Biography

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Muhammad Ali-Haj born January 17, 1942 (as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.) in Louisville, Kentucky, nicknamed "The Greatest", is a retired American boxer. He is considered by many to be the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time, as well as one of the world's most famous individuals, renowned the world over for his boxing and political activism. In 1999, he was crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century.

Ali had a highly unorthodox style for a heavyweight boxer. He carried his hands at his sides, rather than the orthodox boxing style of carrying the hands high to defend the face. Instead, he relied on his extraordinary reflexes and footwork to keep him away from his opponents' blows.

The Comeback: In 1970, Ali was finally able to get a boxing license. With the help of a State Senator, he was granted a license to box in Georgia. In October of 1970, he returned to stop Jerry Quarry on a cut after three rounds. Shortly after the Quarry fight, the New York State Supreme Court ruled that Ali was unjustly denied a boxing license. Once again able to fight in New York, he fought Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden in December of 1970. Ali stopped Bonavena in the 15th round, paving the way for a title fight against Joe Frazier.

The Fight of the Century: Ali and Frazier fought each other on March 8, 1971 at Madison Square Garden. This fight, known as The Fight of the Century, is one of the most famous and eagerly anticipated bouts of all time, since it featured two skilled, undefeated fighters, both of whom had reasonable claims to the heavyweight crown. The fight lived up to the hype, and Frazier punctuated his victory by flooring Ali with a hard left hook in the final round.

In 1973, Ali split two bouts with Ken Norton (in the bout that Ali lost to Norton, Ali suffered a broken jaw, but refused to quit), before beating Frazier on points in their 1974 rematch, to earn another title shot.

Ali's religious views also changed with time. He began to study the Qur'an, and converted to Sunni Islam, rejecting the teachings of the Nation of Islam.

The Rumble in the Jungle and Thrilla in Manila: The incumbent, George Foreman, was a large, hard-hitting, undefeated young fighter who had previously demolished Frazier, KO'ing him in the second round of their championship fight. The fight was held in Zaire, and promoted by Don King as "The Rumble in the Jungle." In the October 30, 1974 bout, that would cement his reputation as "The Greatest", Ali boxed his best tactical fight. Leading with his "wrong" hand (the right hand lead, which Foreman would not have expected due to it being a normally slow and obvious move - but Ali had such fast hands that he could get away with it, and made Foreman furious as he did so) and playing "rope-a-dope" by leaning far back on the ropes, Ali absorbed everything Foreman could throw at him, whilst only occasionally throwing counter-punches and taunting Foreman to throw more and harder punches. 

By the end of the fifth round, all that activity and the weather conditions, (it was an extremely hot and humid night), had Foreman tired and reeling, and Ali was able to attack a little more, sometimes throwing light punches, sometimes landing hard, crisp combinations. Foreman kept advancing, but his blows were much less effective, and near the end of the eighth, Ali's right hand finally sent the exhausted Foreman to the floor. As a result of this fight, Ali was awarded the 1974 Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year, and Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award.

In 1975, Ali defeated Joe Frazier once more in the "Thrilla In Manila", in the Philippines. This fight surpassed their earlier bouts, and is one of the best-known heavyweight fights ever. After 14 grueling rounds, Frazier's trainer Eddie Futch refused to allow Frazier to continue, and Ali left, the winner by TKO. Ali was quoted after the fight as saying "This must be what death feels like". Ring Magazine called this bout 1975's Fight of the Year, the fifth year an Ali fight had earned that distinction. Many felt Ali should have retired after this fight; however, he continued to box. 

1976 saw him knock out two largely unknown opponents, Belgian stonecutter Jean-Pierre Coopman and English boxer Richard Dunn. On April 30, 1976 Ali faced Jimmy Young in Landover, Maryland. Ali was heavy and out of shape and won a lackluster decision. In September, Ali faced Ken Norton in their third fight, held at Yankee Stadium. The champion won a unanimous decision, although it was highly disputed by some observers.

Ali would retain his title until a February 1978 split decision loss to 1976 Olympic champion Leon Spinks, who was fighting in only his eighth professional fight. Stunned by the upset, Ali re-dedicated himself to his craft. He soundly defeated Spinks by unanimous decision in a September rematch in New Orleans at the Superdome, becoming the first man to win the world heavyweight championship three times. Then on June 27, 1979, he announced his retirement and vacated the title.

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