Muhammad Ali’s refusal to sign his military draft card during the Vietnam era transformed the boxing champion’s life and added an influential voice to the anti-war movement. Now, this piece of history is for sale. In the card, there is a blank space where Ali was supposed to sign in 1967, but he refused to do so, an act of defiance that generated controversy amid the Vietnam War. This triggered a series of events that disrupted his successful boxing career, but immortalized him outside the ring as a defender of peace and social justice.
Christie’s announced that it will hold the online sale from October 10 to 28, adding that the card was obtained through Ali’s descendants. The public exhibition of the card began on Thursday at the Rockefeller Center in New York and will continue until October 21. The auction house estimates that the document could reach between 3 and 5 million dollars.Remembering my father’s message of courage and conviction is more important now than ever, and the sale of his recruitment card at Christie’s is a powerful way to share that legacy with the world.
Rasheda Ali Walsh, daughter of Ali
Ali, a three-time world heavyweight champion, died in 2016 at the age of 74, after decades of battling Parkinson’s disease. Approximately 100,000 people chanted “Ali! Ali!” in the streets of his hometown, Louisville, Kentucky, as a hearse transported his coffin to a local cemetery. His memorial service was packed with celebrities, athletes, and politicians. The partially typed recruitment card evokes memories of when Ali was not universally loved, but stood as a polarizing figure, revered by millions worldwide but reviled by many.This is a unique object associated with an important historical event that has great relevance in our shared popular culture.
Peter Klarnet, senior specialist at Christie’s
For refusing to be drafted into the United States Army, Ali was convicted of evading military service, stripped of his boxing title, and excluded from the sport. Ali appealed the conviction, claiming he was a Muslim minister. He famously proclaimed: “I ain’t got no quarrel with the Viet Cong.”
During his exile, Ali spoke at universities and briefly appeared in a Broadway musical. He was allowed to resume boxing three years later. He was still facing a possible prison sentence in 1971 when he faced Joe Frazier, his archrival, for the first time in what was called “the Fight of the Century.” A few months later, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction by an 8-0 vote. The recruitment card was issued on the day the Louisville draft board ordered Ali to report for induction, according to a Christie’s press release on Thursday. The card was signed by the chair of the local draft board, but notably not by Ali. The card identified him by his birth name, Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., but misspelled his middle name as “Marsellus”. After his conversion to Islam, he was given a name that reflected his faith, according to the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville. Meanwhile, the top of the draft card reads: “(ALSO KNOWN AS) Muhammad Ali”. The Ali Center presents exhibits that pay tribute to Ali’s immense boxing skills. But its main mission, it says, is to preserve his humanitarian legacy and promote his six core principles: spirituality, generosity, conviction, confidence, respect, and dedication. Now, an artifact reflecting how Ali personified some of those principles will be up for auction.This is the first time collectors will be able to acquire a vital and intimate document related to one of the most important figures of the last century.
Klarnet, senior specialist at Christie’s
