RARE! "The Greatest" Muhammad Ali Hand Signed Fan Letter Todd Mueller COA

Description

Up for auction a
RARE! "The Greatest" Muhammad Ali Hand Signed Fan Letter.
This item is certified authentic by Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity.
ES-3917
Muhammad Ali
(
/ɑːˈliː/
;born
Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.
; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, activist, and philanthropist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century and as one of the greatest boxers of all time. Ali was born and raised in
Louisville, Kentucky
, and began training as an amateur boxer at age 12. At 18, he won a gold medal in the
light heavyweight
division at the
1960 Summer Olympics
, and turned professional later that year. He converted to
Islam
and became a
Muslim
after 1961, and eventually took the name Muhammad Ali. He won the world
heavyweight
championship from
Sonny Liston
in
a major upset
at age 22 in 1964. In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to the
Vietnam War
. He was arrested, found guilty of draft evasion, and stripped of his boxing titles. He appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, which
overturned his conviction in 1971
, but he had not fought for nearly four years and lost a period of peak performance as an athlete. His actions as a
conscientious objector
to the war made him an icon for the larger
counterculture
generation, and he was a high-profile figure of racial pride for
African Americans
during the
civil rights movement
. As a
Muslim
, Ali was initially affiliated with
Elijah Muhammad
's
Nation of Islam
(NOI). He later disavowed the NOI, adhering to
Sunni Islam
, and supporting
racial integration
like his former mentor
Malcolm X
. Ali was a leading heavyweight boxer of the 20th century, and he remains the only three-time
lineal champion
of that division. His joint records of beating
21 boxers
for the world heavyweight title and winning 14 unified title bouts stood for 35 years. Ali is the only boxer to be named
the
Ring
magazine Fighter of the Year
six times. He has been ranked the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time, and as the greatest athlete of the 20th century by
Sports Illustrated
, the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC, and the third greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN
SportsCentury
. He was involved in several historic boxing matches and feuds, most notably his fights with
Joe Frazier
, such as the
Thrilla in Manila
, and his fight with
George Foreman
known as
The Rumble in the Jungle
which has been called "arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th century" and was watched by a record estimated television audience of 1 billion viewers worldwide, becoming the world's
most-watched live television broadcast
at the time. Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many fighters let their managers do the talking, and he was often provocative and outlandish. He was famous for trash-talking, and often free-styled with rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry, anticipating elements of hip hop. Outside the ring, Ali attained success as a musician, where he received two Grammy nominations. He also featured as an actor and writer, releasing two autobiographies. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion and charity. In 1984, he made public his diagnosis of
Parkinson's disease
, which some reports attribute to boxing-related injuries, though he and his specialist physicians disputed this. He remained an active public figure globally, but in his later years made increasingly limited public appearances as his condition worsened, and he was cared for by his family.