BOXING BETTING

SPORT EVENTS

SPORT BETTING

Famous Boxers Bios

Muhammad Ali

On October 29, 1960 Cassius Clay won his first professional fight. He won a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. From 1960 to 1963, the young fighter amassed a record of 19-0, with 15 knockouts. He defeated boxers as Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Duke Sabedong, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, Lamar Clark, Doug Jones and Henry Cooper.

Among Clay's more impressive victories were against Sonny Banks, Alejandro Lavorante, and Archie Moore. Cassius became the number one contender for Sonny Liston's title. Liston was greatly feared, and some have said that he was the Mike Tyson of his era. Almost no one gave the young boxer a chance of beating Liston. The date was fixed for February 25, 1964; during the weigh-in the boisterous Ali declared that he would "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee."

Clay, however, had a plan. Liston was over-confident and unprepared for any result but a quick stoppage. In the opening rounds, Clay's speed kept him away from Liston's powerful head and body shots, as he used his height and reach advantage to effectively beat Liston to the punch with his jab. The end came after the sixth round, when Liston retired on his stool, claiming his shoulder was dislocated. Clay leapt out of his corner, proclaiming himself "King of the World".

Clay was duly crowned the heavyweight champion of the world. He would reconfirm his abilities when he knocked out Liston in the first round of their rematch in Lewiston, Maine in 1965. Because boxing insiders knew that Liston's career had been in part sponsored by organized crime interests, there were whispers that Liston had taken a dive.

Later that year Ali defeated former champion Floyd Patterson. Patterson had been a childhood hero of Ali's, and as such Ali was terribly hurt by the fact that Patterson refused to acknowledge the new name he had taken due to his conversion to Islam, and Patterson's insistence that Ali was a bad role model for children.

In between the two matches, he also became famous for other reasons: he revealed that he was a member of the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Cassius X. He was soon given the name Muhammad Ali by the leader of the Nation, Elijah Muhammad. In a period of a year, he defended his title seven times. No other champion has had that many defenses in only a year. In March, 1966, Ali won a unanimous decision over tough Canadian champion George Chuvalo. Ali then traveled to England to face "British Bulldog" Brian London, and Henry Cooper. Ali won both fights by knockout. He traveled to Germany next, to face southpaw Karl Mildenberger.

In February of 1967, Ali faced Ernie Terrell at Madison Square Garden. Terrell had refused to acknowledge Ali's name, instead referring to him as "Cassius", "Clay" or "Boy". The champ vowed to punish Terrell for this perceived insolence. Even though the fight went to a decision, Ali delivered a horrible beating and won every round.

In 2000, Ali's best friend, photographer Howard Bingham, collaborated with journalist Max Wallace on a behind-the-scenes chronicle of Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight: Cassius Clay vs. the United States of America, published by M. Evans & Company. Ali himself wrote the foreword for the book, which contains many never before heard anecdotes about his life.