Muhammad Ali vs. the United States of America

Muhammad Ali may have entered the ring more than 60 times during his professional career, but the three-time heavyweight boxing champion’s toughest fight came outside the ropes when he refused military induction during the Vietnam War due to his religious beliefs. Stripped of his title and found guilty of draft evasion, Ali fought a four-year legal battle that culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturning his conviction. Fifty years after Ali refused induction, a new book examines his fight against the American government and public opinion.

The eight men knew the next step they took would not only change their lives, it could possibly end them as well. “You will take one step forward as your name and service are called and such step will constitute your induction into the Armed Forces indicated,” Lieutenant Steven Dunkley instructed the draftees standing before him inside the Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station in Houston, Texas, on April 28, 1967.