muhammad ali was a boxer.
his job was to hit people as hard as he could, and ideally make them fall down and not get back up for a while.
that's not a very nice thing to do, yet ali was a hero to millions of people around the world.
"float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
ali started fighting when he was 12. his bicycle was stolen and the policeman he reported it to ran a boxing clud.
he began training there and six years later was chosen to be part of the 1960 us olympics team.
he had his own, strange style of dancing around the boxing ring before surprising his opponent with a hard blow, which he famously compared to floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee.
in 1964 ali bert sonny liston to become the heavyweight champion of the world.
"i am the greatest"
ali was never shy.
it was after the liston fight that ali first told reporters, "i am the greatest.
i'm the prettiest thing that ever lived."
for a young black man to be so confident in the america of that time was something very unusual, and ali became as famous for what he said outside of the ring as what he did in it.