Posted on 04/28/2009 7:07:30 AM PDT by PurpleMan
On April 28, 1967, with the United States at war in Vietnam, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces, saying “I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong.” On June 20, 1967, Ali was convicted of draft evasion, sentenced to five years in prison, fined $10,000 and banned from boxing for three years.
(Excerpt) Read more at history.com ...
“I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong.”
Too many punches to the head by 1967
Or just a selfish, self-aggrandizing, ego-maniacal jock who thinks that everyone owes him a place to strut his stuff.
Did he serve his five-year prison sentence?
His real is Cassius Clay not Moo ham ed Olli.
Known as Cassius Clay before they tried to draft him, he got religion and changed his name to Muhammed Ali.
I’m with you. What a POS he was.
Like him or not, the truth is that Muhammad Ali was utterly vindicated when the voters of the United States elected a draft-dodging pr!ck to the White House in 1992.
Didn’t care for him then, don’t care for him now.
If it was 1943 he would have said, "I ain't got no quarrel with the SS."
Even more vindicated when they voted for a fellow Muslim in 2008.
Exactly why he is revered by the rest of the America hating crowd.
I was not alive then and know nothing about this other than what is written here (nor do I know the political views of Ali), but I do try to think for myself and not let government do it for me.
in 1967, how much was publicly known about the war in vietnam? This was during the Johnson administration - I know that during the nixon admin, some simply bizarre things took place that any rational person would consider a good reason to reconsider willingness to be sent (I read about one where mcnamara told the whole world where we were going to bomb in advance, and there were shootdowns as a result).
What was public perception of the US handling of the war in the time-frame this took place?
Definitely a good boxer, but the “greatest of all time” is open to debate. He also constantly held which, by the way, is against the rules.
I firmly believe Smokin’ Joe Frazier put Ali in the shape he’s been in for years.
He was lucky to have stayed out of prison.
That said, people nowadays have forgotten how much he lost (and nearly lost) because he allowed himself to be manipulated by Elijah Muhammed and the Nation of Islam into blowing their horn and refusing the draft, among other things.
As for his religious conversion, well, his piety was of mighty short duration. If anyone can be said to have had a “free pass” from the media, it would be him. Though I would be the last to deny his good works. I think a more hard-edged biography came out in ‘03 or thereabouts, but I forget the title.
I think he was only banned from boxing in the United States. He could have fought in other countries but they took his passport away.
“He also constantly held which, by the way, is against the rules.”
LOL
Name me a boxer in the last 50 years who didn’t hold.
I thought it was Gorilla Monsoon.
He changed his name in 1964
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