Muhammad Ali

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Ali 1966.jpg
Class of 1990
Modern Category
Hall of Fame bio:click
World Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee

Name: Muhammad Ali
Alias: The Greatest
Birth Name: Cassius Marcellus Clay
Born: 1942-01-17
Birthplace: Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Nationality: US American
Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 6′ 3″   /   191cm
Reach: 78″   /   198cm
Boxing Record: click

Trainer: Angelo Dundee
Manager: Herbert Muhammad
Muhammad Ali Gallery

Contents

Amateur Achievements

Outpointing Gennadi Shatov in the 178-pound quarterfinals of the 1960 Olympics
Outpointing Zbigniew Pietrzykowski in the 178-pound
final of the 1960 Olympics
The 178-pound medalists of the 1960 Olympics
With fellow U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist
Wilbert McClure & Eddie Crook Jr.
  • There have been various amateur records accredited to Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali. 100-5, 127-5, 134-7, 137-7, and 99-8 are among the claims.
  • Six-time Kentucky State Golden Gloves Champion

1955

  • James Davis L 3
  • John Hampton W 3
  • John Hampton L 3

1957

  • Donnie Hall W 3
  • Donnie Hall L 3
  • Donnie Hall W 3
  • Jimmy Ellis W 3
  • Terry Hodge RSCI by 1
  • Donnie Hall W 3
  • Jimmy Ellis L 3
  • Donnie Hall W 3

1958

  • Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions Light Heavyweight Quarterfinalist. Results:
    • Alex Watt W 3
    • Francis Turley W 3
    • Kent Green KO by 2

1959

  • Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions Light Heavyweight Champion. Results:
    • Junie Hall KO 2
    • Willie McMilan W 3
    • Cliff Murkey W 3
    • Jeff Davis W 3
  • Intercity Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight Champion, outpointing Tony Madigan.
  • National AAU Light Heavyweight Champion. Results:
    • Reginald Brown KO 3
    • Art Toombs W 3
    • Lindy Lindmoser W 3
    • Johnny Powell W 3
  • U.S. Pan American Games Trials Finalist. Results:

1960


Preceded by:
Sylvester Banks 		National AAU
Light Heavyweight Champion
1959-1960 		Succeeded by:
Bob Christopherson
Preceded by:
Kent Green 		Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions
Light Heavyweight Champion
1959 		Succeeded by:
Jeff Davis
Preceded by:
James Hargett 		Intercity Golden Gloves
Light Heavyweight Champion
1959 		Succeeded by:
Jeff Davis
Preceded by:
Jimmy Jones 		Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions
Heavyweight Champion
1960 		Succeeded by:
Al Jenkins
Preceded by:
Sylvester Banks 		Intercity Golden Gloves
Heavyweight Champion
1960 		Succeeded by:
Ray Patterson
Preceded by:
Jim Boyd 		Olympic Gold Medalist
Light Heavyweight Champion
1960 		Succeeded by:
Cosimo Pinto


Professional Achievements

  • The first and only three-time lineal World Heavyweight Champion.
  • The first World Heavyweight Champion to come back from retirement and regain the title.
  • Won twenty-two World Heavyweight Championship fights. Ali made a total of nineteen successful title defenses, nine during his first reign and ten during his second reign.

Acting Career

  • Ali has appeared in a number of movies and television shows. IMDb credits: [1]

Awards and Recognition

1974 SI "Sportsman of the Year"

Notes

  • Ali is the older brother of Rahman Ali, the father of female world champion Laila Ali, and the uncle of Ibn Ali.
  • When Ali was 12-years-old, he and a friend went to the Columbia Auditorium to partake in the free hot dogs and popcorn available for visitors of the Louisville Home Show. When the boys were done eating, they went back to get their bicycles only to discover that Ali's had been stolen. Furious, Ali went to the basement of the Columbia Auditorium to report the crime to police officer Joe Martin, who was also a boxing coach at the Columbia Gym. When Ali said he wanted to beat up the person who stole his bike, Martin told him that he should probably learn to fight first. A few days later, Ali began boxing training at Martin's gym.
  • Ali also trained with Fred Stoner, an African-American trainer working at the Grace Community Center in Louisville. After he became World Heavyweight Champion, Ali said Stoner "taught me all I know."
  • Ali graduated from Central High School in Louisville with a D- average, ranking 376 in a class of 391.
  • After Ali had a rough flight going to San Francisco for the 1960 Olympic trials, he became afraid to fly. He visited an army surplus store and purchased a parachute before he flew to Rome for the Olympics, and wore the parachute throughout the flight to Rome.
  • In his 1975 autobiography, The Greatest, My Own Story, Ali claimed that he threw his Olympic gold medal into the Ohio River after he was refused service at a "whites only" restaurant shortly after he returned to Louisville from the Olympics in Rome. Some people, including biographers Thomas Hauser and David Remnick, have concluded that the story is untrue — that Ali misplaced the medal or it was otherwise lost. Ali was given a replacement medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.
  • Shortly after winning the World Heavyweight Championship from Sonny Liston on February 25, 1964, Ali announced that he was a member of the Nation of Islam and changed his name from Cassius Marcellus Clay to Muhammad Ali. He was given the name by Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad. In Arabic, Muhammad means "worthy of all praises" and Ali means "most high."
  • On September 14, 1964, Ali was stripped of the WBA title for signing to fight Sonny Liston in a rematch. The contract for their first fight included a return clause, which the WBA did not allow.
  • Ali's rematch with Sonny Liston was originally scheduled for November 16, 1964 in Boston, Massachusetts, but the fight was postponed after Ali suffered a hernia and had to have surgery.
  • Ali's draft status was 1-Y, physically fit but exempt from the draft because he scored lower than the minimum on Army intelligence tests. In 1966, the Army lowered its intelligence requirements and Ali was reclassified as 1-A, which made him eligible for the draft. Ali appealed for an exemption, claiming that he was a conscientious objector based on his religious beliefs. After three appeals were denied, Ali was called for induction on April 28, 1967. He refused to be inducted and was convicted of draft evasion on June 20, 1967. Ali was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $10,000. He was also stripped of his title by the WBA and NYSAC. He appealed his conviction all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled unanimously in his favor on June 28, 1971.
  • While he was appealing his conviction, Ali was free on a $5,000 bond. He tried to get a fight but was unable get a boxing license in any state. On February 3, 1970, Ali announced his retirement. He later changed his mind and said he wanted to fight again.
  • With the help of Georgia State Senator Leroy Johnson, Ali was able to get a license to fight Jerry Quarry in Atlanta, Georgia on October 26, 1970. Johnson was also involved in the promotion of the fight.
  • On September 14, 1970, a federal judge ruled that the New York State Athletic Commission's ban on Ali "constituted an arbitrary and unreasonable departure from the commission's established practice of granting licenses to applicants convicted of crimes or military offenses." Ali was then granted a license to fight Oscar Bonavena in New York on December 7, 1970.
  • Ali's first fight with Joe Frazier on March 8, 1971 indirectly led to four deaths:
    • Two spectators at Madison Square Garden died of heart attacks during the fight.
    • Erio Borghisiani was found dead in front of his television just hours after viewing the fight on paid television in Milan, Italy.
    • In Malaysia, Abdul Ghani Bachik was reported to have leaped up from his chair while watching the fight on paid television and shouted, "My God, Cassius Clay has fallen!" He then suffered a fatal heart attack.
  • Ali's fight with Chuck Wepner on March 24, 1975 inspired Sylvester Stallone to write the film Rocky.
  • Two Ali opponents died from injuries they suffered in the ring: Alejandro Lavorante died after getting knocked out by John Riggins in 1962, and Sonny Banks died after getting knocked out by Leotis Martin in 1965.
  • Three fighters retired after being knocked out by Ali: Donnie Fleeman, LaMar Clark, and Floyd Patterson.
  • Ali was the last fighter to defeat both Archie Moore and George Chuvalo.
  • In September 1984, after completing four days of tests at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's Syndrome.

Historical Rankings

Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) in 1962
  • A World Boxing readers poll ranked Ali as the 5th greatest heavyweight of all-time in 1974.
  • The Ring ranked Ali as the 9th greatest heavyweight of all-time in the March 1975 issue.
  • John Durant, author of The Heavyweight Champions, ranked Ali as the 4th greatest heavyweight of all-time in 1976.
  • Bill Brennan, former WBA president, ranked Ali as the greatest heavyweight of all-time in 1978.
  • A Big Book of Boxing readers poll ranked Ali as the 2nd greatest heavyweight of all-time in 1978.
  • Historian Gilbert Odd ranked Ali as the greatest heavyweight of all-time in 1985.
  • Historian Bert Sugar ranked Ali as the 3rd greatest heavyweight of all-time in 1991.
  • Nigel Collins, former editor-in-chief of The Ring, ranked Ali as the greatest heavyweight of all-time in 1997.
  • Herbert Goldman, former editor-in-chief of Boxing Illustrated, ranked Ali as the greatest heavyweight of all-time in 1997.
  • Steve Farhood, Showtime commentator and former editor-in-chief of The Ring, ranked Ali as the greatest heavyweight of all-time in 1997.
  • The Ring ranked Ali as the greatest heavyweight of all-time in the 1998 Holiday issue.
  • A five-member panel for the Associated Press ranked Ali as the best heavyweight and second best pound-for-pound fighter of the 20th century in 1999.
  • ESPN ranked Ali as the second greatest boxer of all-time in 2007.

Quotes

  • "It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am."
  • "If you even dream of beating me you’d better wake up and apologize."
  • "I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark."
  • "Frazier is so ugly that he should donate his face to the Bureau of Wild Life."
  • "Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beat each other up."
  • "He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."
  • "The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life."

Reference Sources



Preceded by:
Sonny Liston 		WBA Heavyweight Champion
1964 Feb 25 – 1964 Sep 14
Stripped 		Succeeded by:
Ernie Terrell
Preceded by:
Sonny Liston 		WBC Heavyweight Champion
1964 Feb 25 – 1970 Feb 3
Retired 		Succeeded by:
Joe Frazier
Preceded by:
Sonny Liston 		NYSAC World Heavyweight Champion
1964 Feb 25 – 1967 May 9
Stripped 		Succeeded by:
Joe Frazier
Preceded by:
Ernie Terrell 		WBA Heavyweight Champion
1967 Feb 6 – 1967 May 9
Stripped 		Succeeded by:
Jimmy Ellis
Preceded by:
George Foreman 		WBA Heavyweight Champion
WBC Heavyweight Champion
1974 Oct 30 – 1978 Feb 15 		Succeeded by:
Leon Spinks
Preceded by:
Leon Spinks 		WBA Heavyweight Champion
1978 Sep 15 – 1979 Sep 6
Retired 		Succeeded by:
John Tate


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