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. At the end of the first round, Clay opened up his attack and hit Liston repeatedly with jabs. However, Clay's superior speed and mobility enabled him to elude Liston, making the champion miss and look awkward. At the opening bell, Liston rushed at Clay, seemingly angry and looking for a quick knockout. The outcome of the fight was a major upset. Many of those in attendance thought Clay's behavior stemmed from fear, and some commentators wondered if he would show up for the bout. Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the pre-fight buildup, dubbing him "the big ugly bear", stating "Liston even smells like a bear" and claiming "After I beat him I'm going to donate him to the zoo." 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. 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 knock outs, Clay was a 7–1 underdog. Liston was an intimidating personality, a dominating fighter with a criminal past and ties to the mob. The fight was set for February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach. Sonny Listonīy late 1963, Clay had become the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. World heavyweight champion Fights against Liston Around this time, Clay sought longtime idol Sugar Ray Robinson to be his manager, but was rebuffed. Clay had met Dundee in February 1957 during Clay's amateur career. To replace Moore, Clay hired Angelo Dundee to be his trainer. In 1960, Clay left Moore's camp, partially due to his refusal to do chores such as washing dishes and sweeping. Ali stated in a 1969 interview with the Associated Press' Hubert Mizel that he met with Gorgeous George in Las Vegas in 1961 and that the wrestler inspired him to use wrestling jargon when he did interviews. 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." His provocative and outlandish behavior in the ring was inspired by professional wrestler "Gorgeous George" Wagner. In each of these fights, Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. The fight was later named "Fight of the Year" by The Ring magazine. Watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay he might get locked up for murder. 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. The number two and three heavyweight contenders respectively, Clay and Jones fought on Jones' home turf at New York's Madison Square Garden. The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963, was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch. However, the round had ended by the time he rose, and he recovered between rounds, going on to win in the predicted 5th round due to Cooper's severely cut eye. In the Cooper fight, Clay was floored by a left hook at the end of round four, and was groggy when he got up at the count of three. Clay was knocked down by both Sonny Banks and Cooper. These early fights were not without trials. Clay also beat his former trainer and veteran boxer Archie Moore in a 1962 match. He defeated boxers including Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, LaMar Clark, Doug Jones and Henry Cooper. From then until the end of 1963, Clay amassed a record of 19–0 with 15 wins by knockout. Early career On-site poster for Cassius Clay's fifth professional boutĬlay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1990. In December 2007, ESPN listed Ali second in its choice of the greatest heavyweights of all time, behind Joe Louis. In 1999, Ali was named the second greatest boxer in history, pound for pound, by ESPN behind only welterweight and middleweight legend Sugar Ray Robinson. In 1999, The Associated Press voted Ali the number one heavyweight of the 20th century. Boxing magazine The Ring named him number 1 in a 1998 ranking of greatest heavyweights from all eras. Muhammad Ali is widely regarded by many boxing commentators and historians as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time.
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