Sports Poets Society

Muhammad Ali in Chicago, Illinois, March 1974.  (National Archives and Records Administration) https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/importance-muhammad-ali History Now, Issue 23 (Spring 2010) Turning Points in American Sports by Thomas Hauser Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., as Muhammad Ali was once known, was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 17, 1942 —a time when blacks were the servant class in Louisville. They held jobs such as tending the backstretch at Churchill Downs (the famous race track where the Kentucky Derby is held) and cleaning other people’s homes. In Louisville in the 1940s, the highest career goal that most black people could realistically set for their children was that they join the clergy or teach at an all-black public school. Ali’s father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., supported a wife and two sons by painting billboards and signs. Ali’s mother, Odessa Grady Clay, worked on occasion as a household domestic. "I remember one time when Cassius...

Heavyweight great took his religion seriously and shared strong bond with Muhammad Ali after shedding surly image of his younger days ‘When I left boxing the first time, it was hard.  When you’re famous, everyone is giving you things’ 24 Mar 2025 - The Guardian Thomas Hauser George Foreman died on Friday at the much-too-young age of 76. His aura of strength was such that there were times when it seemed as though he’d live for ever. People know about George Foreman the fighter and George Foreman the product pitchman; holding a small American flag in the ring after winning a gold medal at the 1968 Olympics; dethroning Joe Frazier in Jamaica ; losing the title to Muhammad Ali in Zaire; the quixotic ring comeback that culminated in a 10th-round knockout of Michael Moorer to reclaim the heavyweight crown; and George Foreman’s Lean Mean Grilling Machine, which earned him more than $100m . I lived through those times. But I was also privileged to know George as a person. I met Foreman in ...