Inside The Life Of Muhammad Ali's First Wife, Sonji Roi

In February 1964, 22-year-old Ali, known as Cassius Clay at the time, defeated world heavyweight boxing champion Sonny Liston and earned his first title (via History). He met Malcolm X, the prominent civil rights activist and the Nation of Islam's spokesman, at a party to celebrate his first title. According to PBS, Malcolm, whose surname was "Little," changed his name to Malcolm X in 1952, dropping what he considered his "slave" name. A day after the fight and meeting Malcolm X, Ali changed his name to Cassius X, saying "Cassius Clay is a slave name" and then changed it again to Muhammad Ali a month later, per The New York Times.

On July 3 that year, Ali saw 23-year-old Sonji Roi, a cocktail waitress and a model for Tan magazine, and fell in love. "I met him, and he asked me to marry him that night," she said, per Answers Africa. The duo tied the knot on August 14, in Gary, Indiana.

But the marriage did not last. Roi divorced Ali in January 1966 after he forced her to convert to Islam, conform to the Nation of Islam's strict dressing restrictions (via Mirror), follow the religion's tough marriage customs, and face the consequences for her refusal. According to The Telegraph, she said, "I wasn't going to take on all the Muslims. If I had, I probably would have ended up dead."

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