Here are 22 things never to be forgotten about boxing great and legend, Muhammad Ali. You can even call it Muhammad Ali’s mini-biography if you like – courtesy YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine:
1. His real name is Cassius Marcellus Clay.
2. Originally a Christian, it was upon converting to Islam that he became Muhammad Ali.
3. He breathed his last in a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America.
4. He reportedly died from complications arising from a respiratory issue.
5. He will be buried at a yet-to-be-announced date in Louiseville, Kentucky, USA.
6. Before the respiratory issue, he had battled Parkinson’s disease since 1984.
7. He was aged 74.
8. He fought 61 times professionally, won 56, 37 of them as knockouts and 19 via the umpires’decision.
9. Altogether, he lost five bouts, four via decision and one as a result of his retirement.
10. He was a three-time heavyweight champion – 1964-1967; 1974-1978 and 1978-1979.
11. He finally retired from boxing in 1981.
12. He dubbed himself ‘The Greatest’ and indeed he was.
13. He won a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.
14. Sports Illustrated crowned him their Sports Man of the Century.
15. While BBC settled for him as their Sports Personality of the Century.
16. Besides being very, very colourful and dramatic anytime he was in the ring, he was also a poet and civil rights campaigner.
17. He made history by becoming a World Heavyweight Boxing Champion at 22.
18. He suffered his first major professional defeat in the hands of Joe Fraizer on March 8, 1971, in New York, USA.
19. He however regained the title on October 30, 1974, after knocking out George Foreman, in Rumble in the Jungle, in Kinshasha, Zaire.
20. He suffered devastating defeats in the hands of Larry Holmes, in 1980, and Trevor Berbick, in 1981, long after many believed he ought to have retired.
21. He lit the Olympic Cauldron during Atlanta 96 and carried the Olympic Flag again at the opening ceremony in 2012, in London.
22. One of his most popular quotes is that he floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.