Donald Trump Says He May Pardon Deceased Muhammad Ali for Vietnam Draft Refusal

President Donald Trump said Friday that he is considering a pardon for late boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

Per Jacqueline Alemany of CBS News, Trump said, "I'm thinking about Muhammad Ali" when discussing potential pardons. 

Ali was sentenced to five years in prison in 1967 for refusing to be drafted into the Vietnam War, but he did not serve any prison time after winning an appeal.

On Friday, Ali's attorney responded, "We appreciate President Trump’s sentiment, but a pardon is unnecessary," per Devon A. Sayers of CNN.

In May, Trump also posthumously pardoned former heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson.

Jackson had been convicted of violating the Mann Act in 1913 when it was ruled that he took a woman across state lines for "immoral purposes." Johnson later married the woman, and it was long felt that the conviction may have been racially motivated since Jackson was black and the woman was white.

Ali cited his religious beliefs as the reason behind his decision to not take part in the draft for the Vietnam War.

He famously said, "I ain't got no quarrel with them Vietcong."

Although Ali's conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1971, it had a massive impact on his boxing career, as he didn't fight for more than three years, from March 1967 until October 1970, as no state would license him to box.

Ali eventually became licensed again, however, and he went on to have a storied boxing career that lasted until 1981.

He posted a 56-5 record and was the only three-time lineal heavyweight champion in boxing history.

The former Cassius Clay died in 2016 at the age of 74 due to septic shock brought on by a respiratory illness.