Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. He began boxing at age 12, when a kid stole his bicycle, and he wanted to learn how to fight to get it back. After a tremendous amateur career as a light-heavyweight, Cassius made the 1960 U.S. Olympic team that traveled to Rome, Italy. He came hold with the Gold Medal, and turned pro on October 29, 1960 against a guy named Tunny Hunsaker. Cassius won a six-round decision, then built up a record of 19-0 by the end of 1963. That earned him a title shot against the champ Charles ‘Sonny’ Liston, on February 25, 1964 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. As an 8-1 underdog, Clay shocked the world by stopping Liston in six rounds, when he made Sonny quit on his stool after the round.
Soon after, Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali, and agreed to face Liston in a rematch in November of 1964. After Ali suffered a strangulated hernia, the bout was moved from Boston, Massachusetts to Lewiston, Maine on May 25, 1965. Liston took a dive in the opening round after being pressured by the mob, and Ali retained his title.
Muhammad defended his belt against all comers, including Floyd Patterson, George Chuvalo and Cleveland Williams. When he refused induction into the United States Army in April of 1967, he was stripped of his title, and he didn’t box for 3 and 1/2 years.
Ali returned in October of 1970 to face Jerry Quarry, and stopped him in 3 rounds on cuts. Two months later, he knocked out tough Oscar Bonavena in the 15th round at the Garden in New York, which set up his title shot with champ Joe Frazier the following March.
The two undefeated heavyweights fought a brutal 15 round war, with Frazier winning a unanimous decision in the end. ‘The Fight of the Century’, was all it was hyped up to be, and left Muhammad with no choice after the loss, but to regroup, and go on the comeback trail.
After a difficult, and up and down 3 and 1/2 years, Ali traveled to Zaire, South Africa on October 30, 1974 to face the brutish champion George Foreman. Muhammad shocked the world again with his 8th round knockout of Foreman, and was the 2-time heavyweight champ at age 32.
Ali would defend his title successfully for more than 3 years, against the likes of Joe Frazier and Ken Norton in trilogy bouts, and Earnie Shavers. After being upset by Leon Spinks on February 15, 1978, Ali regained the title in a September rematch. It made him the first 3-time heavyweight champion of the world, and he announced his retirement in June of 1979.
Foolishly, Muhammad returned on October 2, 1980, and was stopped for the first time in his career by Larry Holmes, when he couldn’t answer the 11th round bell. In December of 1981, he lost the final bout of his career vs. Trevor Berbick in Nassau, the Bahamas. Ali finished his career with a record of 56-5, with 37 knockouts, and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. Ali died on June 3, 2016, but is still regarded as the ‘Greatest Heavyweight Champion’ in history, for not only his skills, but for the worldwide impact he had on the sport.
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