Muhammad Ali Interview Research Paper

Muhammad Ali Interview

Before he passed away, I had the opportunity to interview boxing legend and activist Muhammad Ali while he was staying in Boston. Muhammad, also informally known as Cassius Clay, wrote a book with Richard Durham called The Greatest: My Own Story. This interview describes Muhammad Ali’s journey from a poverty-stricken child to the three time heavyweight champion of the world. Growing up in an extremely rough time period, Muhammad miraculously achieved many feats and goals. He was born and raised in a black family in Louisville, Kentucky. Muhammad’s perseverance and determination throughout his life is incredible. His ability to block out doubters and non-believers helped him greatly. I was fortunate enough to learn how he was able to

MA: I was born in a General Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky on January 17th, 1942. I almost killed my mother when I was born. It took multiple attempts to get me out. My father said my head was so big that I couldn’t fit. I guess that’s why I’m such a boastful guy today! A little more than a year later my mother had another boy named Rudolph Valentino Clay.

JC: That’s quite a unique story. We can assume that life was hard in this time period for a person like you. Is this statement true?
MA: Times were tough as a young boy back in Louisville. I saw many cruel and unjust actions being taken place. At first I didn’t understand why people were saying and doing these things. My parents did a good job keeping me away from it while I was young. I got older and started to figure out what was taking place. Whites would often call me out and tell me I couldn’t go places, or take part in activities because of the color of my skin. I was often discriminated against going to places like school or boxing. It always disgusted me how problems like this in our own country were not being solved before other problems outside of the