FORUM MUSICAL DE MR Q 04 JUNE 2016

RADIO SHOW - Saturdays 20:00 pm to 21:00 pm SPANISH TIME! www.radioenlace.org RIP; Muhammad Ali o Mohamed Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. Muhammad Ali was, at his peak, arguably the most famous man on the planet. His prodigious boxing talent was matched only by a towering self-belief. "I am the greatest," he said, and who could doubt a man who won the World Heavyweight Championship three times. His outspoken support for civil rights endeared him to millions of people across the world. He was born Cassius Marcellus Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, on 17 January 1942, the son of a sign painter. He was named after a prominent 19th Century abolitionist. When he was 12, he reported his bicycle had been stolen and told a police officer he was going to "whup" the culprit. The officer, Joe Martin, trained young fighters at a local gym and suggested the youngster learn to box before he challenged the thief. Clay quickly took to the ring, making his competitive debut in 1954 in a three-minute amateur bout. "He stood out because he had more determination than most boys," Martin later recalled. "He was easily the hardest worker of any kid I ever taught." Over the following years, Muhammad Ali's record as a boxer was impressive. The record books show that his professional career spanned 21 years, during which he won 56 fights, 37 by way of knockout, and lost five. But he was much more than that. He was a great showman whose off-the-cuff quips and improvised poetry won him many friends, not least in the UK. His high profile gave his espousal of civil rights additional weight and he was a hero to large numbers of black people both in the US and further afield. And late in life, when this magnificent athlete was brought low by a debilitating disease, his quiet dignity impressed everyone he met. Rarely has any person transcended his sport in the way Ali did, to become one of the best-known figures of his time.