Muhammad Ali

Biography

Muhammad Ali called himself "The Greatest" and spent a lifetime proving it. The Louisville Lip talked poetry and backed it with violence - "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" wasn't just rhyming, it was tactical instruction. He beat Sonny Liston when no one thought he could, spent three prime years in exile for refusing the Vietnam draft, then returned to win the heavyweight title twice more. The Rumble in the Jungle, rope-a-doping George Foreman into exhaustion in Zaire, may be boxing's greatest tactical masterpiece. The Thrilla in Manila, three wars with Joe Frazier that left both men diminished. Parkinson's eventually stole his voice, but the silence spoke as loudly as the poetry ever had.

Career Highlights

• 3x Heavyweight Champion
• 56-5 professional record
• Olympic Gold Medal (1960)
• Defeated Liston, Foreman, Frazier
• Conscientious objector stance

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