Muhammad Ali is arguably the greatest fighter to ever step inside the boxing ring. He was also a great fighter outside the ring.
Born Juanuary 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, Muhammad’s given name was Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. Ali started boxing at the age 12 and started making achievements from a young age, builing a great career that lasted for a couple of decades with several still unbroken records.
This man was one of a kind. Those who watch his matches will be amazed at how fearless this champion was. He hardly put up his arms and hands to block punches from his opponents, who never put their arms down in fear of a devastating blow from this great champion. Instead of blocking punches, he kept moving around the ring non-stop even if the fight took all fifteen rounds to finish. This made him a constantly moving target that was very hard to reach.
In addition, he would snap back his upper body with amazing speed to avoid the fastest punches. I have never seen anybody move so fast and make the opponent seem so slow, except maybe in one of The Matrix’s fight scenes in which Neo, “The One”, evades punches from those virtual villains and hits them back so fast that they look like they are in slow motion.
Ali would also have time to taunt his strongest opponents by firing mocking words at them during the fight. He would also stretch out his arm and tap his opponent on the top of his fist in a snappy move to show him how faster and fearless the champion was. Here is a great boxer who used not only sheer strength but also character to overpower and psyche out his opponents.
For a moment in his career, Muhammad Ali seemed to have met his match in Joe Frazier. This was another great fighter with mazing strength, speed and fearlessness, and with eyes set on the heavy weight championship title. The saga that ensued was epic. Three of the greatest boxing matches in history followed. In the first, the undefeated Joe Frazier knocked Ali down in the 11th round, and although Ali was back up within three seconds, he lost by a unanimous vote. The champion retaliated with two wins to reestablish himself as the greatest boxer ever.
Ali’s fights outside the ring were as powerful and inspiring as those in the ring. He had to stand up for what he believed in during the Vietnam war and Civil Rights Movement in the sixties and did not shy away despite the heavy price he had to pay, with suspension from boxing for about three years before he could practice his passion again.
Ali’s last fight was with Parkinson’s disease. This one lasted for too long but the champion held up his grounds to the final round. The disease took a heavy toll on his health but did not stop him from helping and inspiring others. He lived the last years of his life as a great philanthropist. His memory will never die.
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