Muhammad Ali: Boxing Champ & Role Model

113 Pages·2011·17.21 MB·English

by  Ali

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by Thomas S. Owens
Content Consultant:
Erik Arnold, boxing historian
Published by ABDO Publishing Company, 8000 West 78th Street, Edina,
Minnesota 55439. Copyright © 2011 by Abdo Consulting Group, Inc.
International copyrights reserved in all countries. No part of this book may
be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.
SportsZone™ is a trademark and logo of ABDO Publishing Company.
Printed in the United States of America,
North Mankato, Minnesota
112010
012011
Editor: Chrös McDougall
Copy Editor: Paula Lewis
Series Design: Christa Schneider
Cover Production: Emily Love and Christa Schneider
Interior Production: Sarah Carlson and Carol Castro
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Owens, Tom, 1960-
Muhammad Ali : boxing champ & role model / by Thomas S. Owens.
p. cm. — (Legendary athletes)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61714-752-4
1. Ali, Muhammad, 1942- 2. Boxers (Sports)—United States—Biography.
3. Role models. 4. Sports—Biography. I. Title.
GV1132.A4O84 2011
796.83092—dc22
[B]
2010046233
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CHAPTER 1 Caterpillar Cassius,
Butterfly Ali 6
CHAPTER 2 “The Greatest”
Growing Up 16
CHAPTER 3 Turning Pro 26
CHAPTER 4 Fighting for a Cause 34
CHAPTER 5 The US Army and Ali 44
CHAPTER 6 The Fight of the Century 52
CHAPTER 7 Rumble in the Jungle 58
CHAPTER 8 Thrilla in Manila 68
CHAPTER 9 A Different Kind of Fight 78
CHAPTER 10 Life after Boxing 86
Timeline 96
Essential Facts 100
Glossary 102
Additional Resources 104
Source Notes 106
Index 110
About the Author 112
Before his 1962 fight with Archie Moore, Clay bragged that he
would knock Moore out in four rounds. He went on to do so.
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efore he was known as Muhammad Ali
or called himself “the Greatest,” Cassius
Clay might have been “The Loudest.” He
bragged, often in rhyme. He not only promised
great wins, he often predicted the round in which
he would win. His actions infuriated the boxing
establishment and the American public. No other
athletes at the time acted as he did. Further, few
believed he was good enough to back up his words.
Clay had begun his professional boxing career
in 1960 after competing in the Olympic Games.
Throughout the next four years, he beat—and
belittled—every opponent in his path. But none of
the wins convinced the public that he was a future
titleholder.
In June 1963, Clay went to London, England,
seeking his nineteenth consecutive win. A crowd
of 55,000 turned out to see him battle Henry
Cooper. His opponent was referred to in London
newspapers as “Our ’Enry,” a familiar form of his
name borrowed from the working-class cockney
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dialect of London.1 Clay decided to show England how
he wished to be known. He entered the ring dressed
in a red robe adorned with the words, “Cassius the
Greatest.”
Before the fight, Clay’s image appeared on the
cover of Sports Illustrated with the daring headline
“Cassius Invades Britain.”2 This was the first of 38
times that his image would be on the magazine’s cover.
The magazine summed up
Clay’s talkative scheme, “Cassius
A Helpful Left Hook
in England applied the economic
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in the US: to sweeten the gate,
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(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:73)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:78)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:73)(cid:76)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:85)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:17)(cid:3) you must first sour the people.”3
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(cid:38)(cid:79)(cid:68)(cid:92)(cid:183)(cid:86)(cid:3) (cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:68)(cid:70)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:15)(cid:3) (cid:87)(cid:85)(cid:68)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3) Clay returned to America with a
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fifth-round knockout, just as he
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(cid:69)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:70)(cid:75)(cid:68)(cid:80)(cid:83)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:17) predicted. His continued success
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frustrated many boxing fans.
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(cid:86)(cid:72)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:17)(cid:3)(cid:44)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:90)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:79)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:75)(cid:68)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:73)(cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:3) But after 19 wins—with 15
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knockouts—Clay finally got the
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title fight he had been seeking.
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(cid:68)(cid:3)(cid:78)(cid:81)(cid:82)(cid:70)(cid:78)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:87)(cid:17)(cid:3)(cid:55)(cid:75)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:183)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:90)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:3) Eight months after
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beating Cooper, Clay faced
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the heavyweight title. Liston’s
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boxing education occurred behind bars. Armed robbery
and assaulting police officers headlined Liston’s 19
career arrests. He took up the sport of boxing at the
urging of two prison chaplains.
Clay bragged that Liston, the world heavyweight
champion, had met his match. But few others agreed;
Clay was seen as the underdog. Many questioned
whether fans would pay the sky-high ticket prices. On
February 25, 1964, even Clay’s wild promises did not
fill the Miami Beach Convention Center. Ultimately, the
arena attracted just 8,300 paying fans, despite having
capacity for 15,744.
The mental battle between the two boxers began
months before the first bell rang. In July 1963, Liston
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When Clay compared Sonny and gave him frequent beatings.
Liston to a bear, he was not Liston ran away to St. Louis,
thinking of a teddy bear. Liston Missouri, to live with his mother.
was born in Arkansas, the twenty- She had left the farm to work in a
fourth of twenty-five children (and factory. In St. Louis, Liston joined
the tenth Liston’s father had with a street gang and became involved
Liston’s mother). The poor family in crime. He was sentenced to five
did not even keep track of his birth years in prison for robbery when
date. Reporters guessed he was he was approximately 20 years old.
born between 1927 and 1932. When he became a
Liston never attended school professional boxer in 1953, men
and never learned to read or write. who had ties to organized crime
Instead, his father sent him to bought his contract.
work in farm fields at age eight