Ali muhammad boxing biography

Despite facing obstacles and ridicule, Ali persevered and became an accomplished amateur boxer. At the age of 17, he won the Golden Gloves tournament and went on to become an Olympic champion in His success in the ring caught the attention of local businessmen in Louisville, who saw his potential as a professional boxer. Ali's path to the heavyweight championship was not without challenges.

Many doubted his abilities and considered him a mere loudmouth. However, Ali shocked the world when he defeated Sonny Liston in to claim the title. His victory marked the beginning of a legendary career. Ali defended his title against numerous formidable opponents, including Floyd Patterson, George Chuvalo, and Brian London. Martin and told him about his stolen bicycle.

Ali went back to Martin and took him up on his offer. He began training under Fred Stoner, whom he credits with giving him the real training, molding his style, stamina, and system. Ali won by split decision and then eventually went on to win six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two National Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union national title, and the light heavyweight gold medal in the Summer Olympics in Rome, aged Ali would later claim in his interviews and in his autobiography, that after returning from the Rome Olympics, he threw his gold medal in the Ohio River after he and his friend were refused to be served at a whites-only restaurant.

Some say that he was refused service at the restaurant but lost his gold medal a year after he had won it. Ali won with a six-round decision. From then on, Ali did not look back or slow down. Until the end of , he had amassed a record of 19 wins, 15 of which were by knockout, and zero losses. For each of these fights, Ali resorted to his tactics of mental warfare by belittling, taunting, and insulting his opponents, while vaunting his own skills and abilities.

When Ali met George in Las Vegas in , George told him that trash-talking would earn paying fans who would either want to see him lose or win. Ali understood the benefit of this tactic, as a greater crowd meant a bigger paycheck for him. And so, Ali decided to transform himself into a self-described bigmouth and a bragger. The same year, Ali hired Angelo Dundee to be his trainer, with whom he would remain for the rest of his career.

Dundee traveled the world with Ali, being his cornerman in all but two of his fights, against Tunney Hunsaker in and Jimmy Ellis in Liston was a strong and intimidating personality with a criminal past. He was also said to have ties with the mob. Ali also said that once he would defeat Liston, he would donate Liston to the zoo. During the fight, Liston seemed visibly angry and came out of his corner for a quick knockout.

Ali then began attacking Liston with his quick, accurate jabs, and in the third round hit Liston with a combination that buckled his knees and caused a cut under his left eye. It was the first time Liston had ever been cut or wounded during a fight. Ali fought the entire fifth round with his eyes burning terribly, making it impossible for him to attack.

Ali was only 22 years old, making him the youngest boxer to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion. Muhammad Ali first heard of the Nation of Islam when he was fighting in the Golden Gloves tournament in Chicago in The Nation of Islam, a religious and political organization, was founded in the US by Wallace Fard Muhammad in , in order to promote a form of Islam whose beliefs differed considerably from the mainstream Islamic traditions.

From then on, he continued to attend their meetings regularly but kept his involvement hidden from the public. Malcolm was an advocate of Black empowerment and promoted Islam within the black community, making him a popular figure during the Civil Rights Movement. Initially, Ali was refused entry into the Nation of Islam due to his boxing career.

But after Ali won the Championship from Liston in , the organization not only agreed to let him in but also publicized his membership. The fact that Muhammad Ali had joined the Nation of Islam often referred to at the time as Black Muslims and changed his name to a Muslim one, could not be digested or tolerated by most Americans. White Americans in general, and even several African-Americans, were against the Nation of Islam, viewing the organization and its members as black separatists who spread hate, terror, and violence.

He also publicly condemned integration, stating that it was wrong and that they did not want to live with the white man. His popularity declined and many who had supported him initially were now against him. But that did not stop Ali from expressing his views boldly and proudly. He was no longer afraid to stand up to the white establishment.

Barely two weeks after Ali joined the Nation of Islam, his friendship with Malcolm X came to an end after Malcolm left the organization due to disagreements with Elijah Muhammad. Once Liston went down, the referee did not begin the count immediately as Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner. Liston got up after twenty seconds and the fight resumed for a few moments before the referee was informed by the timekeepers that Liston had been down for a count of ten.

The nature of the fight led to several speculations and controversies. Many speculated that Liston purposely fell to the ground due to various reasons, such as he had bet against himself, that he had received threats on his life from the Nation of Islam, or that he intentionally fell to pay off debts. However, slow-motion replays show that Liston was hit by a swift right from Ali, which led him to go down.

Before the fight, both men verbally provoked and taunted each other in order to build the fight. Patterson insisted on calling Ali by his former name, which irritated and angered Ali. Stratton later claimed that the animosity between the two fighters was staged in order to increase ticket sales and the closed-circuit viewing audience. Ali dominated a visibly injured and struggling Patterson for twelve rounds, eventually winning by TKO.

Ali was criticized in the media for toying with an injured Patterson during the fight. But in an interview with Howard Cosell, Ali explained that he was refraining from knocking out Patterson because he was injured. The WBA was one of two boxing associations that had stripped Ali of his title after he had joined the Nation of Islam.

Ali publicly stated that he would refuse to serve in the Army as he had nothing against the Viet Cong as they had never called him a nigger or ill-treated him. The fight attracted a record-breaking indoor crowd of 35, people. Ali dominated the fight and won a third-round TKO. His performance was considered the finest one of his career. He had defeated many of the boxers Ali had faced and was unbeaten in five years.

He also had a three-inch reach advantage over Ali. Following one final loss in , to Trevor Berbick, the boxing great retired from the sport at age Ali was married four times and had nine children, including two children—daughters Miya and Khaliah—he fathered outside of marriage. Ali married his first wife, Sonji Roi, in They divorced a little more than one year later when she refused to adopt the Nation of Islam dress and customs.

Ali married his second wife, year-old Belinda Boyd, in The pair had two daughters together, Hana and Laila Ali. Ali married his fourth and final wife Yolanda, who went by Lonnie, in The pair had known each other since Lonnie was just 6 and Ali was 21; their mothers were best friends and raised their families on the same street.

He won his first eight professional fights, according to database BoxRec. He played collegiately at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas before becoming an amateur mixed martial artist. And he was on hand to celebrate the inauguration of the first Black president in January , when Barack Obama was sworn into office.

In his retirement, Ali devoted much of his time to philanthropy. In , he lit the Olympic cauldron at the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, an emotional moment in sports history. Ali traveled to numerous countries, including Mexico and Morocco, to help out those in need. In , he was chosen to be a United Nations Messenger of Peace because of his work in developing nations.

Ali opened the Muhammad Ali Center , a multicultural center with a museum dedicated to his life and legacy, in his hometown of Louisville in I wanted more than a building to house my memorabilia. I wanted a place that would inspire people to be the best that they could be at whatever they chose to do, and to encourage them to be respectful of one another.

Ali lived the final decade of his live in the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley, Arizona. A few years before his death, Ali underwent surgery for spinal stenosis, a condition causing the narrowing of the spine, which limited his mobility and ability to communicate. In early , he battled pneumonia and was hospitalized for a severe urinary tract infection.

Ali died on June 3, , in Scottsdale, Arizona, after being hospitalized for what was reportedly a respiratory issue. He was 74 years old. Not only did he use it to rest, but he was big and strong and knew how to lean on opponents and push and shove and pull to tire them out. Ali was so smart. Most guys are just in there fighting, but Ali had a sense of everything that was happening, almost as though he was sitting at ringside analyzing the fight while he fought it.

In the mids, Ali took an interest in Asian martial arts , such as karate and taekwondo. A punching technique that Rhee taught him was the "accupunch", a technique that Rhee himself had originally learnt from Bruce Lee. The "accupunch" is a rapid fast punch that is very difficult to block, based on human reaction time—"the idea is to finish the execution of the punch before the opponent can complete the brain-to-wrist communication.

Ali later used the "accupunch" to knockout Richard Dunn in In an interview published in , Joe Frazier recalled that he had first met Ali around At this time Ali was continuing his legal fight to get his boxing license back, and Frazier was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Frazier stated that he had campaigned vigorously for Ali to get his license; this included going to Washington and meeting the president to lobby on Ali's behalf.

Frazier also lent Ali some money at this time. According to Dave Wolf, former sports editor of Life and a member of Frazier's entourage, Frazier was keen for Ali's return to boxing, because he believed that beating Ali would win him unambiguous acknowledgement as the "best. Wolf states that Frazier had deep respect for Ali's religious beliefs, and even participated in Muslim services at Ali's suggestion.

Until Ali got "nasty" before their first fight , Frazier endorsed Ali's refusal to be drafted; Wolf recalls: "I remember [Frazier] telling me, 'If Baptists weren't allowed to fight, I wouldn't fight either'. Ali and Frazier knew they would become wealthy if Ali returned to the ring. I just want it to go down in history that I didn't sell out or Uncle Tom when I got famous, and I don't think Joe Frazier's going to do that either.

He ain't dumb. Ali and Frazier fought three fights in the span of five years; the first and third of these are widely regarded to be among the greatest of all boxing bouts, and the Ali-Frazier rivalry has been hailed as one of the greatest any sport has seen. Of all the names joined forever in the annals of boxing—from Dempsey - Tunney to Louis - Schmeling , from Zale - Graziano to Leonard - Hearns —none are more fiercely bound by a hyphen than Ali-Frazier.

Not Palmer - Nicklaus in golf nor Borg - McEnroe in tennis, as ardently competitive as these rivalries were, conjure up anything remotely close to the epic theater of Ali-Frazier. According to Ali, Frazier's style of boxing made him a tougher opponent for him than Liston or Foreman because he was vulnerable to Frazier's in-close left hook. Had he fought with Frazier before his three-and-half year break from boxing, when he was younger, "I'd have danced for fifteen rounds, and Joe wouldn't have ever caught me.

After Thrilla in Manila , Frazier called Ali "a great champion", [ 88 ] and, referring to Ali, graciously stated that "[m]y man fought a good fight"; [ 89 ] while Ali declared Frazier to be "the greatest fighter of all time next to me. In the buildup to their bouts, Ali called Frazier "dumb" and an "Uncle Tom" before their first, "ignorant" before the second, and a "gorilla" before the third.

On January 23, , five days before their second fight , Ali and Frazier had a public altercation captured on television. ABC Sports' Howard Cosell had arranged for the two to come to the studio to comment on their first fight. Things went smoothly until Frazier commented about Ali having to visit a hospital after the fight. Ali immediately responded by claiming he had gone to a hospital for ten minutes whereas Frazier had been hospitalized for three weeks after the fight, [ b ] and concluded by calling Frazier "ignorant.

According to veteran boxing commentator Ronnie Nathanielsz, during the buildup to Thrilla in Manilla, Ali once awakened Frazier in the middle of the night by constantly screaming. When Frazier appeared on the balcony of his hotel room, Ali pointed a toy gun at him and shouted: "I am going to shoot you. Immediately after Thrilla in Manilla, Ali summoned Frazier's son Marvis to his dressing room and apologized for the things he had said about Frazier.

However, when Lewis conveyed this request to Frazier, he was told not to share the phone number with Ali. At a local gym, Frazier came across Ali before a crowd of spectators, and said: "Look at Ali. Look what's happened to him. All your talkin', man. I'm faster than you are now. You're damaged goods. Frazier immediately took off his coat, moved to the bag and threw a dozen rapid punches at it accompanied by loud grunts.

Without removing his coat, Ali strolled towards the bag, held the ready stance, mimicked one of Frazier's grunts without throwing a punch, and then addressed Frazier with the words "Wanna see it again, Joe? Later that day, Frazier started walking towards Ali after having had too much to drink. Ali biographer Thomas Hauser , who was present, recalled that for the next 10 minutes Larry Holmes positioned himself between Ali and Frazier, preventing Frazier from reaching Ali.

George Foreman then took over and acted as Ali's shield for the next 10 minutes. Throughout this incident, Ali remained oblivious to what was going on. Truth is, I'd like to rumble with that sucker [Ali] again—beat him up piece by piece and mail him back to Jesus. Now people ask me if I feel bad for him, now that things aren't going so well for him.

I don't. Fact is, I don't give a damn. They want me to love him, but I'll open up the graveyard and bury his ass when the Lord chooses to take him. Commenting on Ali lighting the Olympic flame in , Frazier stated that it would have been good if Ali had fallen into the cauldron after lighting the flame, and that he would have pushed Ali in himself if he had the chance to do so.

In a interview, Frazier expressed no regret for the words he had used for Ali at the Atlanta Olympics. According to Frazier:. We weren't animals. We were human beings. He called me a gorilla. An Uncle Tom. Uncle Tom? I grew up so poor and so black in South Carolina, even the water we drank was colored. The only guy I 'tommed' for was him, giving in to him.

God gave him so many gifts. He didn't have to do what he did. In a interview with The New York Times , Ali again apologized to Frazier for calling him names which, Ali claimed, was done to promote their fights. Frazier initially accepted the apology saying it was time to put this issue behind them. Reacting to this, Ali stated: "If you see Frazier, you tell him he's still a gorilla.

In his interview in Stephen Brunt 's book Facing Ali , Frazier, referring to how he had contributed to Ali's infirmity, claimed he was sure Ali thinks of him whenever he gets out of bed, and that whatever Ali was undergoing was the will of God. In a interview, Frazier stated he had forgiven Ali, but was unable to comment on whether Ali's present condition was due to divine punishment, as he had earlier stated, since "God works in a mysterious way.

In , on the eve of the 40th anniversary of his first fight with Ali, and the year of his death, Frazier reiterated that he had forgiven Ali. Jesse Jackson asked the mourners to stand and bring their hands together one last time for Frazier. The following list does not include matches in which the opponent's name, location or exact date is unknown such as the one that took place in Genoa , Italy against Alonzo Johnson and Giorgio Bambini around , his knockout victory over Alonzo Johnson in Doha , Qatar in before The Fight of the Century , his two ten-round exhibitions against Roy "Tiger" Williams at Deer Lake in early , his six-round exhibition on April 26, in Orlando , Florida , and the one that took place in Casablanca , Morocco around Exhibition contests do not count on a professional or amateur boxer's official record.

Muhammad Ali's fights were some of the world's most-watched television broadcasts , setting television viewership records. Some of his most-watched fights drew an estimated 1—2 billion viewers worldwide between and , and were the world's most-watched live television broadcasts at the time. The earliest form of pay-per-view boxing telecasts was closed-circuit television , also known as theatre television , where fights were telecast live to a select number of venues, mostly theaters, where viewers paid for tickets to watch the fight live.

The use of closed-circuit for boxing telecasts peaked in popularity with Ali in the s and s. Professional boxing was introduced to pay-per-view home cable television with several Muhammad Ali fights, especially the Thrilla in Manila fight between Ali and Joe Frazier in , which was transmitted through HBO. Foreman wasn't an infighter or a hooker.

He was an uppercutter with a right hand and a jab , always looking you in the eye. Liston was scarier than Frazier, but I fought Liston when I was young.

Ali muhammad boxing biography

Joe stayed on me, always on my chest, and from out of nowhere he'd throw the hook. If I was young, I'd have danced for fifteen rounds, and Joe wouldn't have ever caught me. But the first time we fought, I was three-and-half years out of shape. Ali asked for me to come to his dressing room before any of the press arrived. I went in there and Ali was real tired and he hugged me and apologized for what he'd said about my father before the fight.

He said, 'Tell your father he's a great man'. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikidata item. Overview of Muhammad Ali's boxing career. Louisville, Kentucky , U. Scottsdale, Arizona , U. Medal record. World heavyweight champion. Main article: Muhammad Ali vs.

Sonny Liston. Floyd Patterson. Main article: The Super Fight. First fight against Joe Frazier. Main article: Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali. Chamberlain challenge and Ellis fight. Jimmy Ellis. Fights against Quarry, Patterson, Foster and Norton. Second fight against Joe Frazier. Joe Frazier II. World heavyweight champion second reign. The Rumble in the Jungle.

Main article: The Rumble in the Jungle. Fights against Wepner, Lyle and Bugner. Third fight against Joe Frazier. Main article: Thrilla in Manila. See also: Footwork martial arts. See also: Trash-talk. Further information: Rope-a-dope. Ali and his contemporaries. Trash-talk and altercations. The Ring magazine titles. Professional boxing record.

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