Muhammad Ali makes rare public appearance to honour NFL great...
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali was reunited with NFL great Jim Brown on Saturday, almost 50 years after the pair were involved in a heated debate over the former's decision to not fight in the Vietnam War.
The pair were in attendance at Ali's annual Humanitarian Awards service where Brown received a lifetime humanitarian achievement award.
The line-up of Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award winners included Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon and Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist Common. Other award winners included a half-dozen young adults from around the world honoured for their humanitarian roles.
In 1967 Ali was under increasing pressure for refusing induction into the Army with Brown on his side only after wanting to hear the the boxing champion's reasons for not answering the call to military service.
Brown led a group of prominent black athletes who hit Ali with a flurry of questions during a two-hour meeting in Cleveland in June that year.
Known as the the "Ali Summit", the boxer didn't duck the questions and stuck to his principles, citing his religious beliefs in refusing to join the military.
Comments
Post a Comment