THE GREATEST

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”

“I figured if I said enough, people would really start believing that I was the greatest.”

If you knew I was talking about boxing, chances are that most of you would have only
one answer in your minds- Muhammad Ali.

Thought by many boxing historians to be one of the greatest pound for pound boxers of
all time, Ali had it all, nimble, lightning fast hand speed, quick dancing feet, amazing
rhythm, a great chin and seemingly endless amounts of courage. Outside the ring, he was
nicknamed the “Louisville lip”, a fast talking, bad mouthing man who would go no end
into humiliating his opponents before a fight. Also a self proclaimed prophet and a poet,
he would predict the round in which he would knock his opponent out, early in his career.

Initially known as Cassius Clay, he won the gold medal in the light heavyweight division
in the 1960 olympics. Turning pro shortly after,clay challenged for the heavyweight title
first in 1964, against the much feared Sonny Liston. He was a big underdog,no one even
expected him to last the first round with the heavy punching Liston. But as he had
prophesized, he “shook the world”, when liston refused to leave his corner in the 7th
round.

He changed his name to Muhammad Ali after this fight and joined the Nation of Islam.

What followed was one of the most controversial rematches in boxing history, with Clay
KO’ing Liston in the first round, with a ‘phantom punch’, a punch that many didn’t see.

Ali then went from strength to strength, defending his title 9 times, before he had his
boxing license and heavyweight title stripped for refusing to be inducted in the US army
in 1967 during the Vietnam war. He famously quoted “ No viet cong ever called me a
nigger”, and citing religious grounds, refused enrolment.

With his title vacated, Ali spent 3 long years in the dark, before the ruling was overturned
in 1970, and his license was reinstated.

Soon, he challenged for the title, facing the formidable Smokin’ Joe Frazier in march
1971. Known as ‘the fight of the century’, it was Ali’s brain vs Frazier’s brawn, Ali’s jab
vs Joe’s devastating left hook; and it turned out what it was hyped as, a classic. The fight
went for the whole 15 rounds, and though close, the unanimous decision was won by Joe
Frazier, bring about the first dent in the then perfect Ali boxing record.
Digging deeper Ali crawled up steadily through the rankings, facing the tough Ken
Norton twice,losing the 1st and winning the 2nd, both by split decisions. He faced Frazier
again in a rematch, this time defeating him on points.

Then came the “Rumble in the Jungle”, in Zaire, Congo, where Ali faced the seemingly
invincible George Foreman for the heavyweight crown. Previously, Foreman had
destroyed Frazier in two rounds, knocking him down 6 times,and winning the title.

Ali, as in the Liston fight, had a familiar feeling, he was now the underdog, and had been
written off by many. Foreman’s awesome punching power was supposed to destroy Ali
once and for all, the fight was billed as a mismatch. But fate had other ideas.

In October 74, the world’s eyes were on Zaire as Ali regained the crown for the 2nd time,
as he employed the famous Rope-a dope tactic, in which he leant against the ropes,
covering up, taking body shots, while firing back with quick combos at every
opportunity. Foreman was exhausted by the 7th round, and was knocked out by an Ali
flurry in the 8th, it was a sporting miracle.

Ali, still had a great fight left in him, and it proved to be one of the greatest fights of all
time, the ‘thriller in manilla’; Ali vs Frazier 3. It was boxing at its best, with Frazier
winning the middle rounds, but Ali coming back strongly later in the bout. By the 13th
round, Frazier’s eyes had shut with swelling, and in the 14th Ali pounded Frazier with
several unanswered blows, making Frazier’s trainer refuse to let him come out for the 15th
. Ali said that it was the ‘closest thing to death’ he had faced.

He would retain his crown for another 3 years, before losing to an underrated Leon
Spinks in 78. He later retained the title in a rematch for a record 3rd time.

Ali, now diagnosed with parkinson’s disease, in 1980, challenged again for the title
against the young Larry Holmes, but lost convincingly.

A professional record of 56 wins, 37 by knockout and 5 losses, though by itself putting

him into the category of the all time greats, still did not do justice to the legend. He
faught during the ‘golden era’ of heavyweight boxing, defeating one great fighter after
another(fighters like Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Jerry Quarry, Ken
Norton, Ron Lyle, Earnie Shavers), and in a different era, he would arguably be
untouchable.