Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., January 17, 1942) is an American former professional boxer, generally considered among the greatest heavyweights in the sport's history. A controversial and even polarizing figure during his early career, Ali is today widely regarded not only for the skills he displayed in the ring but for the values he exemplified outside of it: religious freedom, racial justice and the triumph of principle over expedience. He is one of the most recognized sports figures of the past 100 years, crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC.
Born Cassius Clay, at the age of 22 he won the world heavyweight championship in 1964 from Sonny Liston in a stunning upset. Shortly after that bout, Ali joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name. He subsequently converted to Sunni Islam in 1975, and later to Sufism.
In 1967, three years after winning the heavyweight title, Ali refused to be conscripted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. He was eventually arrested and found guilty on draft evasion charges and stripped of his boxing title. He did not fight again for nearly four years—losing a time of peak performance in an athlete's career. Ali's appeal worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where in 1971 his conviction was overturned.
Ali would go on to become the first and only three-time lineal World Heavyweight Champion.
Nicknamed "The Greatest", Ali was involved in several historic boxing matches. Notable among these were the first Liston fight, three with rival Joe Frazier, considered among the greatest in boxing history, and one with George Foreman, where he regained titles he had been stripped of seven years earlier.
Ali revolutionized the sport by the sheer power and magnetism of his personality. At a time when most fighters let their managers do the talking, Ali was articulate, witty and loquacious. He easily controlled press conferences and interviews, spoke freely and intelligently about issues unrelated to boxing and wrote rhymes that humorously denigrated his opponents and predicted the round in which "they must fall."

Boxing career

Early career

Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. From then until 1963, Clay amassed a record of 19–0 with 15 wins by knockout. He defeated boxers including Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, Lamar Clark, Doug Jones and Henry Cooper.
Clay was knocked down during this early run both by Sonny Banks and Henry Cooper. In the Cooper fight Clay was saved by the bell in the fourth round. The ten-round decision over Doug Jones in March, 1963 was loudly booed by those in attendance, and was later named "Fight of the Year." Clay also beat his former trainer and veteran boxer Archie Moore in a 1962 match. After Clay left Moore's camp in 1960 partially due to Clay refusing to do chores such as dishwashing and sweeping, he hired Angelo Dundee, whom he had met in February 1957 during Ali's amateur career, to be his trainer. Around this time, Clay sought longtime idol Sugar Ray Robinson to be his manager, but was rebuffed.

Heavyweight Champion

By late 1963 Clay had became the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. The fight was set for February 25, 1964 in Miami. Liston was an intimidating personality, a dominating fighter with a criminal past and ties to the mob. Based on Clay's uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous two fights, and Liston's seeming invincibility, Clay was a 7–1 underdog. Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the buildup by dubbing him "the big ugly bear." "Liston even smells like a bear," Clay said. "After I beat him I'm going to donate him to the zoo." He 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." Clay turned the pre-fight weigh-in into a circus, shouting at Liston that "someone is going to die at ringside tonight." Nothing like this had ever occurred in the history of boxing. Clay's pulse rate was around 120, more than double his norm of 54. Liston, among others, thought this stemmed from extreme fear and some commentators wondered if he would even show up for the bout.
The outcome of the fight was one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. Clay's superior speed and reflexes were evident from the start, and he took contol of the fight in the third round, when he buckled Liston's knees with a combination. The only exception was round five, when Clay had trouble seeing. It has been speculated that the problem was due to ointment on Liston's gloves, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner. Though not confirmed, Bert Sugar claimed that at least two of Liston's opponents also complained about their eyes 'burning'".
Despite Liston's attempts to knock Clay out in the fifth, Clay was able to escape Liston's attack until sweat and tears rinsed the substance from his eyes. Clay to respond with a flurry of combinations near the end of the round. In the sixth Clay dominated. When Liston refused to answer the bell for the seventh round, Clay was declared the winner by TKO. Liston would later state that he had injured his shoulder. Following the win, a triumphant Clay rushed to the edge of the ring and, pointing to the ringside press, shouted "eat your words!" During the now-infamous in-ring interview following the match, Clay shouted "I shook up the world! I talk to God every day. I must be 'The Greatest'!"
When Clay won, he became the youngest boxer (22 years old) to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion, though Floyd Patterson was the youngest to win the heavyweight championship at 21, during an elimination bout following Rocky Marciano's retirement. In 1986, 20 year-old Mike Tyson later broke both records when he defeated Trevor Berbick to win the heavyweight title.
Clay, now having changed his name to Muhammad Ali following his conversion to Islam and affiliation with the Nation of Islam, met Liston for a rematch in Lewiston, Maine in May of the following year. The fight proved to be as controversial as the first was shocking. Midway through the first round, Liston was knocked down by a punch later dubbed by the press as the "phantom punch". For approximately 10 seconds after Liston was down, Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner, and referee Jersey Joe Walcott did not begin the count until Ali did so. Liston rose unsteadily after he had been down about 20 seconds, and the fight momentarily continued. But suddenly Walcott reversed himself and stopped the match, declaring Ali the winner by knockout. The entire fight lasted less than two minutes.
Rumors speculated almost immediately after the fight that Liston dropped to the ground purposely due to threats from NOI extremists, or that he had bet against himself and "took a dive" to pay off debts. Neither of these allegations have ever been proven.
Ali's second title defense was against Floyd Patterson, former heavyweight champion who had lost twice to Liston in first round knockouts. Ali dubbed Patterson a "white man's champion" and taunted him with the name "Rabbit." At times during the fight, Ali appeared to toy with Patterson, refusing, for example, to throw a single punch in the first round and easily avoiding Patterson's lunging "kangaroo punch." Ali won a 12 round TKO. Patterson later said that he strained his sacroiliac, a statement supported by video of the fight, which made it difficult for him to escape Ali's punches.
Ali and then-WBA heavyweight champion boxer Ernie Terrell had agreed to meet for a bout in Chicago on March 29, 1966 but the Illinois Athletic Commission refused to host the fight due to Ali's Vietnam War statements.
Following the Patterson bouts, Ali traveled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts against George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, Brian London and Karl Mildenberger.
Ali returned to the United States to fight Cleveland Williams in the Houston Astrodome. According to Sports Illustrated, the bout drew a then-indoor world record of 35,460. The fight was considered the toughest since the first Liston bout, but Ali ended up beating Williams in a third round TKO in what some consider the finest boxing exhibition of his career. Williams himself was recovering from being shot at point-blank range by a Texas policeman a year and a half before, resulting in the loss of one kidney and 10 feet (3.0 m) of his small intestine.
Ali and Terrell finally met in Houston on February 6, 1967. Terrell would defy Ali's order to call him by his Muslim name; the two almost came to blows over the point in a pre-fight interview with Howard Cosell. Ali seemed intent on humiliating Terrell. "I want to torture him," Ali said. "A clean knockout is too good for him.". The fight was close until the seventh round when Ali bloodied Terrell and almost knocked him out. In the eighth round, Ali taunted Terrell, hitting him and shouting between punches, "What's my name, Uncle Tom... what's my name?" Ali was unable to knock out Terrell, winning a unanimous 15 round decision. Because of Ali's behavior and apparent intent to prolong to fight to inflict maximum punishment, critics described the bout as "one of the ugliest boxing fights". Tex Maule later wrote: "It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty." Ali denied he intended to harm Terrell on purpose nor did he feel he was cruel to Terrell during the bout. But the fight provided more fuel for Ali critics.
After his title defense against Zora Folley a month later, Ali's title was stripped following his refusal to be drafted to Army service. His boxing license was suspended and later he was sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for draft evasion.

Exile and Comeback

Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces, stating publicly that, "no Vietcong ever called me nigger." As a result, he was denied a boxing license and did not fight from March, 1967 to October, 1970—from ages 25 to almost 29. In 1971, the US Supreme Court overturned his conviction in a unanimous 8-0 ruling (Thurgood Marshall abstained from the case).
During this time of exile, as public sentiment regarding the Vietnam War began to turn and Ali's stance gained sympathy, Ali began speaking at colleges across the nation, where he was a popular draw.
On August 12, 1970, with his case still in appeal, Ali was granted a license to box by the City of Atlanta Athletic Commission in Atlanta thanks to State Senator Leroy R. Johnson. Ali's first return bout was against Jerry Quarry on October 26, resulting in a win after three rounds after Quarry was cut. Following this, the New York State Boxing Commission reinstated Ali's license and Ali fought Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden in December 1970, a uninspired performance that ended in a dramatic TKO of Bonavena in the 15th round. The win left Ali as a top contender against heavyweight champion Joe Frazier.
Ali and Frazier's first fight, held at the Garden on March 8, 1971, was nicknamed the "Fight of the Century", due to the tremendous excitement surrounding a bout between two undefeated fighters, each with a legitimate claim as heavyweight champions. Veteran boxing writer John Condon called it "the greatest event I've ever worked on in my life." The bout was broadcast to 35 foreign countries; promoters granted 760 press passes.
Adding to the atmosphere were the considerable pre-fight theatrics. Ali portrayed Frazier as a "dumb tool of the white establishment." "Frazier is too ugly to be champ," Ali said. "Frazier is too dumb to be champ." Ali also frequently called Frazier an Uncle Tom. Dave Wolf, who worked in Frazier's camp, recalled that, "Ali was saying, 'the only people rooting for Joe Frazier are white people in suits, Alabama sheriffs and members of the Ku Klux Klan. I'm fighting for the little man in the ghetto.' Joe was sitting there smashing his fist into the palm of his hand, saying, 'What the fuck does he know about the ghetto?'"
The fight lived up to its billing. In a preview of their two other epic fights, Frazier constantly pressured Ali, absorbing tremendous punishment from Ali jabs and combinations, but relentlessly attacking and scoring repeatedly, especially to Ali's body. The fight was even in the early rounds, but Ali was taking more punishment than ever in his career. On several occasions in the early rounds he played to the crowd and shook his head "no" after he was hit. In the later rounds -- in what was the first appearance of the "rope-a-dope strategy" -- Ali leaned against the rope and absorbed punishment from Frazier, hoping to tire him. In the 11th round, Frazier connected with a left hook that wobbled Ali, but because it appeared that Ali might be clowning as he staggered backwards across the ring, Frazier hesitated to press his advantage, fearing an Ail counter-attack. In the final round, Frazier knocked Ali down with a vicious left hook, which referee Arthur Mercante said was as hard as a man can be hit. Ali was back on his feet in three seconds, and Mercante said, "that round showed me that Ali was the most valiant fighter I've ever seen." Nevertheless, Ali lost by unanimous decision, his first professional defeat.
Ali's characterizations of Frazier during the lead-up to the fight cemented a personal animosity toward Ali by Frazier that lasted until Frazier's death. Frazier and his camp always considered Ali's words cruel and unfair, far beyond what was necessary to sell tickets. Shortly after the bout, in the studios of ABC's Wide World of Sports during a nationally televised interview with the two boxers, Frazier rose from his chair and wrestled Ali to the floor after Ali called him ignorant.
After the loss, Ali fought Quarry, a second bout with Floyd Patterson and Bob Foster in 1972, winning a total of six fights that year. In 1973, Ali suffered the second loss of his career at the hands of Ken Norton, who broke Ali's jaw during the fight. After initially seeking retirement, Ali won a controversial decision against Norton in their second bout, leading to a rematch on January 12, 1974 with Frazier—who had recently lost his title to George Foreman. Ali won this bout by a unanimous decision.

Heavyweight Champion (second tenure)

The defeat of Frazier set the stage for a title fight against heavyweight champion George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire, on October 30, 1974—a bout nicknamed "The Rumble in the Jungle". Foreman was considered one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history. In assessing the fight, analysts pointed out that Joe Frazier and Ken Norton—who had given Ali four tough battles and won two of them—had been both devastated by Foreman in second round knockouts. Ali was 32 years old, and had clearly lost speed and reflexes since his twenties. Contrary to his later persona, Foreman was at the time a brooding and intimidating presence. Almost no one associated with the sport, not even Ali's long-time supporter Howard Cosell, gave the former champion a chance of winning.
As usual, Ali was confident and colorful before the fight. He told interviewer David Frost, "if you think the world was surprised when Nixon resigned, wait 'til I whup Forman's behind!" He told the press, "I've done something new for this fight. I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick." Ali was wildly popular in Zaire, with crowds chanting "Ali, bomaye" ("Ali, kill him") wherever he went.
Ali opened the fight moving and scoring with right crosses to Foreman's head. Then, beginning in the second round—and to the consternation of his corner—Ali retreated to the ropes and invited Foreman to hit him while covering up, clinching and counter-punching -- all while verbally taunting Foreman ("is that all you got, George? They told me you could hit."). The move, which would later become known as the "Rope-A-Dope," so violated conventional boxing wisdom—letting one of the hardest hitters in boxing strike at will—that at ringside writer George Plimpton thought the fight had to be fixed. Foreman, increasingly angered, threw punches that were deflected and didn't land squarely. Midway through the fight, as Foreman began tiring, Ali countered more frequently and effectively with punches and flurries, which electrified the pro-Ali crowd. In the eighth, Ali dropped an exhausted Foreman with a combination at center ring; Foreman failed to make the count. Against the odds, and amidst pandemonium in the ring, Ali had regained the title by knockout.
In reflecting on the fight, George Foreman later said, "I'll admit it. Muhammad outthought me and outfought me.".
Ali's next opponents included Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, and Joe Bugner. Wepner, a journeyman known as "The Bayonne Bleeder," stunned Ali with a knockdown in the ninth round; Ali would later say he tripped on Wepner's foot.
Ali then agreed to a third match with Joe Frazier in Manila. The bout, titled "The Thrilla in Manila", was held on October 1, 1975. It lasted fourteen grueling rounds in temperatures approaching 100 °F (38 °C) and followed the general pattern of the previous two bouts—round-to-round changes in momentum, Frazier relentlessly attacking and Ali battering his face with jabs and combinations. The fight was stopped when Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow Frazier to answer the bell for the 15th and final round (Frazier's eyes were swollen shut). An ailing Ali said afterwards that the fight "was the closest thing to dying that I know" and, when later asked if he had viewed the fight on videotape, reportedly said, "why would I want to go back and see Hell?" After the fight he cited Frazier as "the greatest fighter of all times next to me."