The Greatest Lives On – World Boxing Association

In the mid-1980s, specifically in 1984, the sports world—and the entire planet—was struck with sorrow upon learning that one of its most beloved icons, arguably the most charismatic boxer in the history of the sweet science, Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Clay, had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The degenerative illness would ultimately contribute to his passing on June 3, 2016, in a Scottsdale, Arizona, hospital due to septic shock caused by natural causes, according to medical reports.

On January 17 of this year, “The Louisville Lip,” the brash-talking, self-proclaimed “Greatest of All Time,” would have turned 83. Yet, his birthday passed in near silence. Few, if any, paused to remember a man whose life was marked by civil rights struggles, global fame, and unmatched glory inside the ring. Ali wasn’t just a boxer; he was a force of nature, a magnetic personality who brought the masses back to boxing, much like Babe Ruth once revived baseball after the infamous 1919 Black Sox scandal.

But time is relentless. Decades ago, Ali dominated headlines, radio waves, and television screens daily. Now, the world moves on. Yet, those who witnessed his greatness, who saw him “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee,” can never forget the brilliance, the showmanship, and the unmatched ring artistry that defined an era.

Ali changed the game. Before him, no fighter predicted the exact round he would knock out his opponent. No heavyweight moved with his hands at his sides, gliding across the canvas with a speed never before seen in boxing’s marquee division. No one fought with his swagger, nor talked as he did—inside or outside the ropes.

He emerged at a time when boxing’s idols were fading, and the sport was losing its grip on the public’s imagination. Ali didn’t just revive heavyweight boxing; he transformed it, dividing its history into three distinct phases—before him, during him, and after him. Love him or hate him, fans were enthralled. And more loved him than not.

By the time he retired for good, Ali had fought 61 battles, winning 56, scoring 37 knockouts (a 66.07% KO ratio), and competing in 25 world title fights. He lost only five times, but even in defeat, he remained larger than life.

Ali’s Greatest Battles

Of those 61 fights, some stand out as legendary: the trilogy with his archrival Joe Frazier, his shocking upset over George Foreman, his three wars with Ken Norton, and his two showdowns with Sonny Liston.

Ali first captured the heavyweight crown against Liston on February 25, 1964, in Miami. Liston, the reigning WBA, WBC, and The Ring champion, was the overwhelming favorite. But after a controversial moment in which Ali (then still Clay) struggled with blurred vision—possibly due to an irritant on Liston’s gloves—he rallied under the guidance of his legendary trainer Angelo Dundee. By the sixth round, Ali dominated, and Liston shockingly refused

The early rounds were competitive, but in the fifth, Clay nearly quit, his eyes burning—many believe Liston’s gloves were laced with a stinging substance. His trainer, the legendary Angelo Dundee, urged him to continue. Clay survived and dominated the sixth round. When the bell rang for the seventh, Liston shockingly remained in his corner. A new era had begun.

They met again on May 25 of the same year, this time in Lewiston, Maine, for the WBC and The Ring belts—Clay had been stripped of his WBA title due to legal disputes. Now fighting under his new name, Muhammad Ali, he knocked Liston out in the first round with a right hand that most in the arena never even saw—a punch Ali famously called the “anchor punch.”

The Frazier Wars

Ali’s first battle with Joe Frazier came on March 8, 1971, in what was dubbed “The Fight of the Century.” It was a clash of undefeated heavyweights at Madison Square Garden, but Ali was coming off a three-and-a-half-year layoff due to his refusal to fight in the Vietnam War. Frazier retained his belts with a unanimous decision after 15 grueling rounds, flooring Ali with a vicious left hook in the final frame.

They met again on January 28, 1974, with Ali earning a hard-fought decision over 12 rounds. But it was their third encounter, on October 1, 1975, in Manila, that became the stuff of legend.

Dubbed the “Thrilla in Manila,” this was arguably the most brutal and dramatic heavyweight fight in history. After 14 rounds of unrelenting warfare, Frazier’s corner stopped the fight before the final round. What few knew at the time was that Ali himself had been on the verge of quitting. Angelo Dundee, ever the strategist, refused to let him. As Ali left the ring, he told reporters, “That was the closest I’ve ever been to dying.”

Frazier, Ali’s fiercest rival, passed away on November 7, 2011, in Philadelphia.

Battles with Norton and Foreman

Ali and Ken Norton fought three times—on March 31, 1973, September 10, 1973, and September 28, 1976. Norton broke Ali’s jaw in their first encounter and won by decision. But Ali avenged the loss twice, both times earning close decision victories.

Against George Foreman, Ali fought just once—but that one fight rewrote history. On October 30, 1974, in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), Ali, at 32 years old, faced the 25-year-old Foreman, who was undefeated in 40 fights with 37 knockouts. Many experts considered Foreman unbeatable.

Ali, however, had a plan. Employing the now-famous “Rope-a-Dope” strategy, he leaned against the ropes, absorbed Foreman’s power shots, and waited. Then, in the eighth round, he struck. A three-punch combination—capped off by a thunderous right hand—sent Foreman crashing to the canvas. The referee counted to ten at 2:58 of the round. Ali had shocked the world once again.

A Forgotten Ghost

Today, Muhammad Ali is little more than a ghost—a painfully forgotten figure. These lines serve as a modest tribute to a man who changed boxing forever.

Ali’s journey into the sport was pure fate. At 12 years old, after his bicycle was stolen, he walked into a small Louisville gym, vowing revenge on the thief. A local policeman, Joe Martin, told him he needed to learn how to fight first. And so, he did.

Years later, at just 18, he won an Olympic gold medal in Rome in 1960. He turned professional on October 29 that same year, defeating Tunney Hunsaker in his hometown. The journey lasted 21 years, ending on December 11, 1981, when Trevor Berbick—an opponent vastly inferior to the Ali of the 1970s—outpointed him over ten rounds in Nassau, Bahamas.

Before that, in 1980, Ali had been battered and stopped for the only time in his career, in the 10th round against his former sparring partner, Larry Holmes. Ali was 38, a shadow of his former self.

His prime years, when he became the only man to win the lineal heavyweight title four times (1964, 1967, 1974, 1978), were long gone. His days of defying the U.S. government by refusing the draft—losing his titles and nearly his career in the process—were behind him. But he came back, reclaimed the throne by dethroning Foreman in Africa, and etched his name among the all-time greats.

To recount all the legendary moments of Ali’s life would take volumes. He was, without question, the most famous boxer in history, one of the greatest fighters of all time, and arguably the greatest heavyweight to ever lace up gloves—perhaps second only to Joe Louis.

But Ali was more than just a boxer. He was a warrior for civil rights, an advocate for peace, and a man who fought not just in the ring, but for the dignity of all people. His impact transcended sports.

Ali may be gone, but his legacy remains—whether or not the world chooses to remember.