muhammad ali is without a doubt the greatest boxer of all time there have been better punchers boxers with better records or more victories but nobody had what ali brought to the table he was a phenomenal champion the greatest entertainer and the leading activist for human rights amongst all athletes here's the life story of one muhammad ali and our take on his greatness his boxing his great service to humanity his famous trash talk but also his stepping out of line and stubbornness that kept him in the ring for too long [Music] early life and boxing beginnings born in kentucky in 1942 cassius marcellus clay jr grew up in the american south in a time of severe racial segregation his father cassius clay senior supported a wife and two sons by painting billboards while his mother worked as a household domestic growing up poor and racially oppressed young cassius quickly learned he'd have to fight for everything in life when his bike was stolen at the age of 12 he told a police officer joe martin that he wanted to beat up the thief as a twist of fate would have it joe martin was also a boxing trainer at the local gym and he invited the young man to come train there and learn how to fight before he started beating up people on the street from that moment on everything would change in the life of cassius clay he just didn't know it yet he won his first amateur fight at the age of 14 and two years later he won a novice golden gloves tournament at light heavyweight at the age of 19 clay was the winner of the national golden gloves tournament of champions and the winner of aau national title for the light heavyweight division as the best amateur in the country clay was selected to represent the usa in 1960 rome olympics which he almost refused due to his fear of flying standing at six foot three fast and athletic clay was dominant in the olympic tournament and he deservedly won the gold medal after beating the polish zabignev petrakowski in the final return home and start of a professional career now an olympic champion cassius clay returned home and proudly wore his medal around kentucky he went on to eat downtown but couldn't get served in a restaurant we don't serve negroes the waiter said i don't eat negros too just bring me a hamburger a quick-witted boxer replied disgusted and disappointed he thought something was deeply wrong in the country where his dad fought in wars and he won the olympic gold but still wasn't treated as equal cashy has turned pro after 105 amateur fights winning exactly 100 of them he signed a deal with louisville sponsoring group and his first contract was 400 a month plus 50 of the gate clay then made another career-altering move and called the 5th street gym in miami where angelo dundee was the head coach he moved to florida and immediately began training with dundee who would be in his corner for all but two career fights cassius was still a teenager with an unpolished skill set and not all the way physically developed as a heavyweight weighing less than 190 pounds still his speed proved to be too much for all his opponents and he fought more like a middleweight than a proper heavyweight but neither his agility nor an olympic gold medal was his most prominent feature clay got known for his trash talk which he picked up from the professional wrestler gorgeous george wagner whom he met in 1961 at the beginning of his boxing career clay realized that trash talking made a difference in the number of sold tickets and because it aligned with his confident and humorous nature cassius adopted the tactic and soon began slandering and belittling every opponent after he knocked out the european heavyweight champion henry cooper at the wembley stadium in england there was only one man left to beat a heavyweight champion of the world sunny liston becoming the champ sunny listen was truly a lesson in what the physical advantages mean in boxing although only six foot and one inch tall he had an incredible 84 inch reach and massive fists liston had an amazing jab and can knock out a fighter with either hand he was also strong as a bull and with a record of 35 and 1 coming into the fight with clay he was considered an 8-1 favorite clay had just started coming into his own as a popular figure and liston was his first major target sayings like if you like to lose your money be a fool and bet on sunny endeared him to many but his trash talk wasn't universally accepted and some people viewed him as a disrespectful jokester clay's offensive began during liston's preparations for the match with floyd patterson clay appeared at his practices public appearances and annoyed the hell out of the guy he called him an ugly bear and pointed out that a champion should be beautiful like him his propaganda was amusing as it was something never seen before but many thought his antics were just an empty threat and figured clay would only last a couple of rounds just like all the others however trash talking worked like a charm and when the bell finally sounded off and the fight started sunny listen attacked cassius clay as if he was trying to decapitate him liston missed shot after shot wasting a lot of energy and it was something similar to the first round of step mia chick vs francis ingano if you're a ufc fan listen was a big bear who came out to tear limbs with his paws like in the revenant but unfortunately for him he was in the ring with a ballet dancer big-bodied listen didn't have the speed to catch clay who hit his opponent with quick combinations with his usual risky style and somehow managed to avoid anything thrown at him cassia's clay was at the height of the first phase of his career in which he masterfully used his speed and agility liston looked more frustrated than ever and clay was winning every round however things started to turn around when clay temporarily lost his sight during the fourth round and even wanted to give up and asked his coach to untie his gloves dundee tried to wash clay's eyes and motivate him and when the gong marked the start of the fifth round dundee had to literally push clay to the center of the ring liston saw that and went for all or nothing due to poor diet alcohol and lack of training he had only a few minutes of strength left to bring down the annoying challenger however clay remained standing and whatever it was in his eyes evaporated during the fifth round and he returned in the sixth reborn and ready to win the 22 year old challenger dominated liston in the sixth after which the champ collapsed in his chair spat out his mouth guard and said that he was done the fight was over and boxing had a new heavyweight champion i'm so bad i'm so pretty i shook up the world clay shouted into the microphone in what would be his last fight under his birth name becoming ali celebrity status and vietnam protest two days after becoming the heavyweight champ clay shocked the boxing world again by announcing that he had accepted the teachings of the nation of islam two weeks later he took the name muhammad ali which was given to him by his spiritual mentor elijah muhammad even though he changed the name nothing changed in the ring for the next three years ali completely dominated heavyweight boxing just like marciano and joe lewis did before him in a rematch against liston he triumphed after the phantom knockout in first round in one of the most controversial fights of all time since many believed to listen through the fight after that ali defended his title eight more times and was never in danger of getting beat he was in his physical prime and a class above everybody else he was indeed flying like a butterfly and stinging like a bee and nobody was able to stop the famous ali shuffle nobody in the ring at least in 1967 citing his religious beliefs ali refused induction into the u.s army at the height of the war in vietnam unlike most athletes who wouldn't dare speak up against the government ali was intelligent and brave enough to fight for his beliefs and not back down i don't want to quarrel with no viet cong they haven't done anything to me they never called me in as he did not want to enlist in the army the champ was threatened with imprisonment standing before a completely white jury ali was sentenced to five years in prison and a ten thousand dollar fine since the appeal was filed immediately and the bail was paid ali did not go to prison but was stripped of his world title and boxing license and would not have an official boxing match for three and a half years they stole the three best years of his career when he was at his peak he could not box said his legendary coach angelo dundee he was right however that injustice only put more wood to the fire and gave ali another title that of a people's champ returning to boxing and the fight of the century ali's case went to the supreme court who ruled it unanimously in his favor and he was eligible to return to the ring he defeated jerry quarry and oscar bonavena in two largely uneventful fights which served as an hors d'oeuvre for the main dish which was joe frazier dubbed the fight of the century it was the first time in history that two undefeated heavyweight boxing champions met in the ring and ollie's absence frazier became the most dominant fighter in the world who destroyed everybody with his quick movement and disastrous left hook both fighters were in their prime years frazier was 27 and ali was 29. the marketing for the fight was something never seen before in the world of boxing ali was a master marketer and he positioned himself as the embodiment of black discontent and for the success of the campaign the opponent had to become the embodiment of the problem as frasier was also black ali started calling him uncle tom the derogatory name for racial traitors involved in white oppression pushed frazier into a vengeful psychosis from which he did not recover for the next 30 years ali's rhyming propaganda united the black community against fraser and his family received threats on a daily basis joe's kids were bullied at school and at the height of preparations for the match frazier was guarded by the police apart from that ali was also calling him ugly a gorilla and generally tried to make him look bad in any way he could on march 8 1971 muhammad ali confidently stepped into the sacred madison square garden and the people's champion came for his stolen gold opposite of him stood the seething joe frazier was finally in the place where he could retaliate ali's verbal abuse in the best way he knew how with his fists before his suspension muhammad ali was elusively fast and relied more on his athletic ability than on his fighting intelligence he wasn't by any means slow during his first match with frasier but he wasn't dancing like fred astaire anymore because of his arrogance ali refused to adapt to the athleticism loss which was everything frasier needed slightly slower ali combined with frasier's rage and unwillingness to loosen the pressure enabled smoke and joe to catch ali too many times this fight will be remembered by precise hooks followed by combinations to the body and a tireless act from frasier who always kept on coming ali later said he was hit more in that fight than in his last six fights combined in round 15 frazier threw a hook that finally sent muhammad ali to the ground and gave him the first serious career knockdown he was able to get up but frazier was a clear winner and had won the fight via unanimous decision fire in the belly and regaining the title back the loss to frazier pissed ali off it changed his approach to life and sports and put him back on the road to the title he built himself a rugged training camp near a lake in pennsylvania to limit himself from the modern world's distractions and luxuries ali was more motivated than ever and he trained twice as hard running every day chopping trees and boxing he was ready to right the wrong in the next two years ollie fought often and had won 10 fights in a row then in 1973 he suffered another loss to a little-known fighter ken norton who broke ollie's jaw in the second round on route to a 12-round upset decision ali downplayed his opponent and didn't take him seriously ali was often playing in the ring and would have his hands down or just shuffle around for a few rounds not really throwing punches before the norton fight he didn't train properly and had spent more time with women than he did with angelo dundee he had a nice little cushion around his belly weighing more than 220 pounds i've been winning fights so easily and a man can get intoxicated not only with narcotics or alcohol but a man can also get intoxicated with greatness and that's what happened i was so good that i started to do things i wouldn't normally do ali said after the loss another else sobered him up again and ali returned six months later with no extra weight weighing 210 pounds the same weight he had versus sunny liston the rematch was really close and the decision was somewhat controversial but ali successfully avenged the loss and defeated norton by a split decision after that the time had come to avenge his first loss against frazier even though it wasn't for the title joe lost it to george foreman in the second fight again at msg ali was able to secure the decision victory over frasier in a vastly better performance than the first time they collided after the win he finally came to the position he so desperately craved to fight for the world's heavyweight championship the rumble in the jungle coming to the fight with ali george foreman had amassed 40 professional victories in the same number of fights he had won only three by decision and the vast majority of his fights ended in the first three rounds including dominant victories over frazier and norton they had both beaten ali but lasted only two rounds with foreman nobody thought ali would stand much chance against the hardest hitting man the world had ever seen who was also seven years younger than ali and in his physical prime of course ali thought differently and trash talked george and the build-up creating an enormous interest in the fight dictator mobutsu paid 10 million dollars for the match to be held in kinshasa in october 1974. the fight was originally set in august but due to foreman's cut and sparring it was postponed for six weeks and both fighters stayed in zaire ali was followed by tens of thousands of people at every step he hugged and kissed children women the elderly went everywhere without security on the other hand foreman mostly frowned and was followed by his german shepherd which was a huge mistake the slave owners in zaire used such dogs and this completely turned the local population against george who shouted ali which meant ali killed him when the fight was approaching ali's coaches were genuinely afraid for his life against such a terrifying puncher the plane was ready to transfer ali to madrid if the injuries after the fight would be too severe however that would not be necessary as ali was able to shock the world again instead of dodging the blows and moving around the ring ali leaned on the ropes and tried to protect his head and suffered incredibly strong blows to his body foreman punched and punched but ollie kept standing against the ropes in almost insane ecstasy he yelled at foreman in between the punches only one man on the planet amid a life and death struggle can utter something as ridiculous and daunting as is that all you got george and continue to fight foreman started to get incredibly tired and then ali shifted from his rope-a-dope defense and began fighting back the combination of five blows to the head spiced with a right hook was enough to knock out the big george foreman and brought all the spectators into delirium ali was the champion again i am honored to be mentioned in the same sentence as him he is the greatest of all time and he outwitted me and outboxed me george said after the match until his license was revoked ali was known as an elusive fighter you couldn't push him into a corner you couldn't shorten the ring against him he always forced opponents into a counter rhythm and hit them in the head from incredible angles upon his return ali stunned the world and even his coaches with his ability to withstand blows from the baddest hitters on the planet foreman and frasier thrilla in manila after he won the belt he defended it three times in 1975 after which he squared off against frazier for the third time the score was tied between the two and the hatred was still there both men wanted the trilogy thrill in manila will be remembered for inhumane conditions of 40 degrees celsius and humidity that knocked out people in the stands that fight showed what human will and determination could do frazier was filled with hatred for ali and determined to finally show he was better ollie was far from the ideal shape with an obvious excess weight but with self-confidence that nobody else had each round was a total war they say the styles make up every good boxing match these two styles were perfectly appealing frasier hit ali in the head like no one precisely seemingly every time and ali countered with uppercuts that closed both of frazier's eyes in the 12th round frazier could hardly see anything and his face looked like porridge the man fought almost completely blind but didn't want to give up however before the start of the 15th round frazier's coach eddie futch physically prevented his fighter from going out on the gong i couldn't let him die in my arms i just couldn't this is the closest to dying i've ever felt in my life muhammad said after the match i hit him with punches that would knock down a wall and he stayed on his feet god is my witness he's a great champion frasier said in the locker room final career years making history with third title ali said that it was too painful and that he might get a heart attack how exhausted he was and that he wants to retire while he was still on top and that's exactly what he should have done however he was the champ and at the height of his fame and earning power by that time he was boxing mainly for financial reasons he didn't need the money himself but he was donating up to 80 percent of the fight purses to those in need after frasier he gained more weight and was getting up in age but he was skilled enough to notch a few more victories the chatter about him hanging up the gloves was louder and louder and ali kept saying he'll retire but then he would change his mind and strap the gloves back on again but if you fight long enough you will lose no matter how great you are rawley it happened in the form of leon spinks who gave ali his third career loss in 1978. every defeat gave ali extra motivation and he wanted to prove that he is still not done yet and regained the title in a rematch he did just that and became the first man to win the heavyweight championship on three separate occasions after the fight he retired and relinquished his titles but then unretired two years later fighting his old sparring partner larry holmes and then trevor berbick in 1981. he lost both fights and didn't resemble the man who he was before early signs of parkinson's were already there and his movement speech and coordination were already impaired legacy after his boxing career was finally over ali still continued to fight he was fighting for peace tolerance and equality only was a dancer and a poet who just happened to punch people for a living and while his punches and shuffle brought victories and his trash-talking rhymes brought him fame his most important fights were for justice and his best words were when he was talking about race and inequality that black people have to go through yes ollie enjoyed the bright lights the women money and everything that comes with it but he never forgot where he came from and he always fought for the people that's why he was the people's champ and despite his illness ali didn't hate boxing for what it did to him he loved it for what it had done for him he was the most charismatic boxer ever and combined with his success in the ring and social activism we consider him the greatest athlete of all time