Bruce Lee and Mohammed Ali entertained millions of people around the world due to their prowess in martial arts and boxing respectively. The two outstanding individuals raised standards for those in their field and beyond. Bruce Lee (1940-1973) was born in San Francisco, US and later raised in Hong Kong where he trained in martial arts from the tender age of 13. Mohammad Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. in 1942, is an American former heavyweight champion boxer. Bruce Lee and Mohammad Ali are the greatest personalities in their respective fields.
Both Mohammad Ali and Bruce Lee are trendsetters with Ali is rightly termed as one of the greatest sports personalities of the 20th century while Bruce Lee is referred to as the greatest martial artist of all time. Ali was an Olympic gold medallist and he also won the world heavyweight championship thrice. In all, Ali won 56 out of the 61 fights in his 21 year career. He was so good in boxing that 37 out of the 56 wins were KOs (Knock Outs).
Mohammad Ali was passionate about societal issues in a manner deeper or different from Bruce Lee. Ali spoke regularly on issues of race, politics and religion leading to several controversies. During the prime of his career, Mohammad Ali faced the challenge of being stripped of his world heavyweight title after he refused to join the military citing prohibitions due to his Islamic faith. Bruce Lee on the other hand led a quiet life devoid of controversies or engagement in social issues. Although he relocated to the US when he was aged 18 years and even attended the University of Washington, Bruce lee did not comment on social injustices. He led a quiet life of starting martial art schools in the US and training different professionals and celebrities.
Bruce Lee and Mohammad Ali pioneered some things in their respective fields. Bruce Lee after excelling in martial arts movies such as The Fist of Fury, The Big loss and Enter the Dragon created his own martial arts skill called Jeet Kune Do. He engaged in training many celebrities such as James Coburn and Steve McQueen. Bruce Lee was making a good life from his career, and he became a celebrity across the globe due to successes in martial arts and his school. Mohammad Ali was also his first world championship at the age of 20 during the Olympic games. He also won several firsts in retention of the word heavyweight title. These issues inspired many people. For instance, Bruce Les’s children Brandon Lee and Shannon Lee were good martial artists in their hey days.
Mohammad Ali and Bruce Lee faced significant medical issues at different times in their histories. Bruce Lee developed cerebral edema after he developed an allergic reaction to some pain medication. He died of this condition in 1973. Mohammad Ali on his part has had several case of Parkinson’s syndrome which has severely affected his speech and motor skills.
Mohammad Ali and Bruce Lee each deserves commendation for the immense success they achieved in their careers. They set high standards for boxing and martial art respectively. They achieved great personal success and mentored people to follow in their footstep. The two went all out to achieve greatness. The slight difference between the two stars is that while Ali was involved in significant social activism on race, religion and politics, Bruce Lee led a relatively quiet life and was deeply engaged in training martial arts.
World cited
brucelee.com. "Bruce Lee: Legacy ." 2016. 1 June 2016 <http://www.brucelee.com/legacy>.
History.com. "Mohammad Ali." 1 June 2016 <http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/muhammad-ali>.
