This piece—reported and written by Nick Thimmesch and Charles Parmiter—ran unbylined, as most did during that period. Many of our articles are reserved for subscribers only. Want access to more subscriber-only content, click here to subscribe. The Clays of Louisville are an old Kentucky family. Not rich, maybe, like the folks who play pool in the Pendennis Club and chew mint leaves on the veranda at Churchill Downs. But the Clays have been there for six generations—ever since their ancestors worked as slaves on the plantation of Cassius Marcellus Clay, who was Lincoln's Minister to Russia. They like the name, and they like Louisville, and they have a red brick house with five rooms, all of them on one floor. It's got wall-to-wall carpeting in every room and a picture painted right on the white plaster wall in the living room. Old Cash Clay did that mural himself. Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr.

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Muhammad Ali’s boxing career
Cassius Marcellus Clay October 19, — July 22, , nicknamed the "Lion of White Hall," was a Kentucky planter , politician, and emancipationist who worked for the abolition of slavery. He freed the slaves that were handed down as his inheritance from his father. Those freed slaves were allowed to stay and were paid a wage. Cassius Marcellus Clay was born to Sally Lewis and Green Clay , one of the wealthiest planters and slaveholders in Kentucky , who became a prominent politician. He was one of six children who survived to adulthood, of seven born. Clay was a member of a large and influential political family. His older brother Brutus J. Clay became a politician at the state and federal levels. While at Yale, he heard abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison speak, and his lecture inspired Clay to join the anti-slavery movement. Garrison's arguments were to him "as water is to a thirsty wayfarer.
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Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century and as one of the greatest boxers of all time. Ali was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky , and began training as an amateur boxer at age At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the Summer Olympics , and turned professional later that year. He converted to Islam and became a Muslim after , and eventually took the name Muhammad Ali. He won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a major upset at age 22 in In , Ali refused to be drafted into the military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. He appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, which overturned his conviction in , but he had not fought for nearly four years and lost a period of peak performance as an athlete. His actions as a conscientious objector to the war made him an icon for the larger counterculture generation, [7] [8] and he was a high-profile figure of racial pride for African Americans during the civil rights movement.
More than any other sportsman in history, Muhammad Ali transcended his sport to reach out to people as a role model and hero. Despite being only 18, he won all four of his fights easily. In the final he defeated three-time European champion Zbigniew Pietrzykowski to win the gold medal. Clay turned professional and won the heavyweight World Championship for the first time in , beating Sonny Liston in a legendary fight. Over the next four years he defended his title nine times, converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. However, he was stripped of his title in , when he refused to be drafted into the US army, citing religious and personal beliefs.