Cassius Clay: The Louisville Lip

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, January 1942. He first turned to boxing at the age of 12, following the advice of a police officer and boxing coach who found him upset over the loss of a stolen bicycle. It is one of the more charming and popular stories about the young Ali: he learned to box so he could beat up the kid who stole his bike. Ali's talents shined brilliantly and early. He won six Kentucky Golden Gloves title, two national Golden Gloves titles, a National Amateur Athletic Union title, and the light heavyweight gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Foreshadowing his later stands on civil rights in the turbulent 1960s, Ali claims he threw his Olympic medal into the Ohio River after being refused restaurant service in Louisville. That medal was later replaced when Ali stood as the final torch bearer for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He ended his amateur career with a record of 100-5.

The Louisville Lip

Turning pro in October 1960, Ali rose quickly through the heavyweight ranks. Ali as a young man was 6'3" and didn't weigh in over 200lbs until 1962. The style he established in these days characterized the first half of his career: he had superlative reflexes, hand speed, and footwork, and this allowed him to break all the rules of boxing and get away with it. Ali carried his hands low, and relied upon reflexes and quick movements of the feet and the head to keep him out of trouble. His guard was never an issue in the early 1960s, because he was simply so hard to hit. The fast hands meant that he could throw blindingly fast punches. This led to his camp follower, Bundini Brown, to coin the famous phrase "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" to describe how Ali fought. It was paradoxical: Ali was a heavyweight who in many ways fought like a lightweight, and even then had reflexes that allowed him to get away with stunts no other fighter has been able to attempt until Roy Jones, Jr. in the 1990s. Big men just weren't supposed to be able to fight that way. Ali was also becoming as well known for his cocky attitude as he was for his talents in the ring. Dubbed "The Louisville Lip," at first many in the boxing world looked at his unorthodox style and loose tongue and dismissed him as a flash in the pan.

For a flash in the pan, Ali was taking the hard route to the top. Of his first 15 opponents, all but two had winning records. It was and is unusual for an up-and-coming fighter to start off by challenging veteran journeymen with so little experience under his belt, but Ali did exactly that. It was during this period that Ali began his practice of declaring what round he would knock out an opponent in simple verse, and he often carried an opponent he had in trouble early so they would survive and he could finish them in the predicted round ("the boy likes to mix, so he must fall in six!").

His first real test, however, came in November 1962, when he met the legendary "Old Mongoose," light heavyweight champion and heavyweight contender Archie Moore. Moore then had a record of 182-22-11, and had already forgotten more about boxing than most people have ever known. Ali had earlier considered hiring the crafty veteran as his trainer, but Moore was very old school and insisted on having his students do chores around the gym. Ali balked, and instead hired Angelo Dundee, forming a partnership that would last until almost the very end of Ali's career. 42 at the time, Moore could still do crafty and terrible things in the ring, but he was old and could only do them in spurts. Ali applied his youth and speed, forcing Moore to fight every minute of every round. The "Old Mongoose" crumbled, with Ali knocking him down three times in the 4th on the way to a TKO victory.

Ali then fought Doug Jones, winning a unanimous decision in thrilling a bout that The Ring declared as 1963's Fight of the Year. In June of that year, he met longtime British champ Henry Cooper in London. Ali hit the canvas for the first time in his career during the 4th, providing fodder for his doubters, but he stopped Cooper on cuts in the next round. The Cooper bout also became infamous for the first of Angelo Dundee's many questionable actions as a cornerman. After the knockdown, Dundee opened a large tear in one of Ali's boxing gloves. Replacing that glove gave Ali an extra minute to recover between rounds.

The Nation of Islam and the First Reign

An established contender for the heavyweight championship, Ali had already met Malcolm X and developed an interest in the Nation of Islam. Having first encountered the Nation of Islam as far back as 1959, by the time of his February 1964 fight with Sonny Liston he was already a secret convert. Ali kept his new faith a secret, having been persuaded to not publicize his conversion to the radical black religious-nationalist group for fear that it would destroy the marketability of his title challenge with Liston.

On his rise through the heavyweight ranks, Ali had already met Liston outside the ring, dubbing him "the big ugly bear," and had made a habit of appearing at his fights, press events, and even at his gym to taunt him. It was the prototype for the psychological warfare Ali would wage against all of his more substantial rivals.

Liston was one of the most menacing heavyweights in sports history. He was a 6'2", 215lbs wrecking machine, and had already knocked out most of the established contenders of the time, including two demolitions of former world champion Floyd Patterson. Liston was also an ex-con, having been to prison twice: first for armed robbery, and then again for beating up a police officer. To top it all off he was backed by the Mob. While not as physically powerful as Ali's later rival George Foreman, Liston was by far more technically sound. Given the drubbing Liston had handed to Patterson, no one gave the speedy, skinny, loudmouthed Ali much of a chance. The betting for Ali vs. Liston I was 7-1 against Ali, coincidentally the same odds as Tyson vs. Holyfield I. However, it is often forgotten that Ali was still well-liked by many in those early days of his career, and that he would dethrone the unpopular, thug-like Liston.

Ali put his float like a butterfly, sting like a bee style to work. Much like Mike Tyson, Liston was very reliant upon his intimidation, and Ali not only refused to be intimidated, he had turned the psychological tables on Liston with his public insults. The slower, heavy-handed 31 year old Liston was unable to establish his piledriver-like jab, frustrated by Ali's graceful movement, sharp reflexes, and blistering combinations. Liston was soon being busted up by stinging punches. However, after the 4th Round Ali returned to his corner complaining that his eyes were burning and he could not see. It has been guessed that a liniment being used for Liston's cuts got on his gloves, either by accident or being deliberately smeared there, and this got into Ali's eyes. The 22 year old fighter panicked, and demanded that Angelo Dundee cut his gloves off. Dundee refused, sponged his eyes out, and pushed him back out into the ring. Ali ran from Liston for the 5th Round, with his vision finally starting to clear towards the end of the round. He then came back out in the 6th and started re-establishing his dominance. Liston returned to his corner, complained of a shoulder injury, and quit on his stool. Cassius Marcellus Clay (he had not changed his name to Muhammad Ali yet) was now the world heavyweight champion. Although the bout was not especially exciting or even competitive, it was a huge upset and was declared the Fight of the Year for 1964.

After his victory, Ali finally revealed that he was a convert to the Nation of Islam. He first changed his name to Cassius X, and eventually to Muhammad Ali. His new status as the most prominent black Muslim in America made him into a lightening rod for controversy.

Because of the way the first bout with Liston had ended, a rematch between Ali and Liston was ordered, taking place in May 1965. Due to licensing problems, the promotion was set in small Lewiston, Maine. The remote location made it one of the most poorly attended heavyweight title fights in history, which only added to the controversy and conspiracy theories that grew out of the outcome. Halfway into the 1st Round, Liston was felled by a right hand from Ali that was so fast few in the audience even saw it. The referee, former champ Joe Walcott, was unable to control Ali, who stood over Liston screaming "Get up sucka!" Walcott allowed more than 20 seconds to pass trying to figure out what to do and restoring order, and then permitted the fight to continue. Then after the round Nat Fleischer, the publisher of The Ring magazine told Walcott that because Liston had been on the canvas for more than a 10 count, the fight should be over and Liston counted as knocked out. Walcott stopped the fight, awarding Ali a controversial first round KO over Liston.

Few people had actually seen the bout, and fewer still saw the punch that dropped Liston. Conspiracy theories began flying almost immediately. It was claimed that Liston had bet against himself and took a dive, or that black Muslims had threatened his life (even though the idea of anyone this side of Sam Giancana strong-arming Sonny Liston was laughable). The "phantom punch" is clearly seen in slow motion film of the fight: it is a well-leveraged right hand that hit with enough force to lift one of Liston's feet off the ground, and traveled so fast the first Liston knew of it was probably when he hit the canvas. It is an axiomatic in boxing that speed kills, and it is the shock of the shots you don't see that hurt you the most. There is nothing shadowy about Liston's knockdown, although Liston probably should not have been penalized for Walcott's inability to referee the fight.

The first defense of his newly won title was against two-time world champion Floyd Patterson, and in some ways the bout symbolized America's reaction to its new heavyweight king. Patterson, an idol in Ali's younger days, was a dedicated integrationist who had worked hard earning popularity with mainstream white America. Meanwhile, the same mouthy antics that had previously earned Ali some popularity were earning him nothing but scorn once he had become associated with militant black nationalism. Inside the ring, while Patterson was the better ring technician, he was overmatched by the 23 year old champion's speed and size (Ali had 3 inches and 14 pounds on Patterson). Patterson suffered a 12th Round TKO. In 1966, Ali was very busy. With his unpopularity making it difficult to promote his fights in America, Ali took his show on the road. First he met George Chuvalo, the toughest man Canada has ever produced, in Toronto and outboxed him to a clear points victory. Then he traveled to London, meeting British champ Henry Cooper in a rematch, again stopping him on cuts. He then made another pair of defenses, one in London and one in Frankfurt, Germany, before returning to the US to fight Cleveland Williams. Williams was once a highly regarded contender and puncher, but he had only just recovered from being shot in the stomach by a .356 magnum, was missing a kidney and a stretch of intestine from the shooting, and was little more than a shell of his former self. Ali's performance against Williams is strangely considered by many to be Ali at his best, despite Williams being little more than a shell.

While Ali had been hard at work defending his crown, he was fighting a losing battle to avoid the draft. Initially Ali had been failed his aptitude exam and been declared unfit for service. However, pressure from the Vietnam War caused the US Army to lower its standards to the point where Ali's scores qualified for service; he was instantly certified for the draft, and his number came up shortly thereafter. Ali claimed conscientious objector status, describing himself as a Muslim minister, and famously said "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong. They never called me nigger." Pressure was building on Ali, and he seemed to be out to clean out the heavyweight division before they could send him to prison or strip him of his title.

Ali began 1967 by fighting Earnie Terrell, who had been recognized as the WBA's champion. Terrell, like Patterson, refused to call Ali by his new name and insisted on "Cassius Clay." Unlike Patterson, Terrell was not a past idol and by then Ali was severely aggravated by prolonged public hostility. Ali could have ended the bout with Terrell at anytime after the first few rounds, but savagely refused to knock Terrell out so he could continue to beat on him. Ali pummeled and humiliated Terrell for the full 15 rounds of the bout, screaming at him "What's my name Uncle Tom?!" throughout. It was an ugly display of the dark side of Muhammad Ali's massive ego.

Ali's last fight was against Zora Folley. When Muhammad Ali refused induction into the U.S. Army in April 1967, he was stripped of his world title and had his license to box suspended by the New York State Athletic Commission, with other state commissions following suit shortly thereafter. He was convicted of draft evasion, with the maximum penalty being imposed. The case was appealed, eventually finding its way to the Supreme Court, where the conviction was overturned. In February 1970, he announced his retirement from boxing as a gesture intended to give legitimacy to the winner of the Joe Frazier vs. Jimmy Ellis unification bout (Frazier supported Ali legally and financially during his exile; Ellis was a friend and former gym mate), but many still considered Ali to be the champ according to the old standard: to be the man, you have to beat the man.