I suppose it was seeing Muhammad Ali's upcoming birthday last week that tripped my trigger on 70's nostalgia ... but the trigger has definitely been tripped.
Pretty much my only knowledge of Muhammad Ali up until last week has been that he is .. of course .. the greatest.
I'm old enough to've caught him floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee - but young enough to've missed the era in which he was a bit of a loose cannon regarding his views on core matters. I don't shame him for that though - more people should regard their core matters that way.
Our facts on Muhammad Ali today come from ::IMDB::
Born - 17 January 1942, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Took in interest in boxing when his bike was stolen by local hoods.
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| 1954 |
Birth Name - Cassius Marcellus Clay
Nicknames
The Louisville Lip
The Greatest
The People's Champion
Height
6' 3" (1.91 m)
Muhammad Ali beat more champions and top contenders than any heavyweight champion in history. He defeated heavyweight kings Sonny Liston (twice), Floyd Patterson (twice), Ernie Terrell, Jimmy Ellis, 'Ken Norton' (twice), Joe Frazier (twice), George Foreman and Leon Spinks. He defeated light-heavyweight champsArchie Moore and Bob Foster. Ali defeated European Heavyweight Champions Henry Cooper, Karl Mildenberger, Jurgin Blin, Joe Bugner, Richard Dunn, Jean-Pierre Coopman and Alfredo Evangelista. He defeated British & Commonwealth king Brian London. All of Ali's defeats were to heavyweight champions: Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Leon Spinks, Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick. Also beat undefeated fighters Sonny Banks (12-0), Billy Daniels (16-0), Rudi Lubbers (21-0) and George Foreman (40-0).
Trade Mark
*Trademark phrase: "Floats Like A Butterfly and Stings Like a Bee"*
*Predicting the round in which his opponents would fall*
*The Ali Shuffle*
Personal Quotes
Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.
I am an astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and Jack Dempsey were just jet pilots. I'm in a world of my own.
At home I am a nice guy - but I don't want the world to know. Humble people, I've found, don't get very far.
It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.
Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill, and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.
You can't hit what you can't see; I float like a butterfly and sting like a bee!
After being rejected by the Vietnam draft the first time, because he failed the 'intelligence' portion, Casius said, "I never said I was the smartest, I said I was the greatest".
I won a gold medal representing the USA at the olympic games in 1960, but when I came home I still got treated like a nigger. There were restaurants I couldn't get served in. Some people kept calling me 'boy'.
I'm soooooooooooooooooo pretty!!!
I don't admire nobody but Elvis Presley. He was the sweetest most humble and nicest man you'd ever meet.
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.
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Ali learned early from the outrageous bad-guy wrestler, Gorgeous George, that it could pay to be hated. Ali said "I saw fifteen thousand people coming to see this man get beat, and his talking did it. I said, this is a goo-o-o-d idea!" Then Ali refined that talking concept to what has been referred to as The Louisville Lip.
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Has a record of 56-5 with 37 KOs.
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In order to pay his legal fees (since he was barred from boxing), Ali hit the college lecture circuit and even starred in the Broadway Musical "Buck White".
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His maternal grandmother's paternal grandfather was of Anglo-Saxon descent, by whom he is still related, among other notable people, to Presidents William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and Benjamin Harrison VI, Generals Robert Edward Lee, George Catlett Marshall and George Smith Patton Jr, actors Lee Marvin, Glenn Close, Laura Dern and Hilary Duff and to journalist Katie Couric and cyclist Lance Armstrong.
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Met The Beatles while training to fight Sonny Liston, and posed for photos with them in a boxing ring. Declared afterward that they were the greatest, but he was "still the prettiest".
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His bout with massive underdog Chuck Wepner inspired Sylvester Stallone to create Rocky Balboa, while the character Apollo Creed (played by Carl Weathers) was based on Ali himself.
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Ali is the first heavyweight champion in the history of boxing to lose his title to a novice who had only seven professional fights. This occurred when Ali lost his title Leon Spinks on February 15, 1978.
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His bout with massive underdog Chuck Wepner inspired Sylvester Stallone to create Rocky Balboa, while the character Apollo Creed (played by Carl Weathers) was based on Ali himself.
Was featured in a "Pizza Hut" Pizza, boxing commercial alongside David Bortolucci and real life trainer Angelo Dundee, which was meant to air during the 1998 "Super Bowl", and was pulled at the very last moment, for being to violent. The cost was set in the ten of millions.
Where Are They Now
(January 2002) 1/11/02: Given star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, but, at Ali's insistence, it will be installed in the facade of the Kodak Theatre, the new home of the Oscars.
(August 2006) Berrien County, Michigan in the town of Berrien Springs, MI,USA 49103-0187.
(2005) Release of the book, "Muhammad Ali: Unseen Archives" by William Stratmore.
(2004) Release of the book, "Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey" by Muhammad Ali and his daughter, Hana Ali.
Great Muhammad Ali Goodies We Found Online
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| Muhammad Ali T-Shirt - http://amzn.to/1TTCC67 Muhammad Ali Books |
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| Muhammad Ali has written four books to date - You can find them here! |
and Groovy Day!!
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