В феврале 1964 года Кассиус Клей вышел на титульный бой против очень сильного нокаутёра Сонни Листона. Листону не удалось психологически сломать своего противника перед боем. Клей, пользуясь преимуществом в скорости, методично избивал своего противника. Угол Листона отказался от продолжения боя в 7-м раунде, сославшись на травму плеча.
После этого боя Клей вступил в религиозную организацию «Нация ислама» (в 1975 перешел в традиционный ислам) и сменил имя на Мохаммед Али.
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%BE%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%B4_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B8Нация ислама (англ. Nation of Islam) — религиозная организация афроамериканцев в США. Основана в 1930 в Детройте Вали Фард Мухаммедом. В организации превалирует националистический и расистский компонент, основанный на противопоставлении белым и американскому государству. Вероучение сильно отличается от традиционного ислама. Некоторыми организациями и авторами обвиняется в расизме и экстремизме.
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B0# Muhammad Ali - Later converted to Sunni Islam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation_of_IslamOriginally known as Cassius Clay, Ali changed his name after joining the Nation of Islam in 1964, subsequently converting to orthodox Islam in 1975.
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Despite these close calls, Clay became the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. Despite his impressive record, however, he was not widely expected to defeat the champ. The fight was scheduled for February 25, 1964 in Miami, Florida, but was nearly canceled when the promoter, Bill Faversham, heard that Clay had been seen around Miami and in other cities with the controversial Malcolm X. At the time, The Nation of Islam—of which Malcolm X was a member—was (and still is) labeled as a hate group by most of the media. Because of this, news of this association was perceived as a potential gate-killer to a bout where, given Liston's overwhelming status as the favorite to win (7–1 odds[13]), had Clay's colorful persona and nonstop braggadocio as its sole appeal.
Faversham confronted Clay about his association with Malcolm X (who, at the time, was actually under suspension by the Nation as a result of controversial comments made in the wake of President Kennedy's assassination). While stopping short of admitting he was a member of the Nation, Clay protested the suggested cancellation of the fight. As a compromise, Faversham asked the fighter to delay his announcement about his conversion to Islam until after the fight. The incident is described in the 1975 book The Greatest: My Own Story by Ali (with Richard Durham).
During the weigh-in on the day before the bout, the ever-boastful Clay, who frequently taunted Liston during the buildup by dubbing him "the big ugly bear" (among other things), declared that he would "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee," and, summarizing his strategy for avoiding Liston's assaults, said, "Your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see."
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After winning the championship from Liston in 1964, Clay revealed that he was a member of the Nation of Islam (often called the Black Muslims at the time) and the Nation gave Clay the name Cassius X, discarding his surname as a symbol of his ancestors' enslavement, as had been done by other Nation members. On Friday, March 6, 1964, Malcolm X took Clay on a guided tour of the United Nations building (for a second time). Malcolm X announced that Clay would be granted his "X." That same night, Elijah Muhammad recorded a statement over the phone to be played over the radio that Clay would be renamed Muhammad (one who is worthy of praise) Ali (fourth rightly guided caliph). Only a few journalists (most notably Howard Cosell) accepted it at that time. Venerable boxing announcer Don Dunphy addressed the champion by his adopted name, as did British reporters. The adoption of this name symbolized his new identity as a member of the Nation of Islam.
Many sportswriters of the early 1960s reported that it was Ali's brother, Rudy Clay, who converted to Islam first (estimating the date as 1961). Others wrote that Clay had been seen at Muslim rallies a few years before he fought Liston. Ali's own version is that he would sneak into Nation of Islam meetings through the backdoor roughly three years before he fought Sonny Liston. He was afraid that if others knew he wouldn't be able to fight for his title.
Aligning himself with the Nation of Islam made him a lightning rod for controversy, turning the outspoken but popular champion into one of that era's most recognizable and controversial figures. Appearing at rallies with Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad and declaring his allegiance to him at a time when mainstream America viewed them with suspicion — if not outright hostility — made Ali a target of outrage, as well as suspicion. Ali seemed at times to provoke such reactions, with viewpoints that wavered from support for civil rights to outright support of separatism. For example, Ali once stated, in relation to integration: "We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don't want to be forced to integrate. Integration is wrong. We don't want to live with the white man; that's all."[15] And in relation to inter-racial marriage: "No intelligent black man or black woman in his or her right black mind wants white boys and white girls coming to their homes to marry their black sons and daughters."[15] Indeed, Ali's religious beliefs at the time included the notion that the white man was "the devil" and that white people were not "righteous." Ali claimed that white people hated black people.
Ali converted from the Nation of Islam sect to mainstream Sunni Islam in 1975. In a 2004 autobiography, written with daughter Hana Yasmeen Ali, Muhammad Ali attributes his conversion to the shift toward Sunni Islam made by Warith Deen Muhammad after he gained control of the Nation of Islam upon the death of Elijah Muhammad in 1975. Later in 2005 he embraced spiritual practices of Sufism.[16]
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali