One of the best boxers in history is Muhammad Ali. His real name is Cassius Marcellus Jr. One of the things that so many people like him was for religious freedom; he protested for black American people because back then slavery was still going on. He was born in january  17,1942. Lots of people ask why Cassius Marcellus changed his name to Muhammad Ali is because he converted to Islam.  The real reason he converted into  Islam was because of the Vietnam War. Cassius Marcellus fought in the olympics in 1960. He fought for the lightweight division and won 100 fights and lost 5 of them. One of the most famous fight is against Sonny Liston  it happened in February 25,1964. He won by way of knock out. The second most famous fight was against  George Freeman on October 30,1974. Muhammad Ali went to prison for refusing to join the Vietnam War. He was bailed out for 10,00 dollars and he got banned for 3 years. One of the  things that makes Muhammad Ali great is that he was outspoken on race and religion and on what he believed because most athletes don't speak on their religion and Muhammad Ali did.