Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali (Part 3)
His speed and power combined but became too much for the injured champ to bear. It went on till the stings of Ali caused the then current champion to go to his corner and give up the fight.
Cassius Clay had become the new Heavyweight Champion of the World. Ali took his time, living in that moment; enjoying the fame and recognition he was receiving. Ali enjoyed that moment of glory and basked in his magnificence. He had proved that he was not
all talk but had actions to back his claims.
Soon after the championship, Clay announced that he had converted to Islam, to get rid of Cassius Clay as the name reminded him of the time when blacks in America were treated as slaves. It was actually at that time that he was officially given the name
Muhammad Ali and when the world started calling him by this name.
On 26th May 1965, the World Heavy Weight Champion Muhammad Ali was scheduled for what many called a rematch between former Champion Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali. What happened that day was a shock to the entire world, let alone the boxing world.
The crowned King knocked out the former champion in the very first round. He hit him so hard that Liston could not get up from the mat. This was his first title defence, which Ali finished in style.
In 1966, Ali was a busy man. He successfully defended his title on three occasions in one year. The first fight took place on 26th March against George Chuvalo in Toronto. It was a long defence as it lasted for the full 15 rounds. The boxing genius
prevailed in the end due to a unanimous decision by the judges.
Ali’s next title defence was against Henry Cooper on 21st May, 1965. The invincible Ali just seemed to get stronger and better as he fought and won every fight. The result of this bout was the untouchable champ knocking out Cooper in the 6th
round of the match.
His third and final title defence for the year came in 1966 against Karl Mildenberger, whom he was victorious against by a technical knockout when the challengers corner threw in the towel as Karl had suffered enough against the then undisputed heavyweight
god of boxing.
The winning streak continued as he astonishingly put his belt on the line seven times in a row, prevailing on all seven occasions.
O February 2, 1976 Ali was scheduled to face Ernie Terrell, who at the time was the World Boxing Association Champion in a unification bout. Ernie took the opportunity to mock Muhammad by not calling him by his name and instead kept referring to him on his
face as Clay. This made Ali burn with fury and resulted in Terrell getting thrashed for fifteen rounds straight, with the livid Muhammad yelling at him, asking him what his name was.
Muhammad Ali by then had become the unrivalled champion of the world, by knocking out Zora Folley in the seventh round only a month later. This was the time that the Vietnam War was in its worst stage. At the time, the Champ was asked to join the United
States Army and join the forces that were in the battle. However, The powerhouse was not interested and said, "I ain’t got no quarrel with no Viet Cong” and further stated, “No Viet Cong Ever Called Me n****r”.
For refusing to enlist in the U.S Army, the New York Commission snatched the title from him, revoked his boxing license for 3 years and so he remained inactive for that period. He was put through this misery when he was truly in his prime.
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