Childhood Of Celebrities : Muhammad Ali
Ali was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He was named after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay, Sr., who was named for the 19th century abolitionist and politician Cassius Clay. Ali changed his name after joining the Nation of Islam and subsequently converted to Sunni Islam in 1975.
Standing at 6′ 3″ (1.91 m), Ali had a highly unorthodox style for a heavyweight boxer. Rather than the normal boxing style of carrying the hands high to defend the face, he instead relied on his speed and quickness to avoid a punch. He was first directed toward boxing by Louisville police officer Joe E. Martin, who first encountered the 12-year-old Cassius Clay fuming over his bicycle being stolen. Clay then, without Martin knowing, went to another gym as well as going Martin’s gym, in order to train with Fred Stoner. Ali did so because with Martin he made $4 a week on Tomorrow’s Champions, a TV show that Martin did, but Ali also went to Stoner’s gym because Stoner was a much better coach. Stoner coached Ali throughout the remainder of his amateur career. His last amateur loss was to Kent Green of Chicago, who until Ali lost to Joe Frazier in 1971 as a pro, could say he was the last person to defeat the champion. Under Stoner’s guidance, Clay went on to win 6 Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, 2 national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union National Title, and the Light Heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Olympics in Rome . Ali’s record was 100 wins, 5 losses when he ended his amateur career.
A popular urban legend (concurring with Ali’s own account of the event in his 1975 autobiography) states that after being refused service at a ‘whites-only’ restaurant, and fighting with a white gang, Clay threw his Olympic gold medal into the Ohio River. Whether this is true is still debated.
He barely graduated from Louisville Central High, a local basketball power, finishing 369th out of 391 graduating seniors in the class of 1960, and often traveling to fight on weekends. A principal named Atwood argued in his favor, stating to his colleagues that the boy should be given a Certificate of Attendance, given that “…one day he’ll be making more money than everyone in this room.”
After his Olympic triumph, he returned to Louisville to begin his professional career. There, on October 29, 1960, Cassius Clay won his first professional fight, a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker, who was the police chief of Fayetteville, West Virginia. From 1960 to 1963, the young fighter amassed a record of 19-0, with 15 knockouts. He defeated such boxers as Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, Lamar Clark (who had won his previous 40 bouts by knockout), Doug Jones and Henry Cooper. He built a reputation by correctly predicting the round in which he would finish several opponents, and by boasting before his triumphs. Clay admitted he adopted the latter practice from Freddie Blassie, Blassie a popular west coast champion in the Los Angeles area drew thousands of fans, Blassie often “the man you loved to hate” could incite the crowd with a few heated remarks, Clay learned the same. Among Clay’s victims were Sonny Banks (who knocked him down during the bout), Alejandro Lavorante, and the aged Archie Moore (a boxing legend who had fought over 200 previous fights, and who had been Clay’s trainer prior to Angelo Dundee). Clay had considered using Moore as a trainer, but Moore had insisted the cocky “Louisville Lip” perform training camp chores such as sweeping and dishwashing. He also gave some thought to having his idol Sugar Ray Robinson as a manager. But Clay had first met Dundee when the latter was in Louisville with light heavyweight champ Willie Pastrano. Teenage Gold Glover Clay went downtown to the fighter’s hotel, called Dundee from the house phone, and asked up to their room. Once there, he asked Dundee (who was working with, or had, champions Sugar Ramos and Carmen Basilio) what his fighters ate, how long they slept, how much roadwork (jogging) they did, and how long they sparred.
Clay then won a disputed 11 round decision over Doug Jones. The fight was named “Fight of the Year” for 1963. Clay’s next fight was against Henry Cooper, who knocked Clay down with a left hook near the end of the fourth round. The fight was stopped in the 5th round due to a deep cut on Cooper’s face.
Despite these close calls he became the top contender for Sonny Liston’s title. In spite of Clay’s impressive record, he was not expected to beat the champ. The fight was to be held on February 25, 1964 in Miami, Florida. The fight was nearly canceled when the promoter Bill Faversham learned of rumors that Clay had been seen around Miami and in other cities with the controversial Malcolm X. The Nation of Islam, at the time considered a “hate group” by most media and Americans in 1964, was perceived as a gate-killer to a bout where, given Liston’s overwhelming status as the favorite to win (7-1 odds), had Clay’s colorful persona as its sole appeal. Faversham confronted Clay about his association with Malcolm X (who, at the time, was actually under suspension by the Nation as a result of controversial comments made in early December in the wake of President Kennedy’s assassination, which he called a case of “the chickens coming home to roost”). Clay, while coming short of admitting he was a member of the NOI, protested the cancellation of the fight. Faversham asked the fighter to delay his announcement about his conversion to Islam until after the fight. The incident is described in the 1975 book “The Greatest: My Own Story” by Ali (with Richard Durham).
During the weigh-in on the previous day, the ever-boastful Ali — who frequently taunted Liston during the buildup by dubbing him “the big ugly bear”, among other things — declared that he would “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee,” and, summarizing his strategy for avoiding Liston’s assaults, said, “Your hands can’t hit what your eyes can’t see.”
Credit : Wikipedia
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