Hater Hall of Fame: The Louisville Lip

Today’s Hater Hall of Fame inductee has been called the greatest of all-time, and that title isn’t just confined to the sport he dominated for well over a decade:

Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali,  Born January 17, 1942

Cassius Clay Jr. was born in Louisville, Kentucky to Cassius and Odessa Clay; he was the oldest of two boys, his younger brother Rudy Clay (now named Rahman Ali) was also a professional boxer in the early 60′s – but was not nearly as dominant or prolific.  Cassius was introduced to boxing by a Louisville police officer named Joe Martin at age 12 after someone had stolen his bike; he would also began working with a local legend, and community center trainer named Fred Stoner.  Under Stoner’s guidance, Clay went on to win six Golden Glove titles in the state of Kentucky, two national Gold Glove titles, an Amateur Athletic Union title, and earned the Light Heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome – he ended his amateur career with a stellar record, recording 100 wins and only 5 losses.

Cassius Clay’s first professional fight took place in Louisville on October 29, 1960 against a man named Tunney Hunsaker, where he won a decision after the sixth round.  At 6’3″ Ali was not a conventional heavyweight and relied much more on his foot speed and lightning-quick hands, as opposed to raw power.  In his first three years as a professional, Clay amassed a record of 19-0 with 15 victories coming by knockout.  His reputation as a boxer was growing, but his knack for shit talking and predicting when and how his fights would end were two things that made Clay stand out from his contemporaries.  He brought a pro wrestling-type mentality to the sport – and later admitted that much of his antics came from a wrestler in the L.A. area named “Gorgeous” George Wagner.  Clay would earn his first shot at the heavyweight title in 1964, and went up against the heavily favored champion, Charles “Sonny” Liston.  In the pre-fight, Clay did what he could to get under the champ’s skin; he called him names like the big ugly bear  – Liston’s nickname was The Big Bear - and famously declared that he would “Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee”.  When asked about his strategy for avoiding Liston’s punishment, Clay added, “Your hands can’t hit what your eyes can’t see.”  The Liston v. Clay fight was pretty much dominated by the young, brash challenger, and Clay was declared the champion after Liston refused to come out of his corner for the seventh round. 

After this fight, the Louisville Lip made headlines for things that didn’t involve boxing - namely, his conversion to the Nation of Islam and changing his name to Muhammad (one worthy of praise) Ali.  While Clay’s name and religous views might have changed, his domination of the heavyweight ranks continued without a hitch.  Ali successfully defended his belt eight times, but was stripped of the title in 1964 for refusing to be drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.  Ali was put on trial for this offense and was found guilty on June 20, 1967; the champ faced five years in prison and a $10K fine, but was undaunted by the verdict.  He later filed an appeal, but the conviction was upheld; Ali eventually took his case to the Supreme Court, and the conviction was overturned on June 28, 1971.  Once Ali’s name was cleared, he returned to the ring and took on some of the most famed fights in boxing history – such as “The Fight of the Century”, “The Rumble in the Jungle” (where he fought the lean, mean, grill-selling machine), and “The Thrilla in Manilla”.  Ali announced his retirement in June 1979 after beating Leon Spinks and regaining the heavyweight title for an unprecedented third time.  He returned to the ring again in the early 80′s to fight two more times; but both bouts ended in defeat, and showed that The Greatest’s time had finally passed. 

Muhammad Ali ended his boxing career with a professional record of 56 wins and 5 losses, with 37 victories coming by way of knockout. During that time, Ali was named Fighter of the Year more times than any other boxer, fought in more Fights of the Year than anyone else, was the only boxer to be named Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated - and appeared on the magazine’s cover 37 times, which is second only to Michael Jordan.  Ali currently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife Yolanda, and remains a public figure despite battling Parkinson’s Syndrome for over 25 years now.  (Full Wikipedia Bio) 

Link to Part II of the 1976 Wide World of Sports special