Veronica Porsche Ali is an American actress and the former wife of boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

Porsche was born in Louisiana on December 16, 1955 to Ethel and Horace Porche and is of Louisiana Creole descent. She attended Holy Rosary Catholic boarding school in Lafayette, Louisiana before moving with her parents to Echo Park, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. She graduated from Belmont High School in Los Angeles in 1973 and attended the University of Southern California (USC), majoring in Pre-Medicine.

She was the third wife of American boxer Muhammad Ali, and is the mother of his two daughters, actress and undefeated professional boxer Laila Ali and author Hana Yasmeen Ali. They were married at the Presidential Compound in N'Sele according to the Islamic tradition.^{[citation needed]}. Ali and Porsche began a relationship in 1974 while in Kinshasa, Zaire when Porsche was 18 years old. Porsche was one of the four poster girls who had promoted the Rumble in the Jungle fight in Zaire versus George Foreman which led to erroneous reports that she was a professional model before meeting Ali. Porsche and Ali were then married in Los Angeles in the summer of 1977. They divorced in December 1986.

Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Arabic: علي بن أﺑﻲ طالب, Transliteration: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, [ʕaliː ibn ʔæbiː t̪ˤɑːlib]; 13^thRajab, 24 BH–21^stRamaḍān, 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661). The son of Abu Talib, Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of Islamic prophet Muhammad, ruling over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam.Sunnis consider Ali the fourth and final of the Rashidun (rightly guided Caliphs), while Shias regard Ali as the first Imam and consider him and his descendants the rightful successors to Muhammad, all of which are members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of Muhammad. This disagreement split the Ummah (Muslim community) into the Sunni and Shia branches.

Muslim sources, especially Shia ones, state that since Muhammad's time, Ali was the only person born in the Kaaba sanctuary in Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. His father was Abu Talib and his mother was Fatima bint Asad, but he was raised in the household of Muhammad, who himself was raised by Abu Talib, Muhammad's uncle, and Ali's father. When Muhammad reported receiving a divine revelation, Ali was the first male to accept his message, dedicating his life to the cause of Islam.

Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.; January 17, 1942) is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist. Considered a cultural icon, Ali was both idolized and vilified.

Originally known as Cassius Clay, Ali changed his name after joining the Nation of Islam in 1964, subsequently converting to Sunni Islam in 1975, and more recently practicing Sufism.^{[clarification needed]} In 1967, three years after Ali had won the World Heavyweight Championship, he was publicly vilified for his refusal to be conscripted into the U.S. military, based on his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. Ali stated, "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong... No Viet Cong ever called me nigger" – one of the more telling remarks of the era.

Widespread protests against the Vietnam War had not yet begun, but with that one phrase, Ali articulated the reason to oppose the war for a generation of young Americans, and his words served as a touchstone for the racial and antiwar upheavals that would rock the 1960s. Ali's example inspired Martin Luther King Jr. – who had been reluctant to alienate the Johnson Administration and its support of the civil rights agenda – to voice his own opposition to the war for the first time.

Laila Amaria Ali (born December 30, 1977) is a retired American professional boxer. She is the daughter of boxing legend Muhammad Ali from his third wife Veronica Porsche Ali.

Ali is a 2001 American biographical film directed by Michael Mann. The film tells the story of boxing icon Muhammad Ali, played by Will Smith, from 1964 to 1974 featuring his capture of the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston (Michael Bentt), his conversion to Islam, criticism of the Vietnam War, banishment from boxing, his return to fight Joe Frazier (James Toney) in 1971, and, lastly, his reclaiming the title from George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle fight of 1974. It also discusses the great social and political upheaval in the United States following the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.

The film begins with Cassius Clay before his championship debut against then heavyweight Sonny Liston, in the pre-fight weigh in Clay heavily taunts Liston (Such as calling Liston a "Big ugly bear") but Liston vows to "Fuck him (Clay) up". In the fight Clay is able to dominate the early rounds of the match but halfway through the fight Clay complains of a burning feeling in his eyes (Implying that Liston has tried to cheat) and says he is unable to continue but his trainer/manager Jerry Angelo gets him to keep fighting. Once Clay is able to see again he easily dominates the fight and right before round seven Liston quits, therefore making Cassius Clay the youngest heavyweight champion at the time. (Mike Tyson would later beat this record).