Local reaction and career highlights
1964: Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, stunned the boxing world in February by upsetting seemingly invincible champion Sonny Liston. At 22, Clay was the youngest boxer to take a title from a reigning heavyweight champion. Shortly after, he announced that he had joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Ali famously said, “Cassius Clay is my slave name.”
1965: Ali won a controversial rematch in May with a first-round knockout on what was deemed a “phantom punch.” Later that year Ali fought Floyd Patterson, a former champion. Ali believed Patterson had made disparaging remarks about his religion, and many felt Ali intentionally prolonged the lopsided fight before stopping Patterson on a 12th-round TKO.
1967: Ali was criticized for his antics against Ernie Terrell in a February title fight. Between punches, Ali taunted him, saying, “What’s my name, Uncle Tom? What’s my name?” Ali, who won a lopsided 15-round decision, was upset Terrell called him Clay before the fight. Ali was stripped of his title for refusing to be inducted into the armed forces during the Vietnam War, saying, “I ain’t got no quarrel with the Viet Cong.”
1967-1970: Ali didn’t fight from March 1967 until October 1970, his prime boxing years taken away. In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Ali’s conviction in an 8-0 ruling.
1971: On March 8, in what was billed as the “Fight of the Century,” undefeated heavyweight champions Ali and Joe Frazier fought at Madison Square Garden in New York. Before the fight, Ali called Frazier a “dumb tool of the white establishment.” Frazier’s vicious left hook knocked Ali down in the 15th round as Ali suffered his first loss in a unanimous decision.
1973: Ali lost to little-known Ken Norton, who broke Ali’s jaw in their March fight. Ali won the rematch in September by decision.
1974: In “The Rumble in the Jungle,” Ali took on intimidating champion George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire, on Oct. 30. Ali was 32. But his “rope-a-dope” strategy tired out Foreman and Ali regained the title with an eighth-round knockout.
1975: Ali beat Frazier by decision in a nontitle bout. After Ali regained the title, he fought Frazier for the third time Oct. 1. Ali won the “Thrilla in Manila” by TKO after trainer Eddie Futch refused to let Frazier answer the bell for the 15th round. After the fight, Ali said it “was the closest thing to dying that I know.”
1978: An unprepared Ali lost his title by split decision in February to Leon Spinks, who’d had just seven pro fights. Ali won the September rematch, becoming the first heavyweight to win the title three times.
1980: Instead of staying retired, Ali, 38, fought WBC heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, his former sparring partner. Ali was dominated during the Oct. 2 bout in Las Vegas. Ali’s trainer, Angelo Dundee, stopped the fight before the 11th round in Ali’s only loss by knockout.
1981: Pleas to stay retired didn’t stop Ali from fighting Trevor Berbick. Ali lost a 10-round decision in his final fight Dec. 11. Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome in 1984.