Editing Muhammad Ali (section)

==Professional career==
{{Main|Boxing career of Muhammad Ali}}

===Early career===
[[File:1961 Cassius Clay vs. Donnie Fleeman On-Site Poster.jpg|thumb|upright|On-site poster for [[Cassius Clay vs. Donnie Fleeman|Cassius Clay's]] fifth professional bout]]
Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over [[Tunney Hunsaker]]. From then until the end of 1963, Clay amassed a record of 19–0 with 15 wins by knockout. He defeated boxers including Tony Esperti, [[Jim Robinson (boxer)|Jim Robinson]], Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, [[LaMar Clark]], [[Doug Jones (boxer)|Doug Jones]], and [[Henry Cooper]]. Clay also beat his former trainer and veteran boxer [[Archie Moore]] in a 1962 match.<ref>{{cite news |last=Calkins |first=Matt |url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/nov/17/archie-moore-the52-boxing-heavyweight/ |title=Archie Moore was the KO king |work=[[U-T San Diego]] |date=November 17, 2014 |access-date=June 15, 2016 |archive-date=August 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811005535/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/nov/17/archie-moore-the52-boxing-heavyweight/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url={{GBurl|id=mgDK3q6GWI8C}} |title=Ali in Action: The Man, the Moves, the Mouth |first=Les |last=Krantz |year=2008 |publisher=Globe Pequot |access-date=June 15, 2016 |via=Google Books |isbn=978-1-59921-302-6}}</ref>

These early fights were not without trials. Clay was knocked down by both [[Sonny Banks]] and Cooper. In the Cooper fight, Clay was floored by a left [[Hook (boxing)|hook]] at the end of round four and was saved by the bell, going on to win in the predicted fifth round due to Cooper's severely cut eye. The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963, was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch. The number two and three heavyweight contenders respectively, Clay and Jones fought on Jones' home turf at New York's [[Madison Square Garden (1925)|Madison Square Garden]]. Jones staggered Clay in the first round, and the unanimous decision for Clay was greeted by boos and a rain of debris thrown into the ring. Watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ [[Sonny Liston]] quipped that if he fought Clay he (Liston) might get locked up for murder. The fight was later named "Fight of the Year" by ''The Ring'' magazine.<ref>{{cite news |last=Velin |first=Bob |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2016/06/04/muhammad-ali-fight-by-fight-career/85341622/ |title=Fight by fight: Muhammad Ali's legendary career |work=[[USA Today]] |date=June 4, 2016 |access-date=June 15, 2016 |archive-date=June 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160615060046/http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2016/06/04/muhammad-ali-fight-by-fight-career/85341622/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In each of these fights, Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. He called Jones "an ugly little man" and Cooper a "bum". He said he was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff and claimed that Madison Square Garden was "too small for me".<ref name=Mee>Bob Mee, ''Ali and Liston: The Boy Who Would Be King and the Ugly Bear'', 2011.</ref> Ali's [[trash talk]] was inspired by [[professional wrestler]] [[Gorgeous George|"Gorgeous George" Wagner]]'s, after he saw George's talking ability attract huge crowds to events.<ref name="SI">{{cite magazine |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1114630/index.htm |title=King Strut |first=John |last=Capouya |magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]] |access-date=March 14, 2017 |date=December 12, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110603232105/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1114630/index.htm |archive-date=June 3, 2011}}</ref> In a 1969 interview he stated that he met with George in Las Vegas in 1961, that George told him that talking a big game would earn paying fans who either wanted to see him win or wanted to see him lose, thus Clay transformed himself into a self-described "big-mouth and a bragger".<ref name=georgali>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbssports.com/general/news/how-muhammad-alis-fascination-with-pro-wrestling-fueled-his-career-inspired-mma/ |title=How Muhammad Ali's fascination with pro wrestling fueled his career, inspired MMA |first=Denny |last=Burkholder |work=CBS Sports |date=June 6, 2016 |access-date=October 2, 2016 |archive-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807202007/https://www.cbssports.com/general/news/how-muhammad-alis-fascination-with-pro-wrestling-fueled-his-career-inspired-mma/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1960, Clay left Moore's camp, partially due to Clay's refusal to do chores such as washing dishes and sweeping. To replace Moore, Clay hired [[Angelo Dundee]] to be his trainer. Clay had met Dundee in February 1957 during Clay's amateur career.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/7470417/muhammad-ali-was-continues-greatest |work=ESPN |title=Dundee: Ali was, still is 'The Greatest' |date=January 17, 2012 |access-date=January 17, 2012 |first1=Carlos |last1=Irusta |archive-date=January 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119214342/http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/7470417/muhammad-ali-was-continues-greatest |url-status=live }}</ref> Around this time, Clay sought longtime idol [[Sugar Ray Robinson]] to be his manager, but was rebuffed.<ref>{{cite book |last=Haygood |first=Wil |author-link=Wil Haygood |title=Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_nfLUMzlM0C&pg=PA378 |page=378 |publisher=[[Chicago Review Press]] |year=2011 |access-date=June 24, 2016 |isbn=978-1-56976-864-8 |archive-date=October 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031223022/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_nfLUMzlM0C&pg=PA378#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

===World heavyweight champion===
====Fights against Liston====
{{Main|Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston}}
By late 1963, Clay had become the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. The fight was set for February 25, 1964, in [[Miami Beach]]. Liston was an intimidating personality, a dominating fighter with a criminal past and ties to the mob. Based on Clay's uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous two fights, and Liston's destruction of former heavyweight champion [[Floyd Patterson]] in two first-round knockouts, Clay was an 8:1 underdog.<ref name="Liston">{{cite news |first=Robert |last=Lipsyte |title=Clay Wins Title in Seventh-Round Upset As Liston Is Halted by Shoulder Injury |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/10/25/specials/ali-upset.html |work=The New York Times |date=February 26, 1964 |access-date=December 27, 2008 |archive-date=April 10, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410085134/http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/10/25/specials/ali-upset.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the pre-fight buildup, dubbing him "the big ugly bear", claiming "Liston even smells like a bear" and "I'm gonna give him to the local zoo after I whup him."<ref>{{cite book|last=Remnick|first=David|title=King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero|date=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vkvoAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Liston+even+smells+like+a+bear%22&pg=PA147|page=147|isbn=9780804173629|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|access-date=April 23, 2024|archive-date=December 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215224259/https://books.google.com/books?id=vkvoAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA147&dq=%22Liston+even+smells+like+a+bear%22|url-status=live}}</ref> Clay turned the pre-fight weigh-in into a circus, shouting at Liston that "someone is going to die at ringside tonight." Clay's pulse rate was measured at 120, more than double his normal 54.<ref name="Liston" />

The outcome of the fight was a major upset. At the opening bell, Liston rushed at Clay, seemingly angry and looking for a quick knockout. However, Clay's superior speed and mobility enabled him to elude Liston, making the champion miss and look awkward. At the end of the first round, Clay opened up his attack and hit Liston repeatedly with jabs. Liston fought better in round two, but at the beginning of the third round Clay hit Liston with a combination that buckled his knees and opened a cut under his left eye. This was the first time Liston had ever been cut. At the end of round four, Clay was returning to his corner when he began experiencing blinding pain in his eyes and asked his trainer, [[Angelo Dundee]], to cut off his gloves. Dundee refused. It has been speculated that the problem was due to ointment used to seal Liston's cuts, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner to his gloves.<ref name="Liston" /> Though unconfirmed, boxing historian [[Bert Sugar]] said that two of Liston's opponents also complained about their eyes "burning".<ref>{{cite book |last=Sugar |first=Bert Randolph |title=Bert Sugar on Boxing: The Best of the Sport's Most Notable Writer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R8hivgAACAAJ |year=2003 |publisher=Globe Pequot |isbn=978-1-59228-048-3 |page=196 |access-date=November 3, 2023 |archive-date=November 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103145011/https://books.google.com/books?id=R8hivgAACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Despite Liston's attempts to knock out a blinded Clay, Clay was able to survive the fifth round until sweat and tears rinsed the irritation from his eyes. In the sixth, Clay dominated, hitting Liston repeatedly. Liston did not answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by [[TKO]]. Liston stated that the reason he quit was an injured shoulder. Following the win, a triumphant Clay rushed to the edge of the ring and, pointing to the ringside press, shouted: "Eat your words!" He added, "I am the greatest! I shook up the world. I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived."<ref>McLeod, Kembrew, ''Pranksters: Making Mischief in the Modern World'', pp. 223–224.</ref>

At ringside post fight, Clay appeared unconvinced that the fight was stopped due to a Liston shoulder injury, saying that the only injury Liston had was "an open eye, a big cut eye!" When told by Joe Louis that the injury was a "left arm thrown out of its socket," Clay quipped, "Yeah, swinging at nothing, who wouldn't?"<ref>{{cite AV media |title= Cassius Clay versus Sonny Liston |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4IKMX-5JLk |date=February 25, 1964 |access-date=November 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203100534/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4IKMX-5JLk |archive-date=December 3, 2018 |work=Theatre Network Television |publisher=[[ESPN Classic]] |via=kumite27 (YouTube) |url-status=live}}</ref>

In winning this fight at the age of 22, Clay became the youngest boxer to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion. However, [[Floyd Patterson]] remained the youngest to win the heavyweight championship, doing so at the age 21 during an elimination bout following [[Rocky Marciano]]'s retirement. [[Mike Tyson]] broke both records in 1986 when he defeated [[Trevor Berbick]] to win the heavyweight title at age 20. The feat also made Clay the fastest boxer to win the championship (non-vacant) in the modern era, doing so in 20 bouts.

Soon after the Liston fight, Clay changed his name to Cassius X, and then later to Muhammad Ali upon converting to the [[Nation of Islam]]. Ali then faced a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in [[Lewiston, Maine]]. It had been scheduled for Boston the previous November, but was postponed for six months due to Ali's emergency surgery for a hernia three days before.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cuddy |first=Jack |title=Clay Undergoes Surgery; Fight Is Off Indefinitely |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9544811/the_bridgeport_telegram/ |newspaper=[[The Bridgeport Telegram]] |date=November 14, 1964 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=March 14, 2017 |archive-date=March 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315174456/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9544811/the_bridgeport_telegram/ |url-status=live }} {{free access}}</ref> The fight was controversial. Midway through the first round, Liston was knocked down by a difficult-to-see blow the press dubbed a "phantom punch". Referee [[Jersey Joe Walcott]] did not begin the count immediately after the knockdown, as Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner. Liston rose after he had been down for about 20 seconds, and the fight momentarily continued. However a few seconds later Walcott, having been informed by the timekeepers that Liston had been down for a count of 10, stopped the match and declared Ali the winner by knockout.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/NXYwb2C6Hec Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20161006232427/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXYwb2C6Hec&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXYwb2C6Hec |title=Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston I & II – Highlights (Ali Becomes World Champion & Phantom Punch Fight!) |publisher=YouTube |access-date=June 20, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The entire fight lasted less than two minutes.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/16/sports/sports-of-the-times-on-his-50th-ali-is-still-the-greatest.html |work=The New York Times |title=Sports of The Times; On His 50th, Ali Is Still 'The Greatest' |date=January 16, 1992 |access-date=January 25, 2012 |first1=Dave |last1=Anderson |archive-date=December 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221075405/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/16/sports/sports-of-the-times-on-his-50th-ali-is-still-the-greatest.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

It has since been speculated that Liston purposely dropped to the ground. Proposed motivations include threats on his life from the Nation of Islam, that he had bet against himself and that he "took a dive" to pay off debts. Slow-motion replays show that Liston was jarred by a chopping right from Ali, although it is unclear whether the blow was a genuine knockout punch.<ref>{{cite book |last=Vachss |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Vachss |url=http://www.vachss.com/only_child/index.html |title=Only Child |page=89 |publisher=Vintage |year=2003 |access-date=June 6, 2016 |archive-date=May 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527140026/http://www.vachss.com/only_child/index.html |url-status=live }} Vachss further explains the way such a fix would have been engineered in {{cite book |url=http://twotrainsrunning.com/ |title=Two Trains Running |pages=160–165, 233 |publisher=Pantheon |year=2005 |access-date=June 4, 2016 |archive-date=July 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716221347/http://www.twotrainsrunning.com/ }}</ref>

====Fight against Patterson====
{{Main|Muhammad Ali vs. Floyd Patterson}}

Ali defended his title against former heavyweight champion [[Floyd Patterson]] on November 22, 1965. Before the match, Ali mocked Patterson, who was widely known to call him by his former name Cassius Clay, as an "[[Uncle Tom syndrome|Uncle Tom]]", calling him "The Rabbit". Although Ali had the better of Patterson, who appeared injured during the fight, the match lasted 12 rounds before being called on a technical knockout. Patterson later said he had strained his [[sacroiliac]]. Ali was criticized in the sports media for appearing to have toyed with Patterson during the fight.<ref name=Belth>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/37158310/ |title=Ali–Patterson: The Real Story |website=Sports on Earth |date=August 27, 2012 |access-date=June 3, 2016 |first=Alex |last=Belth |archive-date=November 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108100358/http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/37158310/ }}</ref> Patterson biographer W. K. Stratton claims that the conflict between Ali and Patterson was not genuine but was staged to increase ticket sales and the closed-circuit viewing audience, with both men complicit in the theatrics. Stratton also cites an interview by [[Howard Cosell]] in which Ali explained that rather than toying with Patterson, he refrained from knocking him out after it became apparent Patterson was injured. Patterson later said that he had never been hit by punches as soft as Ali's. Stratton states that Ali arranged the second fight, in 1972, with the financially struggling Patterson to help the former champion earn enough money to pay a debt to the [[IRS]].<ref name=Belth/>

====Main Bout====
[[File:Muhammad Ali 1966.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Ali watches replay of his March 1966 title fight against [[Henry Cooper]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Boxing – Muhammad Ali – Rank Cinema, Wardour Street, London |date=August 16, 2017 |url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/muhammad-ali-points-to-the-cut-eye-sequence-when-he-again-news-photo/833299780 |publisher=GettyImages |access-date=December 11, 2020 |archive-date=August 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826144858/https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/muhammad-ali-points-to-the-cut-eye-sequence-when-he-again-news-photo/833299780 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
After the Patterson fight, Ali founded his own promotion company, [[Main Bout, Inc.|Main Bout]]. The company mainly handled Ali's boxing promotions and [[pay-per-view]] [[closed-circuit television]] broadcasts. The company's stockholders were mainly fellow Nation of Islam members, along with several others, including [[Bob Arum]].<ref name="Ezra105">{{cite book |last=Ezra |first=Michael |title=The Economic Civil Rights Movement: African Americans and the Struggle for Economic Power |date=2013 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-136-27475-6 |page=105 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DL41bsCigZcC&pg=PA105 |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=October 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031223028/https://books.google.com/books?id=DL41bsCigZcC&pg=PA105#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

Ali and then-[[World Boxing Association|WBA]] heavyweight champion boxer [[Ernie Terrell]] had agreed to meet for a bout in Chicago on March 29, 1966 (the WBA, one of two boxing associations, had stripped Ali of his title following his joining the Nation of Islam). But in February Ali was reclassified by the Louisville draft board as 1-A from 1-Y, and he indicated that he would refuse to serve, commenting to the press, "I ain't got nothing against no [[Viet Cong]]; no Viet Cong never called me [[nigger]].",<ref>{{cite news |last=Shalit |first=Nevin I. |title=Muhammad Ali: Losing the Real Title |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1980/7/15/muhammad-ali-losing-the-real-title/ |newspaper=The Harvard Crimson |date=July 15, 1980 |access-date=August 19, 2015 |archive-date=September 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904070931/http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1980/7/15/muhammad-ali-losing-the-real-title/ |url-status=live }}</ref> although the second part is probably apocryphal.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fatsis |first=Stefan |date=June 8, 2016 |title="No Viet Cong Ever Called Me Nigger" |language=en-US |work=Slate |url=https://slate.com/culture/2016/06/did-muhammad-ali-ever-say-no-viet-cong-ever-called-me-nigger.html |access-date=March 24, 2023 |issn=1091-2339 |archive-date=March 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322215644/https://slate.com/culture/2016/06/did-muhammad-ali-ever-say-no-viet-cong-ever-called-me-nigger.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Amidst the media and public outcry over Ali's stance, the Illinois Athletic Commission refused to sanction the fight, citing technicalities.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]] |title=He Could Go To Jail And Still Be Champ |date=August 28, 1967 |first1=Angelo |last1=Dundee |first2=Tex |last2=Maule}}</ref>

Instead, Ali traveled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts against [[George Chuvalo]], [[Henry Cooper]], [[Brian London]], and [[Karl Mildenberger]].

Ali returned to the United States to fight [[Cleveland Williams]] at the [[Astrodome]] in [[Houston]] on November 14, 1966. The bout drew a record-breaking indoor crowd of 35,460 people. Williams had once been considered among the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division, but in 1964 he had been shot at point-blank range by a Texas policeman, resulting in the loss of one kidney and {{convert|10|ft|m|disp=flip}} of his small intestine. Ali dominated Williams, winning a third-round technical knockout in what some consider the finest performance of his career.

Ali fought Terrell in Houston on February 6, 1967. Terrell, who was unbeaten in five years and had defeated many of the boxers Ali had faced, was billed as Ali's toughest opponent since Liston; he was big, strong and had a three-inch reach advantage over Ali. During the lead up to the bout, Terrell repeatedly called Ali "Clay", much to Ali's annoyance. The two almost came to blows over the name issue in a pre-fight interview with Howard Cosell. Ali seemed intent on humiliating Terrell. "I want to torture him", he said. "A clean knockout is too good for him."<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Tex |last=Maule |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1079523/1/index.htm |title=Cruel Ali With All The Skills |date=February 13, 1967 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309201457/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1079523/1/index.htm |archive-date=March 9, 2013}}</ref> The fight was close until the seventh round, when Ali bloodied Terrell and almost knocked him out. In the eighth round, Ali taunted Terrell, hitting him with jabs and shouting between punches, "What's my name, Uncle Tom ... what's my name?" Ali won a unanimous 15-round decision. Terrell claimed that early in the fight Ali deliberately thumbed him in the eye, forcing him to fight half-blind, and then, in a clinch, rubbed the wounded eye against the ropes. Because of Ali's apparent intent to prolong the fight to inflict maximum punishment, critics described the bout as "one of the ugliest boxing fights". [[Tex Maule]] later wrote: "It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty." Ali denied the accusations of cruelty but, for Ali's critics, the fight provided more evidence of his arrogance.

After Ali's title defense against [[Zora Folley]] on March 22, he was stripped of his title due to his refusal to be drafted to army service.<ref name="greatath" /> His boxing license was also suspended by the state of New York. He was convicted of draft evasion on June 20 and sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He paid a bond and remained free while the verdict was being appealed.