Muhammad Ali

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

Amateur Achievements

The 1960 Rome Olympics

• Six-time Kentucky State Golden Gloves Champion
• 1959 Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions Light Heavyweight Champion vs. Jeff Davis
• 1959 Intercity Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight Champion vs. Tony Madigan
• 1960 Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions Heavyweight Champion vs. Jimmy Jones
• 1960 Intercity Golden Gloves Heavyweight Champion vs. Gary Jawish
• 1959 National AAU Light Heavyweight Champion vs. Johnny Powell
• 1960 National AAU Light Heavyweight Champion vs. Jeff Davis
• 1960 Olympic Light Heavyweight Gold Medalist in Rome, Italy. Olympic results:
  • Yvon Becaus (Belgium) TKO 2
  • Gennadi Schatkov (USSR) W3
  • Tony Madigan (Australia) W3
  • Zbigniew Pietrzykowski (Poland) W3

Preceded by: Jim Boyd	Olympic Gold Medalist Light Heavyweight Champion 1960	Succeeded by: Cosimo Pinto
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

Amateur Record

There have been various amateur records accredited to Muhammad Ali. 100-5, 127-5, 134-7, 137-7, and 99-8 are among the claims.

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 and made 19 successful defenses

Acting Career

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

Awards and Recognition

• Named The Ring Fighter of the Year for 1963, 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1978
• Named Boxing Writers Association of America Fighter of the Year for 1965, 1974 and 1975
• Proclaimed "Fighter of the Decade" (1970s) by The Ring
• Won the Boxing Writers' Association of America James J. Walker Memorial Award for 1984
• Named the greatest heavyweight of all-time by The Ring in 1998
• Named the greatest heavyweight of the 20th century by the Associated Press
• Named "Athlete of the Century" by GQ magazine
• Named "Sportsman of the 20th Century" by Sports Illustrated
• Named "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC
• Inducted into the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame in 2010

Factoids

• Muhammad Ali is the brother of fellow boxer Rahman Ali, the father of female world champion Laila Ali, and the uncle of Ibn Ali.
• Ali's first fight with Joe Frazier indirectly led to four deaths. During the bout itself in New York, two spectators died of heart attacks. 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. In Milan, Italy, Erio Borghisiani was found dead in front of his television just hours after viewing the fight on paid television.

Legacy

A 1974 World Boxing reader poll ranked Ali as the 5th greatest heavyweight in history, historian Nat Loubet ranked him as the 9th greatest heavyweight of all-time in 1975, and John Durant, author of The Heavyweight Champions, ranked him as the 4th greatest heavyweight of all-time in 1976. BBC Sports, former WBA president Bill Brennan, The Ring editor-in-chief Nigel Collins, former Boxing Illustrated editor-in-chief Herbert G. Goldman, Showtime commentator Steve Farhood, and historian Arthur Harris all consider Ali to be the greatest heavyweight of all-time.

Reference Sources

• Official website
• Cassius Clay AKA Muhammad Ali's Amateur Boxing Record in Question? / Ken Hissner (2010)
• Ali, the fighting prophet / Gilbert Odd with a foreword by Henry Cooper (1975, ISBN 0720708451)
• Black is best: the riddle of Cassius Clay / Jack Olsen (1967)
• Cassius Clay: a biography / Jack Olsen (1967)
• Cassius Clay ante el racismo / Jose Laurino (1969)
• Le champion / Robert Gurik (c1977, ISBN 0776100653)
• Facing Ali : the opposition weighs in / Stephen Brunt (2002, ISBN 0676973507)
• The fight / Norman Mailer (1975 - 1st edition, ISBN 0316544167)
• The fight / Norman Mailer (1976, ISBN 0246109505)
• The greatest: my own story / Muhammad Ali with Richard Durham (c1975 - 1st edition, ISBN 0394462688)
• The greatest: my own story / Muhammad Ali with Richard Durham (1976, ISBN 0246109440)
• I'm the greatest: the wit and humour of Muhammad Ali / cartoons by Roy Ullyett and Jon (1975, ISBN 0856321427 and 0856321494 (pbk))
• King of the world: Muhammad Ali and the rise of an American hero / David Remnick (c1998, ISBN 0375500650)
• Men of destiny: the story of Muhammad Ali, formerly Cassius Clay / John Cottrell (1967)
• Muhammad Ali: his fights in the ring / Robert Walker (1979, ISBN 017005571X)
• Muhammad Ali retrospective / Henry James Korn (1976, ISBN 0909331146)
• Muhammad Ali's greatest fight: Cassius Clay vs. the United States of America / Howard Bingham and Max Wallace (c2000, ISBN 0871319004)
• Redemption song: Muhammad Ali and the spirit of the sixties / Mike Marqusee (1999, ISBN 185984717X)
• Sting like a bee: the Muhammad Ali story (1971, ISBN 0200718401)
• Sting like a bee: the Muhammad Ali story / Jose Torres and Bert Randolph Sugar (2002, ISBN 0074712004)
• Black superman / words and music by Johnny Wakelin (c1974) - "A tribute to the black superman Muhammad Ali"
• In Zaire / words and music by Johnny Wakelin (c1976)

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