He is simply ... The Greatest
By Larry Schwartz
Special to ESPN.com

He boasted he was "The Greatest," and in the prime of his charismatic career, many agreed. But as brilliant as Muhammad Ali was in the ring, perhaps his true greatness was outside it when he fought the United States government. His refusal to accept induction into the armed forces on religious grounds cost him millions and his heavyweight title, but in the end Ali came up victorious in the most significant battle of his life.

In his second fight against Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali celebrated his recent name change by knocking out the former champ in the first round.
The sports world is filled with showmen and great athletes, but perhaps never were they better combined than in the young man who began life as Cassius Clay and became a worldwide phenomenon as Muhammad Ali. The man who bragged about his ability to "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee" went from being a curious oddity in the early 1960s to a national villain to an international hero. And now, his body limited by Parkinson's disease, he reigns as one of the most beloved men on the planet.

He was born Jan. 18, 1942, in Louisville, Ky. Clay, who started fighting at the age of 12, won two national Golden Gloves middleweight championships and an AAU national light-heavyweight title. Soon after graduating from high school, Clay won the light-heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.
In his early pro bouts, Clay showed unbelievable hand and foot speed for someone 6-foot-3 and about 190 pounds. As he developed, he showed a stinging jab and an improving right hand. He held his hands low and avoided punches to the head by bobbing out of the way.

The brash youngster was a terrific self-promoter, mugging for the camera and boasting that not only was he the greatest fighter, he also was the prettiest. He predicted in rhyme, with unerring accuracy, the round in which he would knock out his opponent ("They all fall/in the round I call"). In a period when interest in boxing had waned, Clay revitalized the sport.

While he had brought life to the sport, the boxing press was not convinced Clay was ready to dethrone heavyweight champ Sonny Liston. Before the Feb. 25, 1964 fight in Miami Beach, 43 of 46 writers predicted a Liston victory. A 7-1 underdog, Clay scored a stunning upset when Liston didn't come out for the seventh round, claiming a shoulder injury. The next morning he confirms he had joined the Nation of Islam. On March 6, the sect's leader, Elijah Muhammad, gave a radio address which he declared the name Cassius Clay lacked a "divine meaning." He gave him the muslim name "Muhammad Ali." Muhammad meant one worthy of praise, and Ali was the name of a cousin of the prophets.

The popular opinion was that the heavyweight champ shouldn't be preaching what was considered a "hate religion." Ali's popularity nose-dived. Promoters shied away from his rematch with Liston, and it was held in front of only a few thousand fans in Lewiston, Maine, on May 25, 1965. Liston never made it past the first round, Ali scoring a knockout with what some claim was a "phantom punch." Six months later, Ali unmercifully punished former champ Floyd Patterson before the fight was stopped in the 12th round. Ali successfully defended his title seven more times through March 22, 1967. But his TKO of Zora Folley was his last fight in the ring for 3� years.

Now, Ali's opponent was Uncle Sam. When the military attempted to draft him, Ali said he was a conscientious objector. "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong," he had said in 1966. Appearing for his scheduled induction on April 28, 1967 in Houston, he refused three times to step forward at the call of his name. An officer warned him he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Once more Ali refused to budge when his name was called. That day, the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and stripped him of his title. Other boxing commissions followed suit.
At the trial two months later, the jury, after only 21 minutes of deliberation, found Ali guilty. The judge imposed the maximum sentence. After a court of appeals upheld the conviction, the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court.

During this time, people turned against the war, and support for Ali grew. Eight months before the Supreme Court ruled, Ali returned to the ring. There was no state commission in Georgia, and on Oct. 26, 1970, Ali scored a third-round TKO over Jerry Quarry in Atlanta. Six weeks later, he registered a 15th-round TKO over Oscar Bonavena in New York. Two undefeated heavyweights stepped into the ring in Madison Square Garden on March 8, 1971 in what was billed as "The Fight of the Century." Joe Frazier and Ali each received then-record purses of $2.5 million. Remarkably, the fight lived up to the hype. The two punched at a furious pace, with Frazier applying unrelenting pressure and Ali answering with rapid combinations. A sweeping left hook by Frazier decked Ali in the 15th round. While Frazier left with a battered face, he also exited with the unanimous decision and his title.

Ali, however, claimed victory in a bigger decision three months later when the Supreme Court ruled in his favor.

After following the Frazier loss with 10 victorious fights, Ali dropped a 12-round decision to Ken Norton, who broke Ali's jaw. Ali reversed that decision later in 1973. The second Ali-Frazier fight, on Jan. 28, 1974, didn't live up to the standards set by the first, but it still was a good one. Ali gained a unanimous decision, setting up a match with George Foreman, who had knocked out Frazier for the title.

"You think the world was shocked when Nixon resigned?" Ali said. "Wait till I whup George Foreman's behind." The Rumble in the Jungle was fought in the pre-dawn hours in Kinshasa, Zaire. Ali, a 7-1 underdog, introduced the Rope-a-Dope, where he stood flatfooted against the ropes and covered up as Foreman flailed away. By the eighth round, the unbeaten champion was exhausted, and Ali knocked him out. He had become the second heavyweight (Patterson was the first) to regain the title.

Ali had become America's champion. The most vilified athlete of the '60s had become the most heroic of the '70s. A man denounced as anti-America in 1967 was invited to the White House in 1974. Eleven months after whupping Foreman came the Thrilla in Manila. Ali took the early rounds before Frazier hammered away in the middle rounds. But Ali showed the heart of the champion in the late rounds. He staggered Frazier in the 13th and, with the challenger's eye swollen shut, pummeled him in the 14th. When the bell rang for Round 15, Eddie Futch, Frazier's trainer, threw in the towel.

An overconfident Ali lost his title on Feb. 15, 1978 when Leon Spinks, a 1976 Olympic gold medalist who had only seven fights as a pro, took a split decision. Ali regained the title from Spinks seven months later, winning a unanimous decision. He had become the first three-time heavyweight champion. It would be his last victory. The following June, Ali announced his retirement. But money brought him back, and Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick beat him in his last two fights. Ali, with a 56-5 record, retired for good.

Unfortunately, all the punches he suffered had taken an effect. In 1984, Ali learned he had Parkinson's disease, a neurological syndrome characterized by tremors, rigidity of muscles and slowness of speech and movement. While the disease has left him a shadow of his former self, he still attempts to spread good will. Only now he does it with smiling eyes rather than his Louisville Lip.

At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Ali again stood alone in the spotlight. With the world watching, he steadied his trembling hands to light the flaming cauldron and signal the start of the Games. Tears were shed by many, as the man whose beliefs had once divided a nation was now a unifiying -- and beloved -- force.

URL: http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014063.html

Further Readings:
Official Home Page: http://www.ali.com/
Goat: A Tribute to Mohammed Ali - A book; Greatest Of All Time) http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/books/artists_editions/all/facts/02602.htm
(Weight: 34Kgs; Size: 50cm X 50cm; pages: 792; List Prize: USD 3,000.00)