ABSTRACT
Cassius Clay and George Foreman, both one-time Olympic and World champions in both amateur and professional boxing, became eloquent lay preachers. Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali in order to demonstrate his new association with the Muslim religion and discard his ‘slave’ name. Foreman became a Christian minister in his own church. Both boxers changed their value system from sporting to religious, and their careers illustrate the complex intermeshing of religious and sporting values and norms. Boxing, nonetheless, is regarded by many as a brutal sport whose actions are sanctioned by the rules of the sport; its values appear to contradict those common in society.
