WBA’s ‘Unfair’ Treatment of Muhammad Ali Brought Up 57 Years Later by Daughter to Promote PBS Documentary

The summer of 1967 was a tough period for Americans as almost 100 American soldiers were losing their lives every day in the Vietnam War. People were supporting the anti-war policies. In the midst of all of this turmoil, the WBA revoked Muhammad Ali of his heavyweight belt because he had declined to sign up in the army for the Vietnam War. His eldest daughter Maryum Ali recently shared a not so popular clip of her father, which shows how her father was battling the system to preserve his beliefs.

Ali had become much bigger than just an athlete at the time. He had become a symbol of justice and a light of hope to challenge oppression. Maryum, who is a social activist often shares quotes or photos of her father on social media. She shared a short clip from the 4-part PBS documentary series by Ken Burns and Sarah Burns on her Instagram. The video shows the boxing legend being asked by a reporter, “Were you persecuted for some reason?” 

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Ali, who was in a war with the system for justice replied, “If I’m condemned for being a Muslim, you can da*n it be because you hate to see a black man standing on his own two feet. You are telling the black world that you never want to see a black man independent and this is all you are doing, and this only makes me bigger.” 

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A post shared by Maryum "May May" Ali (@maymayaliofficial)

Maryum’s caption for the post read that “the World Boxing Association unfairly stripped him of his championship title because they felt he was now “unbecoming of a champion.” In 1964, Cassius Clay adopted Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. This had already sparked discussion both inside and outside of America. Following that, his war against the system made him an even bigger name globally.

‘The Greatest’ was convicted of five years in prison for draft invasion, and was asked to pay a penalty of $10,000. To add insult to injury, he was banned from boxing for three years. He then returned to the ring in October 1970 and squared off against Jerry Quarry. Ali was declared the winner by a corner stoppage.

The US government was trying to spread awareness among the people to fight for the country in the Vietnam War. A well-known figure like Ali could have influenced many more individuals to enlist in the army had he enlisted. However, his refusal to fight in the war started an anti-war campaign instead. But why did he refuse?

‘The Louisville Lip’ believed that he wouldn’t go to a poor country and shoot men of color for a privileged nation like America. He stated, “My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor, hungry people in the mud for big, powerful America.” 

There were only two options in front of him: join the army or go to jail. However, he made the decision to follow the road of justice instead, and he waited till it was served. He was convinced that if he answered the call to serve in the military, he would not be loyal to his religion.

Maksym Halinichev won silver at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires in a match described at the time as “two of the best young fighters going for glory.” He considered the bout a loss – it wasn’t gold, after all – but it gave him a map for the future.

So Halinichev made plans: He would defeat that boxer the next time around. He would teach his daughter the basics of his sport so she could defend herself. And he would win a medal for Ukraine at the Paris Olympics.

Halinchev outlined those ambitions as an athlete in an interview for the Ukraine Boxing Federation website in December 2021, as Russian troops were already massing at Ukraine’s borders.

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Asked if he was afraid before a fight, he described his thinking.

“Fear can influence people in various ways. Some people are paralyzed by it. Some react by becoming more liberated,” he said then. “If you can control yourself and your body and if you can set yourself the right way, then the fear will retreat.”

He’ll not get to prove that philosophy in the Olympic ring in Paris.

Halinichev signed up as a soldier and was killed at the front in March 2023 at age 22, one of more than 400 athletes killed since the outbreak of the war. His body has yet to be recovered.

As one of Ukraine’s most promising boxing prospects, Halinichev could have been shielded from the war. Ukraine has sent many of its Olympic hopefuls to train abroad ahead of the Summer Games. But not everyone wants to be saved. Some choose to defend their country’s honor on the battlefield instead of the sports arena.

Halinichev’s attitude toward fear remained intact after the full-scale Russian invasion, but his priorities changed.

It happened during a drive in April 2022 from his home region of Sumy to Kyiv, where he had planned to train for the next European championship. Russia had just retreated from the region, and all along the highway, he saw towns and villages ripped apart by Russian troops during their brief occupation, said his coach Bohdan Dmytrenko.

“I have a little child. I don’t want her to live in occupation among the aggressor, among the Russians,” Halinichev told another of his coaches, Volodymyr Vinnikov.

“I said, Maksym, please listen to me, you are still a representative of Ukrainian boxing, you also defend the honor of Ukraine. The flag, the anthem — it’s also very important,” Vinnikov recounted.

“You won’t convince me. I’ve made this decision. I will learn to shoot,” Halinichev told him.

Boxing was still important to him, but he wanted more, said his life partner, Polina Ihrak. Sumy, a border region, was still under attack despite the Russian withdrawal. Kherson, where he trained, was under Russian occupation and reports of the suffering of Ukrainians there were trickling back.

“He couldn’t understand how his friends, coaches who were in Kherson, were left without the ability to live, let alone train, and he would go somewhere in Europe,” Ihrak said. “He couldn’t let himself do it. It mattered to him.”

In May 2022, at 21 years old, Halinichev joined the airborne assault troops, according to Ukraine’s Boxing Federation. He was wounded before the year ended near Bakhmut, with an injury to his foot and shrapnel embedded so deeply in his leg that doctors couldn’t remove it.

While recovering, Halinichev spent time with his coach but avoided discussing what he saw in the war. Everyone hoped he would quit the army, but Halinichev returned to the battlefield with his wounds unhealed.

“He believed he had to return to his brothers in arms because he was needed,” said Ihrak, the mother of their daughter, Vasilisa.

Halinichev and Ihrak last spoke by video call on March 9, 2023. Days without contact became weeks. She tried calling Halinichev and his commander. Neither answered.

She took to scrolling through Russian Telegram channels, looking for his face among battlefield photos of the dead and injured. One photo stood out, of a body in the forest.

“His mom recognized him immediately, but I didn’t because I guess I refused to acknowledge it,” Ihrak said. He was killed on March 10, 2023, in Luhansk, a region now almost entirely under Russian control.

At a recent commemoration for her father in the gym where he used to train, the 4-year-old Vasilisa bounced joyfully around the boxing ring, wearing oversized gloves that dwarfed her small hands.

It will not be her father who teaches her how to fight, but Ihrak couldn’t imagine Halinichev would do anything differently.

“People go there (to the front) not to regret but to change something,” Ihrak said. “He went back without any doubt.”

Among others who died fighting for Ukraine: pistol shooters Ivan Bidnyak, who won silver at the European Championships, and Yehor Kihitov, a member of Ukraine’s national team; Stanislav Hulenkov, a 22-year-old judoka whose body was identified 10 months after he was killed; and weightlifter Oleksandr Pielieshenko, who represented Ukraine at the Rio Olympics in 2016. A Russian missile strike on Dnipro killed acrobatics coach Anastasia Ihnatenko, her husband and their 18-month-old son.

Vinnikov, who coached Halinichev in 2017, has no doubt that the young man would be representing his country at the Paris Games that open July 26 had the invasion not derailed his plans. “He would have won a medal for his country,” the coach said emphatically.

He had huge potential: gold medal at the 2017 European Youth Championships, silver medal at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, silver medal at the 2021 European Under-22 Championships.

In his empty apartment in the town of Shostka, his parents have filled a room with proof of what he’d already achieved: trophies and medals from 2010 to 2021, neatly arranged on a shelf.

His photograph stands in the corner along with a candle, his childhood pictures, a religious icon and flowers. His boxing gloves rest nearby.

But Halinichev’s parents don’t live there anymore. Since the war, they’ve remade their lives in the Czech Republic. Ihrak is contemplating a move to Germany.

Dmytrenko, his coach, keeps his photos of Halinichev neatly arranged in folders and still has the archive of their messages to each other. He recalled a moment just before the war where he was praising Halinichev’s achievements.

Halinichev simply replied: “Everything is still ahead.”

Teak-tough David Avanesyan is no stranger to going into his opponents hometown, and he’ll do it again when he faces IBF welterweight titleholder Jaron Ennis at the Wells Fargo Arena, Philadelphia, on Saturday.

Avanesyan, rated at No. 6 by The Ring at welterweight, is well versed with being public enemy No. 1 and is taking it in his stride ahead of his second world title shot.

“A ring’s a ring,” Avanesyan (30-4-1, 18 knockouts) told The Ring with the help of long-time manager Neil Marsh. “I’ve boxed [Terence] Crawford, [Egidijus] Kavaliauskas, [Shane] Mosley, [Lamont] Peterson, Kerman Lejarraga, Josh Kelly, I’m not bothered.

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“I have fought everyone in their backyard, a boxing ring is a boxing ring. It doesn’t matter, I’m very experienced.”

Ennis had originally been scheduled to take on Cody Crowley. However, when the Canadian, who is rated No. 5 by The Ring at 147-pounds, failed his pre-fight eye exam, things opened up for Avanesyan, who had been training in Russia, and had 5-weeks to prepare.

“As much it was late notice with signing for the fight, he was already in tremendous shape,” said Marsh, who travelled with his fighter nine days prior to the fight to Philadelphia. “As he’s got older the camps have got shorter. As he comes in [to camp] a stone (14-pounds) above fighting weight, we’re not far away, he’s very comfortable with it. It’s a world title and he’ll do everything to get the win.”

The 35-year-old Russian, who is a 9/1 (+900) underdog, is under no illusions at the difficulty of the task in front of him.

“I want the best fighters, he’s one of the best fighters but that’s what I want,” he said. “It’s good chance for me, it’s not like I’m starting my career, I want the best. I love the fact he’s one of the so-called best.”

And he acknowledges Ennis talent though believes he see’s a chink in his armour despite seeing action just once in the 18 months since the Crawford defeat.

“He’s all-around very good but he’s vulnerable to being hit,” said Avanesyan. “Why is [the inactivity] a problem? No problem, I’m hungry.

“I just want to beat him. It’s my last chance.”

Meanwhile, he hopes to harness what he learnt against Crawford and use that as added motivation in this fight.

“Crawford is No. 1 in the world [pound-for-pound] for me,” he explained. “it’s a big experience for me, now against Ennis it’s a big step for me. I do my best. I give everything to win this fight for my family.”

Marsh believes his fighter has nothing to lose and that makes him a difficult proposition.

“I see it as hard as the Crawford fight but Ennis hasn’t been operating at the same level Crawford has,” noted Marsh. “David will improve off the Crawford performance. There’s one thing for sure, David is very, very dangerous.

“We’re under no illusion we’re the underdog but I’ve got one dangerous man, who just doesn’t care and that’s dangerous for Ennis.”

Ennis will be snapping a year-long spell of inactivity, the longest of his professional career and making his first start for Matchroom. I expect that coupled with it taking part in his hometown to bring out the best in the American, who will put on a show against the gutsy challenger before putting him away in the second half of the fight.

Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs), rated at No. 2 by The Ring at welterweight, might just be the next big star in boxing. He learned to box from a very young age, in Philadelphia, with his father and brothers.

The brilliant American switch-hitter has an elite mix of power and speed that has been a nightmare for anyone he’s faced so far. Indeed, the manner in which the 27-year-old brutally dispatched former junior welterweight titleholder Sergey Lipinets (KO 6), Thomas Dulorme (KO 1), Custio Clayton (KO 2) and, most recently, Roiman Villa (KO 10) tells you all you need to know.