Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. was born January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky, in the family of the housewife Odessa Clay and artist signboards and posters of Cassius Clay. Clay began boxing at the age of 12 after he was stolen by a red bicycle from the Schwinn Bicycle Company, which he bought for the money he earned. The day after the purchase, Cassius and his friend went to the fair, where children were treated to ice cream for free. Going home, he found that he had stolen a bicycle. Clay was very upset and at that moment he met white policeman Joe Martin, telling him that he would beat the one who stole his bicycle, to which Martin replied: "Before you beat someone, you need to learn this first." He invited Cassius to the gym, where he trained young boxers, many of whom participated in amateur tournaments "Golden Gloves". Clay did not come, but two weeks later he saw Martin and his boxers on TV in the "Future Champions" show. He was attracted to the idea that if he starts training, his friends will see him on TV, and the next day together with his brother Cassius came to the boxing hall. At the age of 15, Clay moved to Louisville Central High School and continued to train hard to win more and more wins in amateur competitions. By the time he graduated, Clay won 100 amateur rings at just 8 defeats and planned to become a professional boxer right after graduation, but the coach persuaded he had to wait and take part in the 1960 Olympics.

Good mood did not leave Cassius and during the competition, he easily defeated his first opponent in the Olympic tournament of the Belgian Yvonne Beco, beating him with a TKO in the second round. In the quarterfinals Clay met with the Soviet boxer Gennady Shatkov. The battle went under the dictation of Cassius, and the judges unanimously recognized him as the winner. At the semi-final stage Clay was confronted by a familiar opponent - Australian Tony Madigan (Cassius defeated him in 1959). After the end of a tense fight, Madigan considered himself the winner, but the judges unanimously gave victory to Clay. In the finals, he was waiting for an experienced boxer Zbigniew Petszikowski from Poland, he was nine years older than Cassius and had 230 fights in his track record. Petshikovsky began the fight in an aggressive manner, trying to quickly finish the fight. In the second round, Clay had to abandon his habitual "light" manner and inflict a few strong blows to the Pole. He did not slow down and in the last round, conducting a quick series of punches, towards the end of the fight Zbigniew was pressed to the ropes and close to an early defeat, but managed to stand up to the final bell. The unanimous decision of the judges was won by Cassius Clay, a few minutes later he was wearing a gold Olympic medal.

Clay's debut in professional boxing took place on October 29, 1960, his rival was Tanni Hanseker [en]. Before the battle, Cassius called him a "loafer" and said that "it would be easy to lick him." Clay was preparing for this fight, running two miles each morning and sparring with his brother Rudolph. These trainings helped him to win a confident victory, but he could not finish the 6-round match ahead of schedule. Tanny said after the battle that Clay will become the world champion and that it was an honor to fight him in the ring. The first battle for the title of world champion was held against Sonny Liston. At the weigh-in before the fight Cassius behaved inappropriately, for which he was subsequently fined. He shouted threats and predictions, and his pulse fought feverishly, the doctors who conducted the boxers' medical examination said that Clay was in a state of temporary obscuration of reason. After the start of the fight, Cassius began circling around Liston, slipping away from his powerful attacks and counter-attacking. In the third round there was a turning point - Clay began to overtly beat the champion. After one of his successful combinations, Liston's legs began to spin, and he nearly fell. In a completely lost round, Sonny opened a cut under his left eye, and a hematoma formed under the right eye. Suddenly, during the fourth round, Clay began to have problems with vision, he began to experience a sharp pain in his eyes. Cassius practically did not see anything and asked the coach to remove his gloves, at a difficult moment, Angelo Dundee showed composure, firing his fighter on the next round with the task to move around the ring, avoiding the attacks of Liston. Clay did not miss a heavy blow from the champion, and in the fifth round his vision was restored. Cassius once again dominated the ring, and after a lot of accurate shots on Sonny, during a break between the rounds, Liston refused to continue the fight. At 22, Clay became world heavyweight champion.

After the battle against Liston, Clay officially announced his admission to the "Nation of Islam." From now on, everyone should have called him Cassius X (the members of the organization refused their name, because they believed that it came from white slave owners). Malcolm X said that Cassius will become the most important athlete for black Americans. At a meeting in Chicago, Elijah Muhammad, who had conflicting feelings about the links of the "Nation of Islam" with professional athletes, joyfully met the young champion. Two weeks after his entry, Cassius X received a new name, Elijah awarded the champion a full Muslim name, which was reserved for permanent members of the organization. Muhammad took the athlete, calling him Mohammed Ali. Then came a rematch between Liston and Ali on May 25, 1965. In the evening of the battle, a small arena was not filled to capacity, in a hall for 4,800 spectators there were 4200 spectators. The odds of the bookmakers were 9 to 5 in favor of Liston. But contrary to their predictions, Ali knocked out the enemy less than two minutes after the start of the fight. Liston collapsed on the floor of the ring after an imperceptible stroke, in a frenzy, Mohammed refused to go into a neutral corner, bending over his rival, he shouted: "Get up and fight, you're a bastard. After all, everyone thinks you are so bad! Nobody will believe this! "

Referee - former world champion Jersey Joe Walcott - trying to get Ali to move to a neutral corner, instead the champion danced in the ring with his hands up. Then there was confusion, Walcott finally got Mohammed to go to the neutral corner. All the time spent for this time the judge did not open an account. Liston struggled to get up, and the fight continued, but then Nat Fleischer, editor of The Ring magazine, called the judge and informed him that Liston was on the ring floor for 17 seconds. Wolcott fought boxers in the corners, and the fight was officially over.

In April 1967, Ali officially refused military service. After just one hour, the New York State Sports Committee stripped him of his boxing license, and refused to recognize him as a world champion - this was done before the official charge. During the forced break Mohammed began a successful career as a speaker, many universities in the country invited him to give lectures on a fee basis. In these speeches, Ali was surprised to learn that, despite his attitude towards the war in Vietnam, he is an idol for young people. Mohammed found support in colleges, many students were also against the war, he was applauded standing up. This made a great impression on Ali, even though he was absolutely sure of the racial split in the country, he began to admit that someday this social problem could be overcome. On June 28, 1971, the US Supreme Court issued a favorable verdict in the Ali case. Six judges concluded that the Kentucky State Prison Commission made the mistake of not taking into account Mohammed's religious beliefs. Thus, by a unanimous decision, Ali was acquitted and reinstated in all his rights, he could once again travel the world and conduct fights anywhere in the world. On December 30, 1970, Ali and Joe Frazier signed a contract for a unique fight at Madison Square Garden: the unbeaten former champion and undefeated current champion were to meet for the first time in history. All tickets were sold out in advance; 35 countries were supposed to see a duel on the air. The beginning of the battle took place in an equal fight, it was evident that Mohammed could not keep Fraser from a distance, constantly letting strong blows through the hull.

In the middle of the fight Ali began to defend himself, standing with his back to the ropes, incidentally he managed to shout in the ear of Fraser: "Did not you know that I'm God?" Mohammed predicted his victory in the sixth round, but he was won by Joe, he did not let Ali out of the ropes , striking the head and body. Referee Arthur Mercante recalled that Mohammed had lost a few rounds, for example the sixth one, in the eighth round he instructed the challenger that he needed to fight. In the ninth round, Ali seized the initiative, after a successful combination. However, in the 11th round, he was already close to defeat, Fraser again clamped him at the ropes and put a few accurate hooks, Ali backed up through the ring. Bantering over Joe, he tried not to show how hard he was in this round. At the very end of the fight, Mohammed came forward with the last of his strength, Fraser took advantage of this and hit him in the head with an accurate blow, Ali fell to the floor of the ring.

It seemed to many that he would not rise again, but this hit was so strong and accurate, but surprisingly, Mohammed almost immediately got up and ended the fight on his feet. Fraser won the unanimous decision and inflicted the first defeat of Ali in his professional career. The next day, at a press conference, Mohammed philosophically noted that in his defeat there is nothing terrible.

Mohammed took part in three more fights in 1971, and also in six in 1972, he won in all, and six of them finished ahead of schedule. September 20, 1972, Ali for the second time met with the idol of his childhood Floyd Patterson. In the sixth round, Patterson had a violent dissection in the eye area, in the seventh round, the eye completely covered the hematoma, and Floyd's angle refused to continue the duel. This fight was the last in Patterson's professional career.

Meanwhile, Joe Frazier lost his title in a fight with Olympic champion George Forman, which made his rematch with Ali more likely. On March 31, 1973 Mohammed met with Ken Norton, his rival never had any significant fights, and for his last fight he received only $ 300. Despite this, Norton was a sparring partner of Fraser and was well prepared for a fight with Ali. In the second round, Ken held an accurate blow to Mohammed's jaw and broke it. The doctor in the corner of Ali wanted to stop the fight, but the boxer forbade him to do it. The fight lasted all 12 rounds, Ali lost by a split decision. The doctor, who operated on Mohammed's jaw after the fight, said that he did not understand how he could continue the fight with such a trauma. Many detractors immediately began to spread in the press rumors that the career of Ali is coming to an end and that he is no longer able to show high results. Despite this, after the restoration, which lasted six months, Ali met again with Norton. In a difficult 12-round fight, Mohammed won - also by a separate decision of the judges.

After the rematch with Norton, the ground was prepared for the second battle against Fraser. A few months before the match, Ali began his attacks in the press. Fraser tried to concentrate on training and not respond to his attacks. But during an interview on the ABC channel, Joe's nerves could not stand, and he grappled with Mohammed on the air. On the day of the battle on January 28, 1974 in "Madison Square Garden" was sold out, the hall was filled with celebrities, including John Kennedy Jr. and current world champion George Foreman. Unlike the first fight, Ali decided not to fight at the ropes, but concentrated on moving around the ring and putting a lot of jabs, at the slightest risk, Mohammed "knit" the opponent's hands and did not let him beat.

At the end of the second round, Ali held an accurate right hook to Fraser's head, from which his legs buckled. After the exact strike, Mohammed began to develop the attack, but the referee made a mistake: after thinking that the round was over, he fought the boxers at his corners, giving Joe time to recover. This oversight of the referee did not help Fraser, who could not do anything for 12 rounds, the judges unanimously gave victory to Ali.

After defeating Fraser, Ali was again ready to fight for the world title, which was owned by the young heavyweight George Foreman. The organizer of the battle was a young promoter Don King, for whom this fight was the first in his career. It was King who proposed to fight in Africa, having agreed with the Zairian dictator Mobutu and persuaded to allocate $ 12 million to the prize fund (each boxer received 5 million dollars each). Also, money was built for Mobutu infrastructure and purchased and configured all the necessary equipment for broadcasting on television and radio. When all the details were settled, it became clear that for the first time in the history of boxing, a duel for the title of world heavyweight champion will be held on the African continent. Despite the great support of the local population, few people in the world believed that Ali was able to cope with the young champion. At that time, Foreman had 40 wins and 0 defeats with 37 fights, completed by him ahead of schedule. He easily knocked out Ken Norton and Joe Frazier - the boxers who won against Ali. George was called one of the greatest punchers of all time, and betting odds were 3 to 1 in his favor. In the last days before the fight, Ali intensified the psychological impact on Forman, one of his quotes, which he said at the time, went down in history: "I saw George Foreman boxing with the shadow and won the shadow." Foreman remained unperturbed, being absolutely sure of his victory. The day before the fight, both boxers attended a party hosted by President Mobutu. The next morning, Ali, along with his entourage, went on several buses to the Stadium named after May 20, where 60,000 people were waiting for the battle, mostly those who were rooting for him. According to boxing traditions, Ali as the challenger was the first to enter the ring. From the locker room the boxer walked along the corridor from the soldiers of the Zairian army, protecting him from the fans. Above the ring was built a temporary roof, which was supposed to protect the boxers from the rain forecasted by the weather forecasters. After 10 minutes, the champion appeared, he came out with the American flag, together with him was Archie Moore - a famous boxer, who earlier in his career was knocked out by Mohammed.

While the referee reminded the boxers of the rules of the fight, Ali began a psychological attack on Foreman: "You heard about me when I was a kid. You followed me when I was a little boy. Now you have met me - your teacher "

In conditions of high humidity and high air temperature, both boxers began to pass physically quite physically already in the first rounds. Foreman tried not to let Ali move, catching him at the ropes and conducting powerful blows to the body and head. Mohammed quickly realized that the rival is well trained to foresee his movement through the ring. Therefore, starting from the middle of the second round, he hung on the ropes, trying to defend himself and at the first opportunity to counterattack. If he chose tactics similar to his first fight against Fraser, the only difference was that he was in perfect physical shape. The referee did not always manage to keep the ropes taut because the boxers hung over them with all their weight. This gave Mohammed an advantage, as there was more additional space for defensive maneuvers.

During the first half of the battle, he missed several powerful blows that could have ended the fight, according to Ali, from them he had hallucinations. But also a lot of powerful blows of George passed by or in passing, exhausting him.

After the fifth round, Foreman's corner asked to stop the fight and pull the ropes in the ring, but the referee ignored these requests. By this time the champion looked tired, Ali managed to scream in his ear: "Show your best blow!"

In the seventh round, Mohammed began to dominate the battle, he inflicted a large number of accurate jabs. By the eighth round, George lost his last strength, and Ali, right before the signal to the end of the round, held a combination of right-left-right,

which shocked the young champion, he was on the ropes,

after which Mohammed conducted an accurate attack, which sent Forman to the flooring of the ring.

George managed to get on the count of 9, but the referee decided to stop the fight.

The whole stadium was on its feet, all you could hear was the chant of "Ali kill him!". After the fight, Mohammed announced that he was not going to finish his career, after this fight, he was nicknamed the one he himself awarded, - the Greatest. Foreman was morally crushed, he devised conspiracy theories, explaining his defeat (specially weakened ropes, quick counting of the referee and even poisoned water). This battle was the best fight in history and was called "Rumble in the Jungle"

After the return of the world title, Ali still had one more goal in the sport, he wanted to meet Fraser for the third time. On the way to this battle, Mohammed overcame Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle and Joe Bugner. Despite the fact that in these matches there were no early knockouts, Ali confidently won in all of them.

On October 1, 1975, there was a battle that went down in the history of boxing called "Thriller in Manila". Before the fight, the prize of President Marcos was taken to the ring, which was to be won by the winner of the battle - it was a gold construction, which Ali, laughing in the hall, immediately took in his corner. The fight was held at an incredible heat - more than 30 degrees. It was one of the best fights in the history of boxing, the advantage passed from one boxer to another. Perhaps due to the fact that Ali was not in the best shape, it was he who was striving for a quick knockout.

Mohammed dominated for the first two rounds, but Fraser showed real will to win and evened the course of the fight.

In the sixth round, Ali missed a heavy left hook to the head, the shock shook the champion, but he held out.

The boxers continued to attack each other, and the battle turned into a frank "felling". After the 14th round, Fraser's coach stopped the fight - the hematoma completely closed Frazer's left eye, and he practically did not see the right (the referee (?) Showed three fingers and asked them to count, Joe answered "one"). At the same time in his corner Ali said: "I'm very tired, take off my gloves." According to the doctor's version in the corner of the champion, he could not leave for the 15th round. After the end of the fight, Mohammed fell unconscious in his corner. In whose favor the fight would have ended, if the judge had not stopped him, it remains a question. On this one of the greatest fights in the history of boxing was over, Ali won in a duel and defended his title. The event received the status of "Fight of the Year" according to The Ring.

After the fight, both boxers were in deep exhaustion. Fraser began to cry, and he was very angry (he wanted to continue the fight), and in the locker room Ali had a tragedy: a policeman guarding his room, wanted to play with his gun and accidentally shot himself in the head, which was a real shock for those who entered the room Ali. He could not believe for a long time what happened in the ring that evening, later Ali concluded that he could easily have died then. In subsequent interviews, Mohammed called Fraser the second greatest boxer in history - after himself.

In 1980, Ali felt the need for money, which prompted him to hold a new duel. By that time, Mohammed did not have much desire to enter the ring again, he was reduced to the current world champion Larry Holmes. The boxers were well acquainted with each other, since Holmes was a sparring partner of Ali. The battle took place on October 2, 1980, at that time Mohammed was 38 years old, he was overweight, and he looked frankly slow. The champion respected Ali and tried not to injure the veteran, but, nevertheless, inflicted numerous injuries on him during the match. Holmes dominated throughout the fight and confidently won every round, many believed that he did not seek to knock out Ali, as he was afraid to cause him serious injury. In the tenth round, Angelo Dundee did not let his ward into the ring, shouting: "I'm the main second! I demand to stop the fight! "This was the first duel in which Mohammed lost ahead of schedule. The camera snatched a lot of crying spectators in the hall.

In September 1984, Ali was hospitalized due to deterioration of hearing, speech and motor functions of the body. Mohammed was placed in the New York Presbyterian Hospital, after all the tests and tests the doctors came to the conclusion that he was suffering from Parkinson's disease. The disease is incurable, all existing methods of treatment are aimed at alleviating its symptoms (symptomatic treatment). Ali was prescribed a drug that eliminates motor disorders - levodopa.

In 1994, George Foreman regained the title of world champion, becoming the oldest champion in history. In his interview, Ali said: "It touched me terribly for the living, and I also wanted to return. But then came the morning - it was time to go for a run. I went back to bed and said: "Ok, I'm still the greatest". " In 1996, Ali was honored to light the Olympic flame at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. The organizers were very worried, because by that time Mohammed was already having a hard time talking. However, Ali confidently coped with his role: in front of 80,000 people he lit the Olympic flame.

November 15, 2011, Ali attended the funeral of Joe Frazier - his main opponent in the course of his career.

On June 2, 2016, Mohammed Ali was hospitalized in a hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, due to a deterioration in his health caused by lung problems. June 3, 2016, he died on the 75th year of life. The cause of Mohammed Ali's death was a septic shock that arose from "unidentified natural causes". Thus ended the story of the greatest boxer of planet Earth.

Boxing / myfavoriteathlete

Greatest! Why ALI is the best Boxer of the planet.

Greatest! Why ALI is the best Boxer of the planet.

Greatest! Why ALI is the best Boxer of the planet.