Muhammad Ali
Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.
Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in Louisville Kentucky on January 17, 1942. In his early years, Ali was trained by Fred stoner who guided him through 6 Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, 2 national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union National Title, and the Light Heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with five losses.
Ali won his first professional bout on October 29, 1960. In his first title on February 25, 1964, Ali beat Liston and became the youngest boxer (age 22) ever to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion, a mark that stood until the mid 1980s. Ali also won the rematch in May of 1965. In March 1967 after defending his title several times, Ali was stripped of his title for refusing to be drafted into the Army for religious reasons and had his professional boxing license suspended. Ali famously said in 1966: "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong ... They never called me nigger."
In the mean time, Ali appealed his case and fought Jerry Quarry in Georgia, the only state without a boxing commission. Nicknamed "The Greatest," Ali was involved in several historic boxing matches. After the 1970 decision of the NY Supreme Court ruling that Ali had been unjustly denied his boxing license, he fought Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden in December 1970. Ali stopped Bonavena in the 15th round. His next bout was "The Fight of the Century" against Joe Frazier on March 8, 1971. The fight would result in Ali's first professional loss. After fighting Ken Norton twice losing the first time and winning the rematch, Ali went on to win the non-title rematch against Joe Frazier on January 28, 1974.
He was also known for his pre-match hype, where he would "trash talk" opponents on television and in person some time before the match, often with rhymes. Ali once said "Frazier is so ugly that he should donate his face to the US Bureau of Wild Life." He descibed his own fighting style as "float like a butterfly sting like a bee."
More after the jump.
More after the jump.