On Feb. 25, 1964, Cassius Clay stood in the ring at the Miami Convention Center and screamed, “I shook up the world!”
Beating Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship did change the sports landscape. Then, the next morning, the new champ announced that he was now a member of the Nation of Islam … and soon after that, he gave the world his new name: Muhammad Ali.
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That shook up the world. It has not stopped shaking since.
An athlete such as Ali, who commanded the world stage and used it to take a stand for what he believed was right, had never been seen before.