Muhammad Ali Record – Greatest of All Time

Muhammad Ali, the champion of world boxing and heavyweight Olympics, has many records in history. Throughout his career, he made many records and defeated the unbeaten boxers through his skills. At a very young age, he earned a good reputation in the national and international level games. His records and victories have made him the greatest of all time. In the boxing field, no one has earned more fame than Ali. He has a very hardworking and interesting history that will impress you once you through his history. He falls under the category of the best gamers of the previous century. His winning rate is more than many other boxers. All these put Muhammad Ali record at the top of the list of the world’s best boxers. 

When it comes the heavyweight competitions or those of boxing, Muhammad Ali’s name always pops up in the mind. All this is due to his good game record. Ali’s gaming style is also a reason behind his fame. His gaming style is very unique that no other player has ever had. Not a single, multiple features add up to make Ali the greatest boxer of the previous century. Though he faced defeats too, he believed that defeats were a lesson to move towards success. However, his overall boxing career was outclassed and incomparable. 

Muhammad Ali has always been the favorite sportsman for the amateurs of the boxers. If you’re also one of his followers, you should dig all the facts about him. This article is mainly based on all the facts and historical successes of Ali. Also, his biography will be discussed in detail in the later section. So, let’s move down to explore this beneficial guide. 

A Short Biography Of Muhammad Ali record 

Birth and Parentage

Muhammad Ali was born to an American Family on 17th January 1942. His parents were Christians who never embraced Islam. But Muhammad Ali was impressed by the teaching and way of life in Islam, so he changed his religion from Christianity to Islam. The original name of Muhammad Ali Clay was Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. who changed his name in 1964 after embracing Islam. His father’s name was Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. and that of his mother was Odessa Clay. 

Start of Different Careers

As Muhammad Ali embraced Islam at the age of 22, he became a controversial figure in his family and sports career. This thing affected his boxing career a lot. However, he kept on growing and evolving in his career. He was an amateur heavyweight lifter but some situations moved him towards boxing. He was impressed by Schwinn, the boxer who turned his heavyweight career towards boxing. 

He suffered a lot after embracing Islam as all his relatives and friends were Christians. However, he remained strong in his belief and started his career as a heavyweight lifter. Also, he joined boxing after his interaction with Mr.Schwinn. His religious belief doesn’t let him en route in the US military. All this led him to make himself a strong gaming champion. 

Achievements

Over the years, Muhammad Ali record kept on struggling with his heavyweight and boxing careers. He was terminated and banned from boxing in 1964. He was banned for three years. However, he never accepted his defeat and kept on struggling. 

• Success At Amateur Athletic Union

The start of Muhammad Ali’s career is very interesting. His bicycle was stolen when he was 12 years old. This stealing proved lucky for him. He reported his case to a police officer named Joe Martin. He was a boxer and used to train people for boxing. He took the angry Clay in his custody and looked after him and started his training. 

Clay was a very quick learner and learned a lot in a very short time. After just six weeks, clay appeared in a split decision and competed bravely. This won him about at the initial stage of his career. He kept on learning and struggling to sharpen his career. From the very beginning of his career, he was very sharp and won the title of two Golden Gloves, more than 100 victories, and two titles by the Amateur Athletic Union at the age of 18. 

• FirstLight Gold Medal

He took his studies and boxing career side by side and won the first light gold medal in the Summer Olympics of 1960 in Rome.  Not only the boxing career, but his heavyweight career was also very bright. He won the title of “Louisville Lip” due to his brave defense against his opponents in 1960 heavyweight games. 

• Muhammad Ali Clay: The World Heavyweight Champion

As mentioned above, Muhammad Ali started his career as a heavyweight lifter. He struggled very much both in heavyweight and boxing. So, he kept on evolving positively in boxing and heavyweight career. Soon after he won the light gold medal in Rome, he earned the title of world’s heavyweight champion in 1964. 

On 25th Feb 1964, Clay made a world record in heavyweight by defending the well-known heavyweight player, Sonny Liston. He challenged Liston before their competition and results also supported him. This was a great achievement of Clay against the world-famous heavyweight champion. This knockout success made him the rising world heavyweight champion who defeated Liston at the age of just 22. 

• Triumphs of 1965

With his remarkable success against Liston, Muhammad didn’t come slow. He kept on sharpening his game for more victories and was awarded successive triumphs in 1965. He had a rematch with Liston in May 1965. He was champion this time too and knocked him out from the very first round. This made him more famous than his previous success. 

Following his second success against Liston, Muhammad Ali record met triumphs against different champions of the boxing world. He succeeded against the following names of the boxing world. 

• Floyd Patterson
• Henry Cooper
• Brian London
• George Chuvalo
• Kal Mildenberger

All these successes soon after his second victory against Liston made him more famous than before. 

• Success Against Cleveland Williams

Not coming slow, Ali moved on in his career and fought against Cleveland Williams on the 14th of November 1966. He encountered three rounds against him. He punched him more than 100 times in three rounds. He knocked him out three times. In this way, he earned another success against a well-known player in boxing. 

This was not the only success of Clay in the year 1966. This victory was followed by that against Ernie Terrell and Zora Folley. So, this year also proved very lucky for Clay. 

• Clay’s Five Years Imprisonment

The year 1967 proved an unlucky year for Clay. His religious beliefs didn’t let him join the US military and he refused the induction. This induction resulted in 5 years’ imprisonment for Clay. However, he remained free on bail. 

• Success Against Jerry Quarry and Oscar Bonavena 

After his bail in 1970 from the case of refusal of induction, Clay started his struggle again in the field of boxing. However, three years of leisure made him very fat and lazy. This took a lot of his time to return to the game. 

His game doesn’t remain as fast and strong and fast as it had been. However, he didn’t accept defeat and came back to the game. In 1970, he earned his success against Jerry Quarry and Oscar Bonvena. These successes refilled his energy into his muscles. 

• Ali’s Defeats

The years after 1970 again proved unlucky for Muhammad Ali record. He was defeated by a heavyweight champion named Frazier (1972). This fight caused a lot of humiliation for Muhammad Ali as he challenged Frazier. Frazier has won the title of world champion after his success in the “Fight of the Year ”. However, Clay’s challenge to Frazier was costly for himself. Frazier, the world heavyweight champion, defeated him after a 15 round decision. 

Not only 1971, years till 1973 proved unlucky for Muhammad Ali record. He lost his fight against Ken Norton. He not only defeated him but also broke his jaw mercilessly. This caused much trouble for him and wasted a lot of his time. 

• Victory Against Frazier and Ken Norton

Muhammad Ali didn’t use to accept his failure so easily. He kept on trying to improve himself and his game. As a result of unlimited struggle and practice, he succeeded against both players who defeated him some days ago, Frazier and Ken Norton. He won after the decision of 12 successive rounds. 

• Muhammad Ali’s Challenge to George Foreman

Not coming slow, Muhammad Ali kept on struggling to make new records. In 1974, he challenged a well-known boxer, George Foreman who recently defeated Frazier in late 1973. After his success against Frazier, Foreman earned the title of ” World Heavyweight Champion “. However, he couldn’t use this title for a long time as Clay defeated him in the challenge of 1974. He knocked Foreman out in the 8th round. So, he regained his lost” World Heavyweight Champion ” title. 

• Thrilla in Manila

After his success against Foreman, Muhammad Ali remained the champion of the boxing world for more than successive 30 months. He created many records and defeated many well-known boxers during this time. Out of all his victories during this era, his victory against Joe Frazier was remarkable. They came across once again on the 1st of Oct, 1975 in Manila, Philippines. 

This time, both the fighters did their best to make this fight one of the best and memorable fights of the boxing world. As they came across time, the previous record being level, they tried their best to be champions. However, Clay defeated Frazier after 14 successive brutal rounds. This fight was named “Thrilla in Vanilla” due to its thrilling competition. 

• Fights Against Leon Spinks

Muhammad Ali record kept the title of the world’s best boxer until he was defeated by a novice boxer, Leon Spinks. Spinks was a newly rising boxer who had only seven victories in his career. However, he snatched the world boxing champion title from Clay in 1978 after 15 rounds of brutal fights. 

However, Clay didn’t accept his defeat and kept on struggling to regain his title. Finally, he succeeded in beating Spinks in the same year after seven months. With this defeat, he regained his champion title. 

• Ali’s Retirement and Rejoining

After his bold success against Spinks, Muhammad announced his retirement. However, his misfortune dragged him back to the ring in 1980. He fought a fight against Larry Holmes in 1980 that proved unlucky for him and was defeated after 11 rounds of successive defense. This was followed by another failure in the hands of Trevor Berbick in 1981. These two fights were a great loss to Ali’s gaming career. 

• Overall Performance of Boxing Champion Clay

The boxing and heavyweight champion Clay had an overall bright career. He struggled to earn fame and his journey was too long. If we see his overall career, we’ll find him a champion of all time. In his career, he won 56 times, lost 5 times, and faced knockouts 37 times. The overall career of Clay is very bright. He put himself in the immortals of the boxing world by struggling for it. 

He has unique qualities that put him above all other fighters. He had great speed, excellent footwork, and a unique style of punching. All this kept him a champion for most of his boxing career. He was a courageous fighter who never accepted his defeats. He used to struggle more if he faced any failure. His struggle resulted in his immortality. 

Later years of Ali’s life were bad luck for him. He met defeats, suffered from brain damage and physical decline, and the most dangerous thing that he suffered from was Parkinson’s Syndrome. All this led to his physical and mental decline over the years. 

Clay’s Post Retirement Life

Muhammad Ali had a successful career despite his defeats. He was retired with honor. After he retired from the boxing world, he turned towards religion and tried his best to learn it. He remained a brilliant student of Elijah Muhammad. However, he taught him about national discrimination that hurt him. So, he quit his teachings and started self-improvements. He earned a great name in this field too by doing different remarkable works in the religious field. 

He married Lonnie (Fourth Wife) in 1986 and had nine siblings. His children were not fond of the boxing world for which their father devoted his sole life. Out of all his children, only one daughter named Laila Ali followed her father’s footsteps and started her career as a bold boxer in 1999. She won 24 bouts from 1999 to 2007 and remained undefeated during this period. Also, she earned many titles in her heavyweight career. 

He was such a renowned boxer that Hollywood made two films on his biography and boxing career. One of them is named Ali(2001) which is a representation of his dramatic period as a boxer from 1964 to 1974. Another tribute to Muhammad Ali is “I Am Ali” (2014) that includes all happenings of his life and career. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. He passed away in 2016. 

What Reasons Put Clay Above All? 

In the athletic field, Muhammad Clay had earned good fame. He has made many records, some are discussed in the above section, which makes him the greatest of all the times. He’s one of the best athletes of all time. Over time, he kept on struggling and growing positively. All this resulted in a good name for Clay in the athletic field. 

Some people know all about the world records and struggles that Muhammad Ali record has earned in his relevant field. For those amateurs who don’t know the exact reasons for his greatness, here are some facts that will clear their confusion. 

1- A True Champion

Muhammad struggled for a reason. Unlike many former boxers, he longed to be immortal in history. This reason kept him active and energetic forever. One can guess about his activeness from the fact that he answered the bells more than twenty times within five years from 1970 to 1975. Also, when he embraced Islam, many hurdles came his way. But he never accepted the failure and kept on growing. This resulted in the immortal fame of Muhammad Ali record.

2- Unique Style and Speed

Another feature of Muhammad Ali record that made him immortal is his unique way of punching and defense. His footwork was superb that helped him in defense. Also, his speed of punching and defending was great. All these things added up to make him the greatest of all the times. 

3- Great Courage and Toughness

Boxers need great courage to make their place in the ring. Their stamina plays an important role in the ring. Over time, many boxers made themselves immortal just by their courage. Muhammad Ali is one of the champions having great courage and toughness that helped him to make many records. Moreover, he never admitted his failure. One can guess his toughness from the fact that he bested Frazier after two successive brutal defeats but was never stopped. Many other examples are there that showcase the courage of Clay. 

4- Jack of All Trades

Hardly there will be any athlete who will earn the title of jack of all trades. Muhammad Ali is not included in those who failed to earn this title. He was not only a boxing champion but also a heavyweight champion. He made many records in heavyweight as well as boxing. Also, he started his career at an age when children used to love playing. All this made him a jack of all trades. So, he is truly regarded as the greatest of all time. 

5- Clay Ruled for A Long Time

Mostly, athletes earn fame that is replaced by another one after some time. This is not true in the case of clay as he was a consistent person who kept on making new records over time. He remained champion throughout his life and is remembered even nowadays after 5 years of his death. 

6- Great Returns 

Often, athletes accept their decline once any hurdle comes their way. Once they say goodbye to the ring, they never come back again. But Muhammad Ali record walked against this tradition. He was sentenced to five years in jail during his career but he came back to the game. Also, Parkinson’s Syndrome made him very weak. Despite his illness, he returned to the ring and won many fights again. This is another bold thing about Clay. 

7- A Great Competitor

One thing that makes any boxer great is the way he competes with his competitors well. Many fighters fail to learn the ways of defending. Ali was different from all those who failed to defend their competitors in the ring. He used unique ways to defend himself in the ring. His superb way of punching, his great speed of punching and defense, and the way he used footwork made him a great competitor. 

8- Champion of Public

One who wins the hearts of the common people remains alive years after his success. Muhammad Ali succeeded in winning the hearts of people with his game and the methods he used in the games. Also, he became the role model for many people who followed him. This is why he loved the people connected with him. He opened many training camps to train his pupils in the future. His daughter who remained unbeaten from 1999 to 2007 is an example of his true struggle for people. He always struggled to help the common people that’s why his camps were never off for the visitors. He never feared his security as he felt secure among the people. This thing made him the greatest immortal. 

Final Thoughts 

Muhammad Ali Clay’s struggle for boxing started by chance from his childhood when he reported he lost his bicycle. He made himself immortal by competing with his competitors bravely and courageously. He is one of the greatest athletes of history who made many unique records. Clay became a historic figure after winning more than 56 fights. So, calling him the greatest of all time is not wrong.