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• Muhammad Ali
  Muhammad Ali

  noun

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

  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.

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

Because I didn’t want to talk to Muhammad Ali, and Muhammad Ali is one of the greatest people that ever lived.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2026

Sitting with friends, Muhammad Ali, 22, said that, despite the warplanes roaring over Baghdad day and night, the war hadn't affected him.

From Barron's • Mar. 14, 2026

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

"Well, well, well, my man Muhammad Ali is in the house! Heard you taking jokers down for the count!" he said, but not smiling or laughing, or showing any signs of it being a joke.

From "When I Was the Greatest" by Jason Reynolds