It seems unlikely that there will ever be a legendary boxer like Muhammad Ali. He is regarded as one of the most celebrated sports figures of the 20th century, and he has been rightly nicknamed as The Greatest. He was voted the number one heavyweight of the 20th century by The Associated Press in 1999, while ESPN named him the second greatest boxer in history.
The boxing world doesn’t have such a gem now, but it certainly has some amazing athletes in the form of Manny Pacquiao, Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Álvarez, etc. You can follow these boxers and through online betting sites, can even actively participate in these matches.
1- Muhammad Ali was named Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.
Muhammad Ali was first named Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. which was the name of his father. The legendary later converted to Islam and was renamed as Muhammad Ali.
His father was named in honor of a white abolitionist known as Cassius Clay. The 19th-century planter and politicianCassius Clay was very active for the emancipation of slaves. He freed all the slaves he inherited from his father and even published an anti-slavery newspaper called True American in Lexington, Kentucky. President Abraham Lincoln had appointed him the US minister to Russia during the Civil War.
2- Ali got a replacement gold medal
Muhammad Ali won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics. However, he said in his autobiography that he threw that medal into the Ohio River after he still experienced racism in his hometown.
Many people have denied this story, including many of Ali’s friends. Nevertheless, it is undisputed that he lost the medal and later he received a replacement during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
3- He suffered 5 losses in the ring
Undoubtedly, Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest boxers of all time, but even he was a human and so had his moments of vulnerability. He won an incredible 56 fights, but he also lost five matches with the latter three coming when he was about to retire from boxing.
He lost his first fight against his great rival Joe Frazier in 1971, though Ali took his revenge later by winning the next two fights. In 1973, Ken Norton defeated Ali in a close fight at Sports Arena, San Diego.
He won his next 14 fights before losing to Leone Spinks at Las Vegas Hilton, Winchester, Nevada in 1978. Before his retirement, he lost two more fights against Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick.
4- He was a super-hero in real-life
In 1978, a comic named Superman vs. Muhammad Ali was published by DC Comics. A few years later, he proved himself to be a real-life super-hero by saving a man from suicide.
This happened in 1981 when a man threatened to jump from a building in L.A. His friend Howard Bingham called him and Ali successfully persuaded the man to come down from the ledge.
