September 5.
Muhammad Ali turned professional
under the tutelage of boxing
legend
Angelo Dundee, and
quickly became famous for
his unorthodox style, his
spectacular results, and his
tireless self-promotion. He
made a name for himself as
the "Louisville Lip" by
composing poems predicting
in which round he would
knock his opponent out. He
boisterously sang his own
praises, with sayings like
"I am the greatest" and "I'm
young, I'm pretty, and I
can't possibly be beat."
In Louisville on
October 29,
1960 Cassius Clay won
his first professional
fight.
In
1964, Clay managed to
get himself an opportunity
to fight heavyweight
champion
Sonny Liston. He stunned
the world by upsetting the
heavy favorite Liston, who
refused to leave his corner
for the eighth round,
claiming he had injured his
shoulder. Clay was duly
crowned the heavyweight
champion of the world. He
would confirm his abilities
in 1965, when he knocked
Liston out in the first
round of their rematch,
albeit controversially as
few observers saw the
"phantom punch" that floored
Liston.
In between the two
matches, Muhammad Ali also became
famous for other reasons: he
joined the
Nation of Islam, and
changed his name to Muhammad
Ali. In 1966, he refused to
serve in the American army
in the
Vietnam War as a
conscientious objector,
famously saying that he "got
nothing against no
Viet Cong. No Vietnamese
ever called me a
n---er." He was stripped
of his championship belt and
his license to box, and
sentenced to five years in
prison (this was overturned
on appeal three years
later).
In 1970, granted a
license to box once more, he
began a comeback, but
suffered a setback when he
lost his 1971 title fight, a
bruising 15 round encounter
with
Joe Frazier at
Madison Square Garden.
He split two bouts with
Ken Norton before
beating Frazier on points in
1974 to earn another
title shot.
The incumbent,
George Foreman, was a
large, hard-hitting,
undefeated young fighter who
had previously demolished
Frazier, KO'ing him in the
second round of their
championship fight, and was
the heavy favorite. The
fight was held in
Zaire and promoted by
Don King as "The
Rumble in The Jungle."
In the bout that would
cement his reputation as
"The Greatest", Ali boxed
his best tactical fight.
Leading with his "wrong"
hand and playing
"rope-a-dope" by leaning far
back on the ropes (that had
supposedly been loosened by
Dundee), Ali absorbed
everything Foreman could
throw at him, whilst only
occasionally throwing
counter punches. By the end
of the sixth round, Foreman
had punched himself out and
Ali was able to attack a
little more. Foreman kept
advancing, but his blows
were much less effective and
near the end of the eighth,
Ali's right hand finally
sent the exhausted Foreman
to the floor.
In 1975, Muhammad defeated Joe
Frazier once more in the
Thrilla In Manila in the
Philippines. Along with
the "Rumble", his fights
with Frazier are widely
considered among the
greatest in boxing history.
Muhammad Ali would retain his title
until a 1978 loss to
Leon Spinks. He defeated
Spinks in a rematch,
becoming the heavyweight
champion for the record
third time. He vacated the
title and retired.
That retirement was
short-lived, however, and on
October 2,
1980, he challenged
Larry Holmes for the
WBC's version of the
world Heavyweight title.
Looking to set another
record, as the first boxer
to win the Heavyweight title
four times, he lost by
technical knockout in round
eleven, when Dundee would
not let him come out for the
round. The Holmes fight,
promoted as The Last
Hurrah, was a fight
many fans and experts view
with disdain, because of
what many viewed as a deteriorated version of
Ali. Holmes was Ali's
sparring partner when Holmes
was a budding fighter and
because of that, some viewed
the result of the fight as a
symbolic passing of the
torch.
Muhammad retired permanently
in 1981 with a career record
of 56 wins, 37 by knockout,
against 5 losses.
Muhammad had a highly
unorthodox style for a
heavyweight boxer. He
carried his hands at his
sides rather than the
orthodox boxing style of
carrying the hands high to
defend the face. Instead, he
relied on his extraordinary
reflexes and reach to keep
him away from his opponents'
blows. Ali punched to the
head much more than most
boxers -- a high-risk
strategy since over the
duration of a long fight
punches to the body can be
much more effective in
tiring an opponent out.
A friend of
Malcolm X's, Clay
converted to
Islam, joining the
Nation of Islam. Though
both he and Malcolm
eventually parted ways with
the Nation of Islam, he
remained a vocal and
eloquent advocate on black
civil rights issues. The
English journalist Tony
Parsons described him as a
hero because "no white man
could look at him or listen
to him and feel superior".
He was diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease in
1982, following which his
motor functions began a slow
decline. Despite this, he
remains a hero to millions
around the world. In 1985,
he was called on to
negotiate for the release of
kidnapped Americans in
Lebanon; in
1996, to light the
Olympic flame in
Atlanta, Georgia. At the
same Olympics, Ali was also
presented with a replacement
gold medal. He had thrown
the previous one, won in
1960, in the
Ohio River after he had
been refused service in a
restaurant because of his
race.
