WWith Ali's popularity, his stand on social issues also became prominent.
He was one of the symbols of the African-American movement in the United States in the 1960s.
And like the movement itself, his bitterness against whites and blacks who refused to join in the fight against racism, boiled over.
Michael Shelden, in his review on Michael Mann's film Ali, titled 'Let's not pretend Ali was Gandhi,' wrote: 'At the height of his fame, Ali loved to portray himself as the true black man whose faithfulness to his race made him superior to other fighters. Sonny Liston was an ugly bear, Ali ranted, who lived in a white neighbourhood and didn't like his own people. Joe Frazier was a shuffling Uncle Tom. Floyd Patterson was "a white man's Negro, a yellow Negro", and George Foreman fought for "White America, Christianity, the flag and pork chops".'
Ali with fellow heavyweight champions Joe Frazier and George Foreman
Also read: Ali's legendary Rivalries
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