'The Greatest' Bids a Goodbye to His Boxing Fans!

Muhammad Ali, the man who immortalized the words, ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’, passed away at 74 yesterday. This is a huge and irreparable loss to the boxing world!  Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., Muhammad Ali was an American professional boxer, reckoned as the greatest heavy weight champion in the history of sport.  He was crowned as the ‘Sportsman of the Century’ and figures in the top sportsman in the 100 years by the Sports Illustrated and declared as ‘Sports Personality of the Century’ by the BBC. He authored several best sellers which includes ‘The Greatest: My Own Story and ‘The Soul of a Butterfly’. 

Ali’s stardom rose slowly and steadily. He made his debut in 1960, beating Tunney Hunsaker in a six-round match. By 1963, he had a cumulative record of 19-0 - most of them through knockouts. He won against competent opponents like Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, Lamar Clark, Doug Jones and Henry Cooper.  All the matches weren’t in his favour. He nearly lost the game in a few but made an astounding come back.  What’s surprising is, ahead of each of his fight, Ali used to belittle his opponents with verbal remarks. To Ali “Jones was an ugly man”, “Cooper was a bum” “He was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff”.   

Nobody will ever know if it was Ali’s strategy to let loose his tongue on the opponent before he let loose his fists.  He would intentionally pick up verbal punches. Bash them to pulp with vicious remarks and then go on to win the fight. Such was the confidence of this man. Of course, Ali was nicknamed the “The Greatest” for nothing. He was involved in several historic boxing matches. Popular among these is the Liston fight, three with Joe Frazier and ‘The Rumble in the Jungle’ with George Foremen’. 

Ali’s fame as a boxer rose to its peak when he beat Liston for the world heavy weight title in 1964. Liston was almost unbeatable. Before the pre-match build up of the Ali- Liston fight, Ali taunted Liston as “The Big Ugly Bear”, “Liston even smells like a bear” and “After I beat him I am going to donate him to the zoo”.  Everyone thought Ali’s behavior stemmed from fear and anxiety, some even wondered whether he would turn up for the fight. But the skeptics had to eat their words at the decisive outcome of the fight when Ali emerged as the winner.  

Shortly after the Liston bout, Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali on converting to Islam. Later, when he refused to be inducted into the Army Service to fight against Vietnam, the centre stripped him of his title. Subsequently, his boxing license was suspended.  He stayed away from boxing in the country during his peak performance.  

However, later, Ali was granted to license to box on winning victory in the court. This time Ali had to face Joe Frazier for the title. Both were undefeated fighters. The excitement of the bout caught everyone’s attention and ultimately the fight was broadcasted to 35 countries. Ali as usual came out winner stunning all the cynics yet another time. 

The stunning win set the stage for a fight with George Foreman, who was known for throwing hardest punches in the history of boxing. During the match with Foreman, Ali taunted Foreman saying “Is that all you got George, They told me you could hit hard?” while he leaned on the ropes inviting his punches. The move was later came about to be known as ‘Rope-a Dope’. Everyone thought Foreman would win the fight since he had already defeated Frazier and Ken Norton who gave tough fights to Ali. Contrary to the widely held belief, Ali emerged winner. 

Ali’s next opponents included:  Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, and Joe Bugner. In fact, it was the match between Ali and Wepner that inspired Sylvester Stallone to script the iconic movie, ‘Rocky’.  Ali went on to script success like no other in the boxing history. Today, Ali is not only popular for his incredible matches but also for his memorable and punchy Quotes:  “Don’t count the days. Make the days count”, “A man who has no imagination has no wings”, “If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it – then I can achieve it.” Finally, let’s not forget his popular oneliner, “Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee.”  May his soul rest in peace!