In the Face of Adversity: Muhammad Ali's Conscientious Objection
Newspaper article from the Louisville Courier-Journal, February 11, 1966.
Donated by Phillip Faversham in 2015.
Reclassification
Two years after Muhammad Ali was deemed unfit for military service, he received another letter from the Louisville draft board. The letter stated that he would be reclassified as fit for service, as the United States Army had since lowered the test score requirement for service. Ali was quoted in the article shown here saying, "I don't know what happens now. I just roll with the punches."
At this time, he was training for a fight scheduled against Ernie Terrell on March 29, 1966. The fight was to take place in Chicago, Illinois. However, the fight would eventually be pushed out of Illinois after Ali stated that he did not want to be drafted as it would go against his religious beliefs. This would lead to other states' boxing commissions refusing to host the fight and eventually, Terrell would back out as well. Ali ended up fighting Canadian heavyweight George Chuvalo in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Clay Awaits Orders From His Draft Board - The Courier-Journal, February 11, 1966
