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Muhammad Ali
 |
|
Statistics |
| Name |
Muhammad Ali |
| Birth name |
Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. |
| Nickname |
The Greatest, The Champ,
The Louisville Lip |
| Height |
|
| Reach |
|
| Weight division |
Heavyweight |
| Nationality |
United States |
| Birth date |
|
| Birth place |
Louisville, Kentucky , U.S. |
|
|
| Stance |
Orthodox |
|
Boxing record |
| Total fights |
61 |
| Wins |
56 |
| Wins by KO |
37 |
| Losses |
5 |
| Draws |
0 |
| No contests |
0 |
Muhammad Ali (born
Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942) is a
retired American boxer and three-time World Heavyweight
Champion, who is widely considered one of the greatest
heavyweight championship boxers of all time. As an amateur,
he won a gold medal in the
light
heavyweight division at the
1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. After
turning professional, he went on to become the first boxer to win
the
lineal heavyweight
championship three times.
Originally known as Cassius Clay, Ali changed his name after
joining the
Nation of Islam in 1964,
subsequently converting to
Sunni
Islam in 1975. In 1967, Ali refused to be
inducted into the U.S. military based on his religious beliefs and
opposition to the
Vietnam War. He was
arrested and found guilty on draft evasion charges, stripped of his
boxing title, and his boxing license was suspended. He was not
imprisoned, but did not fight again for nearly four years while his
appeal worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was
successful.
Nicknamed 'The Greatest', Ali was involved in several historic
boxing matches. Notable among these are three with rival
Joe Frazier and one with
George Foreman, whom he beat by knockout to
win the world heavyweight title for the second time. He suffered
only five losses (four decisions and one TKO by retirement from the
bout) with no draws in his career, while amassing 56 wins (37
knockouts and 19 decisions). Ali was well known for his unorthodox
fighting style, which he described as "float like a butterfly,
sting like a bee", and employing techniques such as the
rope-a-dope. He was also known for his pre-match
hype, where he would 'trash talk' opponents on television and in
person some time before the match, often with rhymes. These
personality quips, idioms along with an unorthodox fighting
technique made him a cultural icon. In later life, Ali developed
Parkinson's disease due to the
injuries he sustained throughout his career. In 1999, Ali was
crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by
Sports Illustrated and "Sports
Personality of the Century" by the
BBC.
Biography
Amateur Career and Olympic Gold
Cassius
Marcellus Clay Jr. was born on January 17, 1942 in Louisville,
Kentucky. The elder of two boys, he was named after
his father,
Cassius
Marcellus Clay, Sr., who was named for the 19th century
abolitionist and politician
of the same name.
His father painted
billboards and signs,
and his mother,
Odessa Grady Clay,
was a household domestic. Although Cassius Sr. was a
Methodist, he allowed Odessa to bring up both
Cassius and his younger brother
Rudolph
"Rudy" Clay (later renamed Rahman Ali) as
Baptists. He is a descendant of pre-
Civil War era American slaves in the
American South, and is predominantly of
African-American descent with
smaller amounts of
English and
Irish ancestry.
Clay was first directed toward boxing by the white Louisville
police officer and boxing coach
Joe E. Martin, who encountered the 12-year-old fuming
over the theft of his bicycle. However, without Martin's knowledge,
Clay also began training with Fred Stoner, an African-American
trainer working at the local community center. In this way, Clay
could make $4 a week on
Tomorrow's Champions, a local,
weekly TV show that Martin hosted, while benefiting from the
coaching of the more experienced Stoner, who continued working with
Clay throughout his amateur career.
Under
Stoner's guidance, Cassius Clay went on to win six Kentucky
Golden Gloves titles, two national
Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur
Athletic Union National Title, and the Light Heavyweight gold medal in the
1960 Summer Olympics in
Rome
. Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with
five losses.
Ali states (in his 1975 autobiography) that he threw his
Olympic gold medal into the
Ohio River after being refused service at a
'whites-only' restaurant, and fighting with a white gang. Whether
this is true is still debated, although he was given a replacement
medal at a basketball intermission during the
1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he lit
the torch to start the games.
Early professional career
After his Olympic triumph, Clay returned to Louisville to begin his
professional career.
There, on October 29, 1960, he won his first
professional fight, a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker, who was the police chief of
Fayetteville,
West Virginia
.
Standing tall, at 6-ft, 3-in (1.91 m), Clay had a highly unorthodox
style for a heavyweight boxer. Rather than the normal style of
carrying the hands high to defend the face, he instead relied on
foot speed and quickness to avoid punches and carried his hands
low.
From 1960 to 1963, the young fighter amassed a record of 19–0, with
15 knockouts. He defeated boxers such as Tony Esperti, Jim
Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi
Besmanoff, Lamar Clark (who had won his previous 40 bouts by
knockout),
Doug Jones and
Henry Cooper.
Clay built a reputation by correctly predicting the round in which
he would "finish" several opponents, and by boasting before his
triumphs. Clay admitted he adopted the latter practice from
"Gorgeous"
George Wagner, a popular
professional wrestling champion in the
Los Angeles area who drew thousands
of fans. Often referred to as "the man you loved to hate," George
could incite the crowd with a few heated remarks, and Ali followed
suit.
Among Clay's victims were
Sonny Banks
(who knocked him down during the bout), Alejandro Lavorante, and
the aged
Archie Moore (a boxing legend
who had fought over 200 previous fights, and who had been Clay's
trainer prior to
Angelo Dundee). Clay
had considered continuing using Moore as a trainer following the
bout, but Moore had insisted that the cocky "Louisville Lip"
perform training camp chores such as sweeping and dishwashing. He
also considered having his idol,
Sugar Ray Robinson, as a manager, but
instead hired Dundee.
Clay first met Dundee when the latter was in Louisville with light
heavyweight champ
Willie Pastrano.
The teenaged
Golden Gloves winner
traveled downtown to the fighter's hotel, called Dundee from the
house phone, and was asked up to their room. He took advantage of
the opportunity to query Dundee (who was working with, or had,
champions
Sugar Ramos and
Carmen Basilio) about what his fighters ate,
how long they slept, how much roadwork (jogging) they did, and how
long they sparred.
Following his bout with Moore, Clay won a disputed 10-round
decision over Doug Jones in a matchup that was named "Fight of the
Year" for 1963. Clay's next fight was against
Henry Cooper, who knocked Clay down
with a left hook near the end of the fourth round. The fight was
stopped in the fifth due to deep cuts over Cooper's eyes.
Despite these close calls, Clay became the top contender for
Sonny Liston's title. Despite his
impressive record, however, he was not widely expected to defeat
the champ.
The fight was scheduled for February 25, 1964
in Miami,
Florida
, but was nearly canceled when the promoter, Bill
Faversham, heard that Clay had been seen around Miami and in other
cities with the controversial Malcolm
X. At the time,
The
Nation of Islam—of which Malcolm X was a member—was (and still
is) labeled as a hate group by most of the media. Because of this,
news of this association was perceived as a potential gate-killer
to a bout where, given Liston's overwhelming status as the favorite
to win (7–1 odds), had Clay's colorful persona and nonstop
braggadocio as its sole appeal.
Faversham confronted Clay about his association with Malcolm X
(who, at the time, was actually under suspension by the Nation as a
result of controversial comments made in the wake of President
Kennedy's assassination). While stopping short of admitting he was
a member of the Nation, Clay protested the suggested cancellation
of the fight. As a compromise, Faversham asked the fighter to delay
his announcement about his
conversion to Islam until after the
fight. The incident is described in the 1975 book
The Greatest:
My Own Story by Ali (with Richard Durham).
During the weigh-in on the day before the bout, the ever-boastful
Clay, who frequently taunted Liston during the buildup by dubbing
him "the big ugly bear" (among other things), declared that he
would "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee," and,
summarizing his strategy for avoiding Liston's assaults, said,
"Your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see."
First title fight and aftermath
At the pre-fight weigh-in, Clay's pulse rate was around 120, more
than double his norm of 54. Liston, among others, misread this as
nervousness. In the opening rounds, Clay's speed kept him away from
Liston's powerful head and body shots, as he used his height
advantage to beat Liston to the punch with his own lightning-quick
jab.
By the third round, Clay was ahead on points and had opened a cut
under Liston's eye. Liston regained some ground in the fourth, as
Clay was blinded by a substance in his eyes. It is unconfirmed
whether this was something used to close Liston's cuts, or
deliberately applied to Liston's gloves; however,
Bert Sugar (author, boxing historian and insider)
has recalled at least two other Liston fights in which a similar
situation occurred, suggesting the possibility that the Liston
corner deliberately attempted to cheat.
Liston began the fourth round looking to put away the challenger.
As Clay struggled to recover his vision, he sought to escape
Liston's offensive. He was able to keep out of range until his
sweat and tears rinsed the substance from his eyes, responding with
a flurry of combinations near the end of the fifth round. By the
sixth, he was looking for a finish and dominated Liston. Then,
Liston shocked the boxing world when he failed to answer the bell
for the seventh round, later claiming a shoulder injury as the
reason. At the end of the fight, Clay boasted to the press that
doubted him before the match, proclaiming, "I shook up the
world!"
When Clay beat Liston, he was the youngest boxer (age 22) ever to
take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion, a mark that
stood until the mid 1980s. At the time, Floyd Patterson (dethroned
by Liston) had been the youngest heavyweight champ ever (age 21),
but he won the title during an elimination tournament following
Rocky Marciano's retirement by defeating Archie Moore, the
light-heavyweight champion at the time.
In the
rematch with Liston, which was held in May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine
, Ali (who had by then publicly converted to Islam
and changed his name) won by knockout in the first round as a
result of what came to be called the "phantom punch." Many
believe that Liston, possibly as a result of threats from Nation of
Islam extremists, or in an attempt to "throw" the fight to pay off
debts, waited to be counted out (see
Muhammad Ali versus Sonny
Liston). Others, however, discount both scenarios and insist
that it was a quick, chopping Ali punch to the side of the head
that legitimately felled Liston.
Early title defenses
On November 22, 1965, Ali fought
Floyd
Patterson in his second title defense. Patterson lost by
technical knockout at the end of the 12th round. As would later
occur with Ernie Terrell, many sportswriters accused Ali of
"carrying" Patterson so that he could physically punish him without
knocking him out. Ali countered that Patterson, who said his
punching prowess was limited when he strained his
sacroiliac, was not as easy to down as may have
appeared.
Ali was scheduled to fight
WBA champion
Ernie Terrell (the WBA stripped Ali of his
title after his agreement to fight a rematch with Liston) on 29
March 1966, but Terrell backed out. Ali won a 15-round decision
against substitute opponent
George
Chuvalo. He then went to England and defeated
Henry Cooper by stoppage on cuts May
21, and knocked out
Brian London in the
third round in August. Ali's next defense was against German
southpaw
Karl Mildenberger, the
first German to fight for the title since
Max Schmeling. In one of the tougher fights of
his life, Ali stopped his opponent in round 12.
Ali
returned to the United States in November 1966 to fight Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams in the
Houston
Astrodome
.
According to the Sports Illustrated account, the bout drew an
indoor world record 35,460 fight fans. A year and a half before the
fight, Williams had been shot in the stomach at
point-blank range by a Texas policeman. As
a result, Williams went into the fight missing one kidney and 10
feet of his
small intestine, and
with a shriveled left leg from nerve damage from the bullet. Ali
beat Williams in three rounds.
On
February 6, 1967, Ali returned to a Houston
boxing ring to fight Terrell in what became one
of the uglier fights in boxing. Terrell had angered Ali by
calling him Clay, and the champion vowed to punish him for this
insult. During the fight, Ali kept shouting at his opponent,
"What's my name,
Uncle Tom ... What's my
name?" Terrell suffered 15 rounds of brutal punishment, losing 13
rounds on two judges' scorecards, but Ali did not knock him out.
Analysts, including several who spoke to
ESPN
on the sports channel's "Ali Rap" special, speculated that the
fight continued only because Ali wanted to thoroughly punish and
humiliate Terrell. After the fight,
Tex
Maule wrote, "It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill
and a barbarous display of cruelty." When asked about this during a
replay of the fight on ABC's popular "Wide World of Sports" by host
Howard Cosell, Ali said he was not unduly cruel to Terrell- that
boxers are paid to punch all their opponents into submission or
defeat. He pointed out that if he had not hit and hurt Terrell,
Terrell would have hit and hurt him, which is standard practice.
Cosell's repeated reference to the topic surprised Ali. Following
his final defense against
Zora Folley in
March 1967 Ali would be stripped of his title the following month
for refusing to be drafted into the Army and had his professional
boxing license suspended.
Ali learned how to punch (the unique "accu-punch" where one spins
the wrist right at the moment of strike) from the
Tae Kwon Do master
Jhoon Goo Rhee
Religion
After winning the championship from Liston in 1964, Clay revealed
that he was a member of the
Nation of
Islam (often called the
Black
Muslims at the time) and the Nation gave Clay the name Cassius
X, discarding his surname as a symbol of his ancestors'
enslavement, as had been done by other Nation members. On Friday,
March 6, 1964,
Malcolm X took Clay on a
guided tour of the
United Nations building (for a second time).
Malcolm X announced that Clay would be granted his "X." That same
night,
Elijah Muhammad recorded a
statement over the phone to be played over the radio that Clay
would be renamed
Muhammad (one who is
worthy of praise)
Ali (fourth
rightly guided caliph). Only a few journalists
(most notably
Howard Cosell) accepted
it at that time. Venerable boxing announcer
Don Dunphy addressed the champion by his adopted
name, as did British reporters. The adoption of this name
symbolized his new identity as a member of the
Nation of Islam.
Many sportswriters of the early 1960s reported that it was Ali's
brother,
Rudy Clay, who converted to
Islam first (estimating the date as 1961). Others wrote that Clay
had been seen at Muslim rallies a few years before he fought
Liston. Ali's own version is that he would sneak into Nation of
Islam meetings through the backdoor roughly three years before he
fought Sonny Liston. He was afraid that if others knew he wouldn't
be able to fight for his title.
Aligning himself with the Nation of Islam made him a lightning rod
for controversy, turning the outspoken but popular champion into
one of that era's most recognizable and controversial figures.
Appearing at rallies with
Nation of
Islam leader
Elijah Muhammad and
declaring his allegiance to him at a time when mainstream America
viewed them with suspicion — if not outright hostility — made Ali a
target of outrage, as well as suspicion. Ali seemed at times to
provoke such reactions, with viewpoints that wavered from support
for
civil rights to outright support of
separatism. For example, Ali once stated,
in relation to integration: "We who follow the teachings of Elijah
Muhammad don't want to be forced to integrate. Integration is
wrong. We don't want to live with the white man; that's all." And
in relation to inter-racial marriage: "No intelligent black man or
black woman in his or her right black mind wants white boys and
white girls coming to their homes to marry their black sons and
daughters." Indeed, Ali's
religious beliefs
at the time included the notion that the white man was "the devil"
and that white people were not "righteous." Ali claimed that white
people hated
black people.
Ali converted from the
Nation of
Islam sect to mainstream
Sunni Islam
in 1975. In a 2004 autobiography, written with daughter
Hana Yasmeen Ali, Muhammad Ali attributes
his conversion to the shift toward Sunni Islam made by
Warith Deen Muhammad after he gained
control of the
Nation of Islam upon
the death of
Elijah Muhammad in
1975. Later in 2005 he embraced spiritual practices of
Sufism.
Vietnam War
In 1964, Ali failed the
U.S. Armed Forces qualifying test
because his writing and spelling skills were sub-par. However, in
early 1966, the tests were revised and Ali was reclassified as 1A.
This classification meant he was now eligible for the draft and
induction into the U.S. Army. This was especially important because
the United States was engaged in the
Vietnam
War. When notified of this status, he declared that he would
refuse to serve in the
United States
Army and publicly considered himself a
conscientious objector. Ali stated
that "War is against the teachings of the
Holy
Qur'an. I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed
to take part in no wars unless declared by
Allah or The Messenger. We don't take part in
Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers." Ali also famously said
in 1966: "I ain't got no quarrel with them
Viet Cong
... They never called me
nigger."
Rare for
a heavyweight boxing champion in those days, Ali spoke at Howard
University
, where he gave his popular "Black Is Best" speech
to 4,000 cheering students and community intellectuals after he was
invited to speak at Howard by a Howard sociology professor,
Nathan Hare, on behalf of the Black
Power Committee, a student protest group.
Appearing shortly thereafter for his scheduled induction into the
U.S. Armed Forces on April 28, 1967 in Houston, he refused three
times to step forward at the call of his name. An officer warned
him he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison
and a fine of $10,000. Once more, Ali refused to budge when his
name was called. As a result, he was arrested and on the same day
the
New York State
Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and stripped
him of his title. Other boxing commissions followed suit.
At the trial on June 20, 1967, after only 21 minutes of
deliberation, the jury found Ali guilty. After a
Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the
case went to the U.S. Supreme Court. During this time, the public
began turning against the war and support for Ali began to grow.
Ali supported himself by speaking at colleges and universities
across the country, where opposition to the war was especially
strong.
On June 28, 1971, the Supreme
Court
reversed his conviction for refusing induction by
unanimous decision in Clay
v. United
States. The decision was not based on, nor addressed, the
merits of Clay's/Ali's claims
per se; rather, the
Government's failure to specify
which claims were rejected
and which were sustained, constituted the grounds upon which the
Court reversed the conviction.
The Fight of the Century
In 1970, while his case was still on appeal, Ali was allowed to
fight again.
With the help of a State Senator, he was
granted a license to box in Georgia
because it was the only state in America without a
boxing commission. In October 1970, he stopped
Jerry Quarry on a cut after three rounds.
Shortly after the Quarry fight, the
New York State Supreme Court
ruled that Ali had been unjustly denied a boxing license.
Once
again able to fight in New York, he fought Oscar Bonavena at Madison
Square Garden
in December 1970. After a tough 14 rounds,
Ali stopped Bonavena in the 15th, paving the way for a title fight
against
Joe Frazier, who was himself
undefeated.
Ali and
Frazier met in the ring on March 8, 1971, at Madison
Square Garden. The fight, known as '"The
Fight of the Century," was one of the
most eagerly anticipated bouts of all time and remains one of the
most famous. It featured two skilled, undefeated fighters, both of
whom had legitimate claims to the heavyweight crown.
Frank Sinatra — unable to acquire a ringside
seat — took photos of the match for
Life magazine. Legendary boxing
announcer
Don Dunphy and actor and boxing
aficionado
Burt Lancaster called the
action for the broadcast, which reached millions of people. The
fight lived up to the hype, and Frazier punctuated his victory by
flooring Ali with a hard, leaping left hook in the 15th and final
round. Frazier retained the title on a unanimous decision, dealing
Ali his first professional loss.
In 1973, Ali fought
Ken Norton, who broke
Ali's jaw and won by split decision in 12 rounds. Ali won the
rematch, also by split decision, on September 10, 1973, which set
up
Ali-Frazier II, a nontitle rematch
with
Joe Frazier, who had already lost
his title to George Foreman. The bout was held on January 28, 1974,
with Ali winning a unanimous 12-round decision.
The Rumble in the Jungle
In one of
the biggest upsets in boxing history, Ali regained his title on
October 30, 1974 by defeating champion George Foreman in their bout in Kinshasa,
Zaire
. Hyped as "
The Rumble In The Jungle," the
fight was promoted by
Don
King.
Almost no one, not even Ali's long-time supporter
Howard Cosell, gave the former champion a
chance of winning. Analysts pointed out that
Joe Frazier and
Ken
Norton had given Ali four tough battles in the ring and won two
of them, while Foreman had knocked out both of them in the second
round. As a matter of fact, so total was the domination that, in
their bout, Foreman had knocked down Frazier an incredible six
times in only four minutes and 25 seconds.
During the bout, Ali employed an unexpected strategy. Leading up to
the fight, he had declared he was going to "dance" and use his
speed to keep away from Foreman and outbox him. However, in the
first round, Ali headed straight for the champion and began scoring
with a right hand lead, clearly surprising Foreman. Ali caught
Foreman nine times in the first round with this technique but
failed to knock him out. He then decided to take advantage of the
young champion's weakness: staying power. Foreman had won 37 of his
40 bouts by knockout, mostly within three rounds. Eight of his
previous bouts didn't go past the second round. Ali saw an
opportunity to outlast Foreman, and capitalized on it.
In the second round, the challenger retreated to the ropes —
inviting Foreman to hit him, while counterpunching and verbally
taunting the younger man. Ali's plan was to enrage Foreman and
absorb his best blows to exhaust him mentally and physically. While
Foreman threw wide shots to Ali's body, Ali countered with stinging
straight punches to Foreman's head. Foreman threw hundreds of
punches in seven rounds, but with decreasing technique and potency.
Ali's tactic of leaning on the ropes, covering up, and absorbing
ineffective body shots was later termed "
The
Rope-A-Dope."
By the end of the seventh round, Foreman was exhausted. In the
eighth round, Ali dropped Foreman with a combination at center ring
and Foreman failed to make the count. Against the odds, Ali had
regained the title. Many years later, Foreman would become champ
again at age 45. Muhammad Ali (Foreman's best friend at the time)
did not attend the title bout. When asked why, he said "I would
deviate attention from George. It was his moment, not mine."
The "Rumble in the Jungle" was the subject of a 1996
Academy Award winning
documentary film,
When We Were Kings. The match was
ranked seventh in the
British
television program
The 100 Greatest Sporting
Moments. The fight and the events leading up to it are
extensively depicted in both
John
Herzfeld's 1997
docudrama Don King: Only in America and
Michael Mann's 2001 docudrama,
Ali.
The Thrilla in Manila
In March 1975, Ali faced
Chuck Wepner
in a bout that inspired the original
Rocky. While it was largely thought that Ali
would dominate, Wepner surprised everyone by not only knocking Ali
down in the ninth round, but nearly going the distance. Ali
eventually stopped Wepner in the fading minutes of the 15th round.
Following a title defense with
Ron Lyle, in
July Ali faced
Joe Bugner, winning a 15
round decision.
On October 1, 1975, Ali fought
Joe
Frazier for the third time. The bout was promoted as the
Thrilla in Manila by
Don King, who had ascended to
prominence following the Ali-Foreman fight. The anticipation was
enormous for this final clash between two great heavyweights. Ali
believed Frazier was "over the hill" by that point. Ali's frequent
insults, slurs and demeaning poems increased the anticipation and
excitement for the fight, but also enraged a determined Frazier.
Regarding the fight, Ali famously remarked, "It will be a killa...
and a chilla... and a thrilla... when I get the gorilla in
Manila."
The fight lasted 14 grueling rounds in temperatures approaching 100
degrees Fahrenheit. Ali won many of the early rounds, but Frazier
staged a comeback in the middle rounds, while Ali lay on the ropes.
By the late rounds, however, Ali had reasserted control and the
fight was stopped when Frazier was unable to answer the bell for
the 15th and final round (his eyes were swollen closed). Frazier's
trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow Frazier to continue.
Subsequent bouts and retirement
In February 1976, Ali easily beat
Jean-Pierre Coopman. In April 1976 he
defeated
Jimmy Young and then
Richard Dunn the following month, which would
turn out to be Ali's last knockout victory. Following that fight,
he staged an exhibition match with
professional wrestler and
Mixed Martial Artist Antonio Inoki. Although widely perceived as a
publicity stunt, the match against Inoki would have a long-term
detrimental affect on Ali's mobility. Inoki spent much of the fight
on the ground trying to damage Ali’s legs, while Ali spent most of
the fight dodging the kicks or staying on the ropes. At the end of
15 rounds, the bout was called a draw. Ali's legs, however, were
bleeding, leading to an infection. He suffered two blood clots in
his legs as well.
In
September 1976, at Yankee Stadium
, Ali faced Ken Norton in
their third fight, with Ali winning a close but unanimous 15-round
decision. 1977 saw Ali defend his title against
Alfredo Evangelista and
Earnie Shavers. Fight doctor
Ferdie Pacheco left Ali's camp following the
Shavers fight after being rebuffed for advising Ali to
retire.
In February 1978, Ali lost the heavweight title to 1976 Olympics
Champion
Leon Spinks.
On September 15,
1978, Ali fought a rematch in the New Orleans Louisiana
Superdome
against Spinks for the WBA version of the
Heavyweight title, winning it for a record third time. Ali
retired following this victory on June 27, 1979, but returned in
1980 to face current champion
Larry
Holmes in an attempt to win a heavyweight title an
unprecedented four times. Angelo Dundee refused to let his man come
out for the 11th round, in what became Ali's only loss by anything
other than a decision. Ali's final fight, a loss by unanimous
decision after 10 rounds, was to up-and-coming challenger
Trevor Berbick in 1981.
Ali's legacy
Muhammad Ali defeated every top heavyweight in his era, which has
been called the golden age of heavyweight boxing. Ali was named
"Fighter of the Year" by
Ring
Magazine more times than any other fighter, and was
involved in more
Ring Magazine "Fight of the Year" bouts
than any other fighter.
He is an inductee into the International Boxing Hall of
Fame
and holds wins over seven other Hall of Fame
inductees. He is also one of only three boxers to be named
"
Sportsman of the Year" by
Sports
Illustrated.
In 1978,
three years before Ali's permanent retirement, the Board of Aldermen in his
hometown of Louisville,
Kentucky voted 6–5 to rename Walnut Street to Muhammad Ali
Boulevard. This was controversial at the time, as within a
week 12 of the 70
street signs were
stolen.
Earlier that year, a committee of the
Jefferson County Public
Schools considered renaming Central High School
in his honor, but the motion failed to pass.
At any rate, in time, Muhammad Ali Boulevard—and Ali himself—came
to be well accepted in his hometown.
In 1993, the
Associated Press
reported that Ali was tied with
Babe Ruth
as the most recognized athletes, out of over 800 dead or alive
athletes, in America. The study, conducted by
Nye Lavalle's Sports Marketing Group, found that
over 97% of Americans, over 12-years of age, identified both Ali
and Ruth.
He was the recipient of the 1997
Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
In retirement
Muhammad Ali in retirement
Ali was diagnosed with
Parkinson's
Syndrome in 1984, a disease for which those subject to severe
head trauma, such as boxers, are many times more susceptible.
Despite the disability, he remains a beloved and active
public figure. In 1985, he served as a guest
referee at the inaugural
WrestleMania event.
In 1987 he was
selected by the California
Bicentennial Foundation for the U.S. Constitution to personify the
vitality of the U.S. Constitution and
Bill of Rights in various high
profile activities. Ali rode on a float at the 1988
Tournament of Roses Parade,
launching the U.S. Constitution's 200th birthday commemoration. He
also published an
oral history,
Muhammad Ali: His
Life and Times by Thomas Hauser, in 1991. Ali received a
Spirit of America Award
calling him the most recognized American in the world.
In 1996, he had the
honor of lighting the flame at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta,
Georgia
.
He appeared at the 1998
AFL (Australian Football League)
Grand Final, where
Anthony Pratt invited him to watch the game.
He also greets runners at the start line of the
Los Angeles Marathon every year.
In 1999, the
BBC produced a special
version of its annual
BBC Sports Personality of the
Year Award ceremony, and Ali was voted their Sports Personality
of the Century, receiving more votes than the other four contenders
combined. His daughter
Laila Ali also
became a boxer in 1999, despite her father's earlier comments
against female boxing in 1978: "Women are not made to be hit in the
breast, and face like that... the body's not made to be punched
right here [patting his chest]. Get
hit in the breast...
hard... and all that."
On September 13, 1999, Ali was named "Kentucky Athlete of the
Century" by the
Kentucky
Athletic Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the
Galt House East.
In 2001, a
biographical film,
entitled
Ali, was made, directed
by
Michael Mann, with
Will Smith starring as Ali. The film received
mixed reviews, with the positives generally attributed to the
acting, as Smith and
supporting
actor Jon Voight earned
Academy Award nominations. Prior to making the
Ali movie, Will Smith had continually rejected the role of Ali
until Muhammad Ali personally requested that he accept the role.
According to Smith, the first thing Ali said about the subject to
Smith was: "You ain't pretty enough to play me."
On
November 17, 2002, Muhammad Ali went to Afghanistan
as "U.N.
Messenger of Peace".
He was in Kabul
for a
three-day goodwill mission as a special guest of the United Nations.
On January 8, 2005, Muhammad Ali was presented with the
Presidential Citizens Medal by
President
George W. Bush.
He
received the Presidential
Medal of Freedom at a White House
ceremony on November 9, 2005, and the "Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold" of the
United Nations Association of Germany
(DGVN) in Berlin
for his work
with the US civil rights
movement and the United Nations (December 17,
2005).
On
November 19, 2005 (Ali's 19th wedding anniversary), the $60 million
non-profit Muhammad
Ali Center
opened in downtown
Louisville. In addition to displaying his boxing
memorabilia, the center focuses on core themes of peace,
social responsibility, respect, and
personal growth.
According to the Ali Center website, "Since he retired from boxing,
Ali has devoted himself to humanitarian endeavors around the globe.
He is a devout
Muslim, and travels the world
over, lending his name and presence to hunger and poverty relief,
supporting education efforts of all kinds, promoting adoption and
encouraging people to respect and better understand one another. It
is estimated that he has helped to provide more than 22 million
meals to feed the hungry. Ali travels, on average, more than 200
days per year."
At the
FedEx Orange Bowl on January 2, 2007, Ali was
an honorary captain for the
Louisville Cardinals wearing their
white jersey, number 19.
Ali was accompanied by golf legend Arnold Palmer, who was the honorary captain
for the Wake
Forest
Demon Deacons, and
Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade.
A
youth club in Ali's hometown and a
species of
rose (
Rosa ali) have also
been named after him.
On June 5, 2007, he received an honorary doctorate of humanities at Princeton
University
's 260th graduation
ceremony.
Ali lives
in Scottsdale,
Arizona
with his fourth wife, Yolanda 'Lonnie' Ali.
They own
a house in Berrien Springs, Michigan
, which is for sale. On January 9, 2007,
they purchased a house in eastern Jefferson
County
, Kentucky
for $1,875,000. Lonnie converted to Islam
from
Catholicism in her late 20s.
On the
17th of August 2009, it was voted unanimously by the town council
of Ennis, Co Clare, Ireland to make Ali the first Freeman of
Ennis
. Ennis was the birthplace of Ali's great
grandfather before he emigrated to the U.S. in the 1860s, before
eventually settling in Kentucky. On 1 September 2009, Ali visited
the town of Ennis and at a civic reception he received the honour
of the freedom of the town.
Ranking in heavyweight history
Ali is generally considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights
of all time by boxing commentators and historians.
Ring Magazine, a prominent boxing
magazine, named him number 1 in a 1998 ranking of greatest
heavyweights from all eras. In a 1971 article,
Nat Fleischer, the founder of the
Ring who saw every heavyweight champion from
Jim Jeffries to
Joe
Frazier, refused to include Ali in his all-time top ten,
saying: "he does not qualify for rating with the greatest
heavyweights of all time". Fleischer was writing after Ali's loss
to Frazier, several years before his performance against Foreman
and rematches with Frazier.
Ali was named the second greatest fighter in boxing history by
ESPN.com behind only welterweight
and middleweight great
Sugar Ray
Robinson. In December 2007,
ESPN listed Ali second in
its choice of the greatest heavyweights of all time, behind Joe
Louis.
Personal life
Muhammad Ali has been married four times and has seven daughters
and two sons. Ali met his first wife,
cocktail waitress Sonji Roi, approximately
one month before they married on August 14, 1964. Roi's objections
to certain
Muslim customs in regard to dress
for women contributed to the breakup of their marriage. They
divorced on January 10, 1966.
On August 17, 1967, Ali (aged 25) married 17-year old Belinda Boyd.
After the wedding, she converted to
Islam and
changed her name to Khalilah Ali, though she was still called
Belinda by old friends and family. They had four children: Maryum
(b. 1968), Jamillah and Liban (b. 1970), and Muhammad Ali Jr. (b.
1972).
In 1975, Ali began an affair with
Veronica Porsche, an actress and model.
By the summer of 1977, Ali's second marriage was over and he had
married Veronica. At the time of their marriage, they had a baby
girl, Hana, and Veronica was pregnant with their second child.
Their second daughter,
Laila, was born in
December 1977. By 1986, Ali and Veronica were divorced.
On November 19, 1986, Ali married Yolanda Ali.
They had been friends
since 1964 in Louisville. They have one adopted son at 5 year old,
Asaad Amin.
Ali has two other daughters, Miya and Khaliah, from extramarital
relationships.
Ali in the media and popular culture
As a world champion boxer and social activist, Ali has been the
subject of numerous books, films and other creative works. In 1963,
he released an album of
spoken word on
Columbia Records titled
I am
the Greatest! He has appeared on the cover of
Sports Illustrated on 37 different
occasions, second only to
Michael
Jordan. His autobiography
The Greatest: My Own Story,
written with Richard Durham, was published in 1975.
When We Were Kings, a 1996
documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle, won an
Academy Award, and the 2001 biopic
Ali garnered an Oscar nomination
for
Will Smith's portrayal of the lead
role.
For
contributions to the theater industry, Muhammed Ali was honored
with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard
.
Professional boxing record
|
| 56 Wins (37
knockouts, 19 decisions), 5 Losses (4 decisions, 1
retirement), 0 Draws |
|
|
Res. |
|
Opponent |
|
Type |
|
Rd., Time |
|
Date |
|
Location |
|
Notes |
|
| Loss |
| Trevor Berbick |
| Decision |
| 10 |
| 1981-12-11 |
Nassau, Bahamas |
|
|
| Loss |
| Larry Holmes |
| TKO |
| 10 |
| 1980-10-02 |
Las Vegas, NV |
|
|
| Win |
| Leon Spinks |
| Decision |
| 15 |
| 1978-09-15 |
New Orleans, LA |
|
|
| Loss |
| Leon Spinks |
| Decision |
| 15 |
| 1978-02-15 |
| Las Vegas, NV |
|
|
| Win |
| Earnie Shavers |
| Decision |
| 15 |
| 1977-09-29 |
New York City, NY |
|
|
| Win |
| Alfredo Evangelista |
| Decision |
| 15 |
| 1977-05-16 |
Landover, MD |
|
|
| Win |
| Ken Norton |
| Decision |
| 15 |
| 1976-09-28 |
The
Bronx, New York |
|
|
| Win |
| Richard Dunn |
| TKO |
| 5 |
| 1976-05-24 |
Munich,
Germany |
|
|
| Win |
| Jimmy Young |
| Decision |
| 15 |
| 1976-04-30 |
| Landover, MD |
|
|
| Win |
| Jean-Pierre Coopman |
| KO |
| 5 |
| 1976-02-20 |
San Juan, Puerto Rico |
|
|
| Win |
| Joe Frazier |
| TKO |
| 14 , 0:59 |
| 1975-10-01 |
Quezon City, Philippines |
|
|
| Win |
| Joe Bugner |
| Decision |
| 15 |
| 1975-06-30 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
|
|
| Win |
| Ron Lyle |
| TKO |
| 11 |
| 1975-05-16 |
| Las Vegas, NV |
|
|
| Win |
| Chuck Wepner |
| TKO |
| 15 , 2:41 |
| 1975-03-24 |
Richfield, OH |
|
|
| Win |
| George Foreman |
| KO |
| 8 , 2:58 |
| 1974-10-30 |
Kinshasa,
Zaire |
|
|
| Win |
| Joe Frazier |
| Decision |
| 12 |
| 1974-01-28 |
| New York City, NY |
|
|
| Win |
| Rudi Lubbers |
| Decision |
| 12 |
| 1973-10-20 |
Jakarta,
Indonesia |
|
|
| Win |
| Ken Norton |
| Decision |
| 12 |
| 1973-09-10 |
Inglewood, CA |
|
|
| Loss |
| Ken Norton |
| Decision |
| 12 |
| 1973-03-31 |
San Diego, CA |
|
|
| Win |
| Joe Bugner |
| Decision |
| 12 |
| 1973-02-14 |
| Las Vegas, NV |
|
|
| Win |
| Bob Foster |
| KO |
| 7 |
| 1972-11-21 |
Stateline, NV |
|
|
| Win |
| Floyd Patterson |
| TKO |
| 7 |
| 1972-09-20 |
| New York City, NY |
|
|
| Win |
| Alvin Lewis |
| TKO |
| 11 , 1:15 |
| 1972-07-19 |
Dublin,
Ireland |
|
|
| Win |
| Jerry Quarry |
| TKO |
| 7 , 0:19 |
| 1972-06-27 |
| Las Vegas, NV |
|
|
| Win |
| George Chuvalo |
| Decision |
| 12 |
| 1972-05-01 |
Vancouver, Canada |
|
|
| Win |
| Mac Foster |
| Decision |
| 15 |
| 1972-04-01 |
Tokyo,
Japan |
|
|
| Win |
| Jürgen Blin |
| KO |
| 7 , 2:12 |
| 1971-12-26 |
 Zurich,
Switzerland |
|
|
| Win |
| Buster Mathis |
| Decision |
| 12 |
| 1971-11-17 |
Houston, TX |
|
|
| Win |
| Jimmy Ellis |
| TKO |
| 12 , 2:10 |
| 1971-07-26 |
| Houston, TX |
|
|
| Loss |
| Joe Frazier |
| Decision |
| 15 |
| 1971-03-08 |
| New York City, NY |
|
|
| Win |
| Oscar Bonavena |
| TKO |
| 15 , 2:03 |
| 1970-12-07 |
| New York City, NY |
|
|
| Win |
| Jerry Quarry |
| TKO |
| 3 |
| 1970-10-26 |
| Atlanta, GA |
|
|
| Win |
| Zora Folley |
| KO |
| 7 , 1:48 |
| 1967-03-22 |
| New York City, NY |
|
|
| Win |
| Ernie Terrell |
| Decision |
| 15 |
| 1967-02-06 |
| Houston, TX |
|
|
| Win |
| Cleveland Williams |
| TKO |
| 3 |
| 1966-11-14 |
| Houston, TX |
|
|
| Win |
| Karl Mildenberger |
| TKO |
| 12 |
| 1966-09-10 |
Frankfurt, Germany |
|
|
| Win |
| Brian London |
| KO |
| 3 |
| 1966-08-06 |
London
England |
|
|
| Win |
| Henry Cooper |
| TKO |
| 6 , 1:38 |
| 1966-05-21 |
| London, England |
|
|
| Win |
| George Chuvalo |
| Decision |
| 15 |
| 1966-03-29 |
Toronto,
Canada |
|
|
| Win |
| Floyd Patterson |
| TKO |
| 12 , 2:18 |
| 1965-11-22 |
| Las Vegas, NV |
|
|
| Win |
| Sonny Liston |
| KO |
| 1 , 2:12 |
| 1965-05-25 |
| Lewiston, ME |
|
|
| Win |
| Sonny Liston |
| Corner retirement |
| 7 |
| 1964-02-25 |
Miami Beach, FL |
|
|
| Win |
| Henry Cooper |
| TKO |
| 5 , 2:15 |
| 1963-06-18 |
| London, England |
|
|
| Win |
| Doug Jones |
| Decision |
| 10 |
| 1963-03-13 |
| New York City, NY |
|
|
| Win |
| Charley Powell |
| KO |
| 3, 2:04 |
| 1963-01-24 |
Pittsburgh, PA |
|
|
| Win |
| Archie Moore |
| TKO |
| 4 , 1:35 |
| 1962-11-15 |
Los Angeles, CA |
|
|
| Win |
| Alejandro Lavorante |
| KO |
| 5 , 1:48 |
| 1962-07-20 |
| Los Angeles, CA |
|
|
| Win |
| Billy Daniels |
| TKO |
| 7 , 2:21 |
| 1962-05-19 |
| Los Angeles, CA |
|
|
| Win |
| George Logan |
| TKO |
| 4 , 1:34 |
| 1962-04-23 |
| New York City, NY |
|
|
| Win |
| Don Warner |
| TKO |
| 4, 0:34 |
| 1962-03-28 |
| Miami Beach, FL |
|
|
| Win |
| Sonny Banks |
| TKO |
| 4 , 0:26 |
| 1962-02-10 |
| New York City, NY |
|
|
| Win |
| Willi Besmanoff |
| TKO |
| 7 , 1:55 |
| 1961-11-29 |
| Louisville, KY |
|
|
| Win |
| Alex Miteff |
| TKO |
| 6 , 1:45 |
| 1961-10-07 |
| Louisville, KY |
|
|
| Win |
| Alonzo Johnson |
| Decision |
| 10 |
| 1961-07-22 |
| Louisville, KY |
|
|
| Win |
| Duke Sabedong |
| Decision |
| 10 |
| 1961-06-26 |
| Las Vegas, NV |
|
|
| Win |
| LaMar Clark |
| KO |
| 2 , 1:27 |
| 1961-04-19 |
| Louisville, KY |
|
|
| Win |
| Donnie Fleeman |
| TKO |
| 7 |
| 1961-02-21 |
| Miami Beach, FL |
|
|
| Win |
| Jimmy Robinson |
| KO |
| 1 , 1:34 |
| 1961-02-07 |
| Miami Beach, FL |
|
|
| Win |
| Tony Esperti |
| TKO |
| 3 , 1:30 |
| 1961-01-17 |
| Miami Beach, FL |
|
|
| Win |
| Herb Siler |
| KO |
| 4 |
| 1960-12-27 |
| Miami Beach, FL |
|
|
| Win |
| Tunney Hunsaker |
| Decision |
| 6 |
| 1960-10-29 |
| Louisville, KY |
See also
Notes
References
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