about their eyes "burning". Despite Liston's attempts to knock out a blinded Clay, Clay was able to survive the fifth round until sweat and tears rinsed the irritation from his eyes. In the sixth, Clay dominated, hitting Liston repeatedly. Liston did not answer

12980-820: Was injured. Patterson later said that he had never been hit by punches as soft as Ali's. Stratton states that Ali arranged the second fight, in 1972, with the financially struggling Patterson to help the former champion earn enough money to pay a debt to the IRS . After the Patterson fight, Ali founded his own promotion company, Main Bout. The company mainly handled Ali's boxing promotions and pay-per-view closed-circuit television broadcasts. The company's stockholders were mainly fellow Nation of Islam members, along with several others, including Bob Arum . Ali and then- WBA heavyweight champion boxer Ernie Terrell had agreed to meet for

13098-590: Was invited to speak by sociology professor Nathan Hare on behalf of the Black Power Committee, a student protest group. On June 28, 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States in Clay v. United States overturned Ali's conviction by a unanimous 8–0 decision (Justice Thurgood Marshall recused himself, as he had been the U.S. Solicitor General at the time of Ali's conviction). The decision

13216-542: Was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC . Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky , he began training as an amateur boxer at age 12. At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics and turned professional later that year. He joined the Nation of Islam in the early 1960s, but later disavowed it in

13334-549: Was not based on, nor did it address, the merits of Ali's claims per se. Rather, the Court held that since the appeal board gave no reason for the denial of a conscientious objector exemption to Ali, that it was therefore impossible to determine which of the three basic tests for conscientious objector status (offered in the Justice Department 's brief) the appeal board relied on, and Ali's conviction must be reversed. In

13452-473: Was organized by Brown for his peers to question Ali about the seriousness of his convictions, and to decide whether to support him, which they ultimately did. At the trial on June 20, 1967, the jury found Ali guilty after only 21   minutes of deliberation of the criminal offense of violating the Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. After a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction,

13570-497: Was quoted as saying, "I said I was the greatest, not the smartest!" ) By early 1966, the army lowered its standards to permit soldiers above the 15th percentile and Ali was again classified as 1-A. This classification meant he was now eligible for the draft and induction into the U.S. Army at a time when the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War, a war which put him further at odds with the white establishment. When notified of this status, Ali declared that he would refuse to serve in

13688-512: Was rebuffed. By late 1963, Clay had become the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. The fight was set for February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach . Liston was an intimidating personality, a dominating fighter with a criminal past and ties to the mob. Based on Clay's uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous two fights, and Liston's destruction of former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in two first-round knockouts, Clay

13806-827: Was refused service at the diner but that he lost his medal a year after he won it. Ali received a replacement medal at the Georgia Dome during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta , where he lit the torch to start the Games. Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker . From then until the end of 1963, Clay amassed a record of 19–0 with 15 wins by knockout. He defeated boxers including Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson , Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, LaMar Clark , Doug Jones , and Henry Cooper . Clay also beat his former trainer and veteran boxer Archie Moore in

13924-584: Was sent to fight abroad. Many NRMA men deserted after the levy rather than fight abroad. One brigade of NRMA men declared itself on "strike" after the levy. The number of men who actively sought to evade the World War II draft in Canada is not known. Granatstein says the evasion was "widespread". In addition, in 1944 alone approximately 60,000 draftees were serving only as NRMA men, committed to border defense but not to fighting abroad. Colombia maintains

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