A prodigious talent in the ring, Muhammad Ali's greatest fight took place off the ropes, against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement during the turbulent 1960s. If it were not for Ali defending his religious beliefs and the plight of blacks in America by refusing to join the military in 1967, Ali would not be the symbol of humanitarianism he is today, respected and recognized around the world. If he had not been willing to risk fortune, fame and freedom for his personal beliefs, Ali would now be known only as a great fighter, perhaps even the greatest, but along the lines of Joe Frazier or Sugar Ray Robinson, and not the Dalai Lama . The reason why world leaders and ordinary citizens now accept Ali as a beacon of hope in the face of adversity - America's version of the Dalai Lama - can be traced back to his 1967 criminal trial for draft evasion, which pitted the black champion against the white federal. government. Ali's greatest fight of his career was not at Madison Square Garden, site of the first two historic Ali-Frazier slugfests, nor in exotic lands like the Philippines or Africa, sites of Ali's other historic fights. Not only was Ali fighting the US government, but the champion was also battling a climate of racial discrimination in America. This fight began in 1967 in Houston during his scheduled military recruitment. In April of that year, Ali refused enlistment in the U.S. Army on the grounds that he was a minister of the Nation of Islam. An all-white draft board denied him conscientious objector 1 status in part because of Ali's statements that he was not against all wars, only Vietnam, and that he would participate in a Holy War. After refusing entry into the armed forces. .....middle of the sheet......)THE NAME IS ALI. New York Times (1923-current file), p. SM15. Retrieved March 3, 2012, from ProQuestHistorical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2008). (Document ID: 140182852).5.By ROBERT LIPSYTE. (1967, May 28). 'I am free to be who I want' :'I am free to be who I want' (continued)THE NAME IS ALI. New York Times (1923-current file), p. SM15. Retrieved March 3, 2012, from ProQuestHistorical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2008). (Document ID: 140182852).6. “Muhammad Ali – in his own Words” BBC, accessed 4 March 2012, http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/boxing/16146367.7. “Muhammad Ali – Louisville’s Greatest” Courier Journal, accessed March 4, 2012, http://www.courier-journal.com/section/ALI06/Muhammad-Ali-timeline8.Clay v. United States, Supreme Court of the United States, June 197109. By Jack Newfield. The nation. (2002, February 4). The meaning of Muhammad.