Aaron's Sports History Highlights
Muhammad Ali was born in 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. He was colorful, talented, and sometimes controversial, Ali entertained fans and intimidated opponents. His boxing style involved graceful footwork and powerful jabs. He also became famous for bragging about himself. For example, he once described his skills by saying that he could "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." In 1978 Ali became the first boxer to win the world heavyweight championship title three different times.
Ali's original name was Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. He began boxing at the age of 12, after his bicycle was stolen and a police officer suggested that the young Clay should learn how to box. By age 18 Clay had amassed a record of 108 wins and 8 losses in amateur competition.
Clay fought his first professional bout on October 29, 1960, and defeated Tunney Hunsaker. As Clay continued to win over the next few years, he became more vocal about his successes, and he was given the nicknames "Louisville Lip" and "Mighty Mouth." Clay challenged heavyweight champion Sonny Liston, and his jab-and-dance technique tired the champion, who failed to come out of his corner at the start of the seventh round. Clay was crowned the new world heavyweight champion and proclaimed himself "The Greatest."
In 1964 Clay converted to Islam, and assumed the name Muhammad Ali. In 1965 he defended his title in a rematch against Liston. The bout lasted only 2 minutes 12 seconds. During the first round Ali caught Liston with a hard blow, so quick that it was dubbed the "phantom punch" because few fans saw it. Liston fell, but Ali did not go to the corner of the ring, as the rules required. The referee therefore did not finish counting Liston out, and finally Liston recovered and stood up. Ali won the fight.
He retired in 1979, but he came out of retirement in 1980 to challenge Larry Holmes, who had taken the title. He lost to Holmes and then lost to Trevor Berbick in 1981 before retiring for good.
