#ripmuhammad ali

by Gautham Nagesh

Muhammad Ali, the iconic boxer widely hailed as the greatest athlete of the 20th century, died Friday night at a hospital in Phoenix, Ariz. He was 74 years old.

Known simply as The Greatest, Ali went from controversial to universally beloved over the course of a career in which he personified the upheaval of the Civil Rights Movement. Ali’s audacity, charisma and blinding speed captivated the public, but it was his propensity for sacrifice both inside and outside the ring that elevated him beyond the sport.

The three-time heavyweight champion famously refused induction into the military in 1967, citing his Muslim religion.

“I ain’t got no quarrel with no Vietcong,” he declared.

Ali was subsequently convicted of draft evasion, sentenced to five years in prison, stripped of his title and banned from boxing for three years.

Widely vilified at the time, Ali eventually returned to the ring in 1970, and ultimately triumphed when the Supreme Court overturned his conviction and upheld his claim of being a conscientious objector.

The principled stand cost Ali a large chunk of his prime and earned him many enemies, but was eventually recognized as one of most significant political acts by an athlete. Likewise, Ali’s refusal to forswear his ties to the Nation of Islam cost him dearly during his fighting days, but today he is adored across the globe.

BornCassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 14, 1942, Ali learned to box at age 12 after having his bike stolen. From a young age he demonstrated two qualities essential to a career in prizefighting: discipline, and the preternatural ability to avoid a punch. Ali showed quickness and dedication in training that he lacked in school, and by graduation it was clear that boxing was where his future lay.

Ali won the gold medal as a light heavyweight in the 1960 Rome Olympics, then turned professional with the backing of a syndicate of wealthy Louisville businessmen. An unconventional fighter, especially for a heavyweight, Ali preferred to dance on his toes and peck at his opponent from a distance like his idol Sugar Ray Robinson, rather than charge forward seeking a knockout like most heavyweights.

Ali soon linked up with trainer Angelo Dundee and began climbing the professional ranks, defeating his former trainer and Hall of Famer Archie Moore in 1962. After three more wins, Ali signed to fight heavyweight champion Sonny Liston in Miami Beach on February 25, 1964. The build-up to the fight and its aftermath would catapult Ali into the spotlight for the rest of his life.

An ex-convict with ties to the Mafia, Liston was a heavy favorite and widely considered all but unbeatable, especially against a relative unknown like Ali. But the challenger was brash and boastful, repeatedly ridiculing his opponent in rhyme and promising an easy victory despite the long odds against him. Most writers considered Ali unhinged, and made Liston a heavy favorite. But Ali had succeeded in getting under the champion’s skin.

The fight itself was a coronation. Ali danced and jabbed and taunted Liston, punishing him until the champion quit on his stool after the sixth round. Afterwards Ali pointed at the writers on press row and ordered them to eat their words.

“I must be the greatest,” he shouted. “I’m the king of the world!”

Unknown to most, Ali had joined the Nation of Islam before the Liston fight, and was mentored by Nation Minister Malcolm X, who was ringside when Ali won the title. After winning the title Ali changed his name to Muhammad Ali, though many media figures at the time insisted on calling him by his birth name. TV broadcaster Howard Cosell was a notable exception.

Ali’s good looks and natural ease with people made him perfectly suited for celebrity, and he soon drew huge crowds wherever he went. He relished interacting with fans, especially children, and would regularly spend large portions of his days signing autographs, reciting poems and performing magic tricks, even while training for a fight.

Ali’s rematch against Liston was notorious for the “phantom punch” that ended the fight within two minutes of the opening round. Many speculated that Liston had taken a dive. Ali defended the title eight more times, including against former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson, before legal troubles from his draft status forced him to retire from the sport in 1967.

Ali lectured at colleges to earn money while in temporary retirement, and later said he consciously avoided the binary stereotypes sportswriters applied to black fighters.

“I had to prove you could be a new kind of black man,” Ali told author David Remnick.

Ali returned to the ring in 1970 against Jerry Quarry and finally signed to fight 1964 Olympic gold medalist Joe Frazier on March 8, 1971. Frazier had won the heavyweight title in Ali’s absence, but much of the public refused to recognize him as champion until the two met. True to form, Ali mocked Frazier using harsh racial caricatures in the build-up to the fight, breeding animosity that lingered until Frazier’s death in 2011.

Ali-Frazier was perhaps the most anticipated prize fight ever, featuring two undefeated champions. It remains one of the most significant rivalries in sports history and the two names are inextricably linked. The fight itself turned in the 14th round when Frazier caught Ali with his vaunted left hook and put him on the canvas; Ali rose but lost a unanimous decision.

Ali strung together a series of wins after the loss, before losing a split decision to Ken Norton. Ali suffered a broken jaw in the fight but still fought till the final bell. Frazier defended his title twice before losing it to the 1968 Olympic gold medalist George Foreman, who knocked Frazier down six times in two rounds before the fight was stopped. Ali then won a close rematch with Frazier, setting up a championship fight with Foreman.

After multiple delays the fight took place in Kinhasa, Zaire in October 1974 and was dubbed The Rumble in The Jungle by promoter Don King. A huge underdog once again against the younger and stronger Foreman, Ali won the fight using his will and strategic brilliance instead of the speed he had relied upon early in his career.

Ali debuted the “rope-a-dope” strategy in the fight, leaning back against the ropes and covering up while letting Foreman punch his arms and body. But Ali also took a great deal of damage, and simply refused to go down. He eventually came off the ropes and attacked Foreman in the 8th round, knocking him down and forcing the referee to stop the fight.

Along with the Foreman fight, Ali cemented his place in the pantheon of greats one year later by defeating Frazier in their rubber match in the Philippines, a fight known as the Thrilla in Manilla. One of the most vicious encounters in boxing history, Ali said during the fight that it was the closest he had been to death. 

Frazier’s trainer Eddie Futch stopped the fight after the 14th round when his fighter could no longer see due to swelling around his eye. Ali later told his biographer Thomas Hauser that he was on the verge of quitting himself at the time.

Ali continued fighting through the late 1970s, winning a third fight against Norton then losing and regaining his title against the younger Leon Spinks. But he was a shell of the gleaming young fighter that had danced beneath the lights, and he retired after winning the title for the third time against Spinks. 

Sadly, the draw of a large payday lured Ali back in 1980 to fight his former sparring partner Larry Holmes for the heavyweight title. Ali took a savage beating for 10 rounds before the fight was stopped. Ali fought once more, losing a decision to Trevor Berbick, but he also began having trouble speaking and showed other signs of the trauma his body had endured over his career. 

In 1984 he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, bringing worldwide attention to both the disease and the longterm impact of repeated head trauma. He has spent the past three decades as a global ambassador for various causes, and lit the torch at the opening games of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Aside from his tremendous impact on the sport of boxing and his status as a Civil Rights icon, Ali also influenced American culture in numerous other ways, especially his unapologetic embrace of his African-American identity. His 1976 exhibition against Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki is considered by many to be the first mixed martial arts fight, and his use of rhyming to amuse and ridicule is considered by some an antecedent to rapping.

Images of Ali today remain among the most iconic photographs ever taken, and he is the source of countless phrases and inspirational quotes that are repeated to this day.

“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ’‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”