 Sporting Superstars: Pele and Muhammad Ali
In the 1960s there emerged two sportsmen both black men from unpromising backgrounds - who each won vast fortunes and became amongst the best known faces and names in the world. The two of them challenged many conventional assumptions about the place of the sportsman in modem society.
Pele and World Cup Finals
Bom in 1940 in the small town of Tres Coraçöes in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil, Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pele) began playing professional soccer for the Santos club at the age of 16. Two years later he attended his first World Cup Finals in Sweden.
In a career spanning 20 years and over 1300 games, Pele established unparalleled scoring records. Late in a career which had witnessed three World Cup Final victories for his native Brazil, he became the focus for the expansion of the game in North America.
His pre-eminence as a sporting legend made hlm a powerful symbol of the possibilities of sport as an avenue to social mobility in the 1970s. He was the highest- salaried team athlete in history and probably the richest.
Pele's success attracted attention to Brazil itself,and his team. He showed that a Third World country could compete against and challenge economically "advanced" nations.
Muhammad Ali and Heavyweight Championships
In 1960, two years after Pele had appeared in his first World Cup Final, Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.) won the Olympic light heavyweight boxing gold medal at Rome, at the age of 18. In twenty years, Ali rose from the obscurity of Louisville, Kentucky, to global prominence.
As a sporting role model for young blacks he explidtly confronted racial stereotypes. His audacity in promoting his own ability, his successful challenge for the world heavyweight championship in 1964, his conversion to Islam, his stand against the Vietnam War and the regaining of "his" world title all thrust him into the center of world sport.
In the 20th century American boxers have monopolized the world heavyweight championship. The pre-eminence of black champions since 1956 has fueled racist sentiments. Ali hlmself saw boxing as "the fastest way for a black person to make it in this country". As his career developed, many people were prepared to pay vast sums to see him beaten.
In 1966, Ali claimed consdentious objector status because of his Black Muslim beliefs. He was convicted of draft evasion, stripped of his world titles and had his boxing licence revoked.
In1970, the United States Supreme Court unanimously reversed the conviction and Ali was allowed to fight again. In 1971 he fought Joe Frazier for the world heavyweight title and lost in 15 rounds. Three years later he defeated George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire, to regain the world title and in the process earned $5,450,000.
In the six years after his return to boxing, Ali eahled an estimated $26 million; but shortly after his retirement he was diagnosed as having suffered brain damage from his boxing career.
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