Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali (Part 1)
Born on January 14th1942, Cassius Clay who later on in his life was known as Muhammad Ali, was undoubtedly the best sporting icons that the world has ever seen. He belonged to Louisville, Kentucky in the United States of America. The powerful
Ali completely rocked the boxing world with his splendour within the ring and also generated immense self respect through his actions outside the ring as well. It can easily be said that he is a living legend. As critics would agree, his talent shall transcend
through generations.
As a small boy, the king of boxing was only interested in watching any form of violence or fight sequels. His new bike was stolen when he was only a child. After the incident, he always imagined thrashing the unknown culprit, if he ever found out who did
it. Since then, the spirit of fighting had been created within him. It was in his nature from the early years of his life. Moreover, no work or education really interested him.
As he entered his teenage years, he already owned the basic equipments that consist in a boxers training regime. Punching bags, skipping ropes, punching shields and speed balls were something he had in his possession before he had begun any true form of
boxing. Nevertheless, his personal training had already begun.
In his early teenage years, Clay had entered the amateur boxing association where by the age of only 17, he had fought 108 fights. To have battled so many bouts by just the age of 17, it was an indication of what was in store for him in the future and what
the world could expect from him once he made his entrance into professional boxing. By this time, he had already been victorious in 6 Kentucky Gloves Championships.
It was in the 1960 Olympics in Italy that Clay was chosen to represent America. He returned home with the gold medal. The powerhouse was truly a magical figure who had a cat like agility whilst being graceful at the same time. It seemed that he was most
comfortable whenever he was inside a boxing ring.
The rate at which his image, integrity, personality and reputation grew at was almost shocking. This was because he was not only a highly skilled fighter but also his opponents could not match or keep up with his intellect. He would take advantage of this
and mock potential opponents. In some cases, Clay would pass statements that would rhyme, simply to insult those boxers that he had to face. His style was something the media and the audience had never really seen before. The man took boxing through a transition.
When he came back victorious from the Olympics, Clay entered the professional stage of boxing. At this time, he hired the services of the well respected trainer Angelo Dundee. In the next two and a half years, Clay had clearly shifted gears upwards and executed
some dazzling performances. Over this period, he terminated 19 well reputed fighters.
Being successful in 19 bouts was no joke. Out of these victories, he defeated 6 fighters by complete knockouts, 9 fighters by technical knockouts and allowed only 4 matches to go down to the end of the rounds.
This was ample proof of Ali's strength. He was a lion when it came to striking a blow; damaging his adversary’s with massive blows to the head and body. He possessed all the elements that went into becoming a dangerous and unmatched warrior. Clay’s jabs
moved at lighting speeds and he could throw a cross punch with complete deception. He hooked his opponents like fish stuck to bait. The hero had an uppercut that if connected correctly, made it impossible to recover from. Such was the talent that Ali possessed.
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