Donald Trump's path has many parallels to Muhammed Ali's, says Roland Martin

Cassius Clay won the gold medal as a light heavyweight in the 1960 Olympics in Rome .

In 1964 , Clay was the top-ranked heavyweight contender and faced a title bout in Miami against the fearsome and formidable champion Sonny Liston .

But the next day , Clay announced his affiliation with the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Muhammed Ali .

In the 1980s , Trump ’s path to the presidency has many parallels to the path Ali took, but in 2016 he ran as a Republican .

Ali and Trump were brash and boastful outsiders, but behind the brashness were substance and talent.

Ali could have enlisted and done boxing exhibitions for the troops, Trump could have plea bargained, left politics, and remained rich and happy.

Both were written off as finished, in the view of both friends and foes, but both risked all that they had.