Rahaman Ali[a] (born Rudolph Arnett Clay; July 18, 1943)[1][2] is an American former heavyweight boxer. He is the younger brother of
Muhammad Ali.
Biography
Rahaman Ali, initially named Rudolph Arnett Clay but later rechristened to Rudolph Valentino Clay,[2] was born to
Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. and
Odessa Grady Clay on July 18, 1943, 18 months after his brother Cassius Jr., who would become Muhammad Ali.[1] Muhammad started boxing in a
Louisville, Kentucky amateur boxing league. While Muhammad went to the
1960 Olympics, Rahaman was not selected and remained amateur until February 25, 1964, the night his brother won one of his heavyweight titles over
Sonny Liston.
As a professional boxer, Rahaman Ali won 14 bouts, lost 3, and had one draw. In his career, he knocked out seven opponents and was himself knocked out once. After back-to-back losses ending with him being knocked out by
Jack O'Halloran, he retired from professional boxing.[3]
In 2014, Ali released his autobiography, That's Muhammad Ali's Brother! My Life on the Undercard, which is co-authored by H. Ron Brashear and the foreword written by Gene Kilroy – the longtime business manager of Muhammad Ali. In 2019, Rahaman released his second book titled My Brother, Muhammad Ali - The Definitive Biography. It is co-authored by Fiaz Rafiq, with the foreword written by NFL legend
Jim Brown. The book is currently published in eight different languages around the world.
^alternately spelled Rahman in some media,[2][3] but Ali spells his name as Rahaman in his autobiography[1] as well as his biography of his brother Muhammad;[4] various other sources spell it either way