Champ’s facts & figures
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 17, 1942. Won light heavyweight gold at 1960 Rome Olympics.
He was world heavyweight champion from 1964-67, 1974-78 and 1978-79 and the first fighter to win the title three times.
During his professional career Ali had 61 fights. He won 56 of them, 36 of them by a knockout, and he lost just five.
This is his full record – all wins except those marked “L”. TKO = Technical Knockout. KO = Knockout. SD = Split Decision. UD = Unanimous Decision. RTD = Retired. Last figure shows which round the fight ended in. Oct 60 Tunney Hunsaker UD 6
Jan 61 Tony Esperti TKO 3 Feb 61 Donnie Fleeman RTD 6 Jun 61 Duke Sabedong UD 10 Oct 61 Alex Miteff TKO 6
Apr 62 George Logan TKO 4 Jul 62 Alejandro Lavorante KO 5 Jan 63 Charlie Powell KO 3 Jun 63 Henry Cooper TKO 5 May 65 Sonny Liston RTD 1 Mar 66 George Chuvalo UD 15 Aug 66 Brian London KO 3 Nov 66 Cleveland Williams TKO 3 Mar 67 Zora Folley KO 7
Dec 70 Oscar Bonavena TKO 15
L Jul 71 Jimmy Ellis TKO 12
Dec 71 Juergen Blin KO 7 May 72 George Chuvalo UD 12
Nov 72 Bob Foster KO 8 Mar 73 Ken Norton SD 12 Oct 73 Rudi Lubbers UD 12 Oct 74 George Foreman KO 8 May 75 Ron Lyle TKO 11 Oct 75 Joe Frazier RTD 14 Apr 76 Jimmy Young UD 15 Sep 76 Ken Norton UD 15
Sep 77 Earnie Shavers UD 15 L Sep 78 Leon Spinks UD 15 L Dec 81 Trevor Berbick L UD 10