Muhammad Ali is a man.
Muhammad Ali ( [ ɑːˈliː ] born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. ; January 17 , 1942 -- June 3 , 2016 ) was an American professional boxer and activist . At age 18 , he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and turned professional later that year . He successfully appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court , which overturned his conviction in 1971 , by which time he had not fought for nearly four years and thereby lost a period of peak performance as an athlete .