The Peculiar Truth about Muhammad Ali's Champburger

• April 1967: Muhammad Ali suffered a staggering defeat - but not in the boxing ring. The New York State Athletic Commission announced that they had decided to suspend Ali’s license to box. Later that same day, the World Boxing Association revoked all of his previous boxing titles.

• The reasons: Ali refused to be drafted into the US military to serve in Vietnam. He stated that he opposed the war on ethical grounds, that he had no quarrel with the Vietnamese, that as a black man he was treated with disrespect in America, and that his Islamic faith prevented him from going to war. For his defiance, he was convicted of draft evasion.

• With that came another penalty from the boxing world’s governing bodies. The heavyweight world champion could not fight in the ring.

• With no income from boxing, Ali started going broke. He needed income. So he gambled on the fast food business.

• He gave his celebrity endorsement to a restaurant chain called Champburger. He received slightly under $1 million plus a percentage of the profits.

• December 28, 1968: The first Champburger opened at the corner of 17th Avenue and 62nd Street in Miami. Muhammad Ali had a residence a little over a mile away at 46th Street and 15th Ct. He appeared at the restaurant’s opening day to help in the kitchen and signed autographs.

• The restaurant menu catered to its target customers but, as per his insistence, also adhered to Ali’s Muslim religious beliefs. That meant no pork or shellfish and no serving of alcoholic beverages. The burgers and hot dogs had to be 100% beef. The restaurant also served fried chicken and fish.

• Champburger only served one brand of soda, which was called Mr. Champ. The soda company was a separate business entity from the burger chain, and they also paid Ali for his celebrity endorsement. The drink flavors included Orange, Grape, Raspberry, Watermelon, and Papaya.

• In August 1969, a second Champburger location opened 10 miles south of the original restaurant in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood.

• But the business didn’t flourish. Shareholders got angry and litigated. No further investors could be found to expand the fast food franchise.

• 1970: In a change of fortune for Ali, the city of Atlanta reinstated his license to box. His ordeal for draft evasion was still being litigated, but the champ was back in the ring.

• June 1971: The US Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, overturned Ali’s draft evasion conviction. His full boxing license was reinstated for good.

• Not long thereafter, Champburger went out of business. It never grew beyond the two initial franchise locations in Miami.

• However, in 1995, after his boxing career was over, the champ lent his name to another proposed restaurant chain called Muhammad Ali’s Rotisserie Chicken. That chain didn’t take off, either. It had only one location in Washington, D.C. and then went out of business.