Muhammad Ali

British  

/ ˈælɪ, ɑːˈliː, ˈɑːlɪ /

noun

1. original name Cassius ( Marcellus ) Clay. born 1942, US boxer, who was world heavyweight champion three times (1964–67; 1974–78; 1978)

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Ali, Muhammad Cultural  

1. An African-American boxer of the twentieth century, who was world champion in the heavyweight class for several years between 1964 and 1979. He was known in his boxing career for his flamboyant personality and aggressive self-promotion, as well as for his superior boxing ability and style. His boxing strategy, he said, was to “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.” A Black Muslim, Ali was originally named Cassius Clay. After he refused for reasons of conscience to serve in the armed forces in the 1960s, several boxing associations revoked his title as world champion, but he regained it later. During his boxing career he was extremely popular in Africa, and after his retirement he traveled there as a goodwill ambassador.

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Example Sentences

The nizam juggled between his obligations to the colonial raj and to India’s rising pro-independence leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

The great Muhammad Ali reaped the benefit of this custom, fighting Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki in 1976 in front of 14,00 in Tokyo.

From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026

Between 15,000 and 16,000 doctors emigrated from Nigeria between 2020 and 2024, according to Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate.

From Barron's • Jan. 14, 2026

That was back in the 1970s, when TV networks were few and media-savvy athletes like the great Muhammad Ali were even fewer.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 6, 2025

I saw this vastness in the students chopping it up in front of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Hall, where Muhammad Ali had addressed their fathers and mothers in defiance of the Vietnam War.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates