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Muhammad Ali 
began his boxing 
career as Cassius 
Clay. He was 
handsome, and 
quick with his 
wits as well as 
with his fists. 
This, and his 
engaging 
arrogance (he 
liked to predict 
the round in 
which he would 
win), won him 
many fans
#
Clay's style was 
unconventional, 
flying in the 
face of boxing 
wisdom. He held 
his hands too low, 
leaned back too 
far, crossed his 
legs, retreated 
when he should 
have been coming 
forward, and 
seldom went for 
the body. It is 
amazing that he 
ever won a fight
#
After adopting 
Islam and taking 
the name 
Muhammad Ali, 
Clay refused on 
grounds of 
conscience to be 
inducted into the 
US army, then 
active in Viet-
nam. His prose-
cution for draft
dodging caused a 
sensation, but it 
showed that Ali 
was not just a 
loud-mouthed 
buffoon. "I ain't 
got no quarrel 
with the Viet-
cong," he said
#
Ali was notorious 
for taunting 
opponents prior 
to a fight and in 
the ring. At one 
bout he was 
infuriated that 
the World Boxing 
Association 
insisted on 
addressing him 
by his 'slave 
name' Cassius 
Clay. "What's my 
name?" screamed 
Muhammad Ali
with every blow
he landed on his
opponent's face
#
The "Rumble in 
the Jungle" was 
one of the highest 
viewed sporting 
events ever 
staged. It was 
also one of the 
high points of 
Ali's career. 
There was no 
love lost between 
Ali and Foreman: 
months earlier 
they had been 
involved in a 
brawl at the 
Boxer of the Year 
ceremony
#
Ali was not often 
knocked down in 
his career. One of 
the few to do it 
was Joe Frazier in 
1971, who broke
Ali's jaw with the
same blow. But by
the late Seventies
the years of 
punishment were 
telling, and Ali, 
the Prettiest and
the Greatest, hung
up his gloves
#
After his 
retirement Ali 
was diagnosed as 
suffering from 
Parkinson's 
Disease, which
was possibly the
result of years of 
pummelling to 
the head. But 
though his sparkle
is gone, Ali is not 
forgotten. He is 
still "the most 
recognisable face 
in the world"
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