46. MUHAMMAD ALI: The legend of Cassius Clay
Welcome to the Muhammad Ali series! The next three quotes will be from the GOAT (Greatest of all time). PART TWO
Muhammad Ali (1942-) is a three-time heavyweight boxing champion, international cultural icon and one of my biggest heroes. I get really annoyed that people from my generation (Gen Y) know more about Justin Bieber than they do Muhammad Ali, so I’m gonna spend the next three posts telling you why he is the greatest athlete ever and the most important cultural figure still alive (I mean who else is there? Paul McCartney?). Let’s start with this particular poem and comic …
Before Muhammad Ali became the most beloved superstar in the world, he was known as Cassius Marcellus Clay from Louisville, Kentucky. After winning the 1960 Olympic Heavyweight Gold medal, Clay turned pro and quickly started getting attention for predicting which round he would knock his opponents out, reciting his own poetry and being a cocky, annoying upstart that wouldn’t shut up. This earned him the nickname the ‘Louisville Lip’. He had an unorthodox boxing style where he would keep his hands down, move backwards to dodge blows instead of bobbing and weaving and ‘danced’ in the ring. He was a heavyweight that moved like a lightweight. Traditionalists were not impressed, but in 1964, Clay had done enough to get a shot at the then Heavyweight Champ, Sonny Liston.
At the time, Sonny Liston was the most feared fighter that had ever lived. He was a lifetime criminal, having learned to box in prison, and worked as an enforcer for the mob. He was a big, mean, bad man, and the American public were looking forward to seeing him beat the living crap out of Clay and shutting him up once and for all. Clay’s lead up to the fight is now legendary (everything about him is pretty much legendary). He spent the months before the fight taunting Liston, getting under his skin and acting hysterical, all in a brilliant ploy to convince Liston that he was fighting a crazy man. No one thought Clay had a chance and come fight time, people were actually fearing for his safety in the ring. One reporter even calculated the fastest route to the nearest hospital so he could get there first when Clay would surely be brought in severely injured.
But Clay was too fast and elusive for Sonny, who wasn’t prepared for the lightning jabs that were smashing his face. Clay peppered him with shots for the first four rounds until something strange happened. Near the end of the fourth, Clay began to have trouble with his eyes. Some of the ointment Liston’s cornermen had used on his cuts had got onto Clay’s gloves, to which he then accidentally rubbed in his eyes (that’s the main theory, some say Liston deliberately put it into Clay’s eyes). After the fourth round, a despondent Clay told his trainer, Angelo Dundee, he couldn’t see and to cut off his gloves because the fight was over. Thankfully Dundee told him to shut up and sit down, washed his eyes out and told Clay to run for the next round. Clay’s eye’s eventually got better and he continued to dominate the fight until finally after the seventh round, Liston sat on on his stool, spit out his mouth guard and refused to come out for the eighth. The fight was over, Liston was the first champ to quit on his stool in 45 years and at the age of 22, Cassius Clay became the youngest Heavyweight Champ of the World.
This was just the beginning of Ali’s legend, the story continues in tomorrow’s update. Yes, due to my tardiness last week, there will be an extra comic tomorrow!
- Here’s a great 10 minute clip of the lead up to the fight and the action.
- This poem isn’t really ‘inspirational’ but I thought it was a fun way to introduce Ali. We’ll get more serious with the next two quotes.
- Ali was the youngest person to win the Heavyweight title until 20-year-old Mike Tyson won it in 1986.
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“If you want to lose your money, bet on Sonny!” Im super stoked for an Ali series. great choice.
hahahaha… That was an eyeful of funny. Golden work!
Fantastic, probably one of my favorites so far ^__^
Gavin,
I think you’re a great story teller too. The explanations you usually have below your comics are always a great read.
Finally, a Muhammad Ali comic!
I’ve been looking for youfor years. I’m right there with you. Ali was brilliant, as a fighter and an icon. He forced a generation to play his game, his way. And when he was silenced by illness, his brilliace and spirit simply grew brighter. I’m sending you a link to my Ali blog. I met him when I was a little girl, young and stupid, and nothing was every the same.
http://www.hampoland.com/?p=2295
That’s great Diana, must have been so cool to meet him
Was really hoping to see Muhammad Ali, this is great! Can’t wait to see what’s next. Thanks for honoring the request on Facebook, Gavin.
This is quite epic. Muhammad Ali deserves every ounce of respect there is.
Ali tribute? Ding dong! Can’t believe it’s been three months on this project already, Gav. Outstanding so far. Still trying to work out which prints to buy… need to get the missus on board so I can stick them up in the office at the house!
Can’t forget how well he worked together with Howard Cosell to build up his fame. Great job Gav.
“i’m gonna show you how great i am.”
one of the most powerful statements ever.
This is a well-designed and interesting comic, but dreams and reality are two different things. The Bear took a flop against Ali, acting on the orders of the mob who ran his boxing career. I encourage you to read “The Devil and Sonny Liston” by Nick Tosches.
Is it really fair to harass your opponent for months? Something like that would go against the code of sportsmanship. It’s a good plan, but I think that it showed more about his character than his skill as a boxer.
Hate to double post, but there was something else I wanted to ask; was it really necessary to describe Liston as “a big, mean, bad man”? He was a criminal, sure; he also did his time, and came from a family of thirteen children, a mother who took some of her kids (not including Sonny), and a father who inflicted scars on Liston that were still visible decades later. He didn’t exactly have many job opportunities due to his lack of education, or even literacy. You’re kind of kicking a man who fell (rather, was born already fallen, and made his condition worse), got back up, and then fell again.
I know where you’re coming from. I’ve always had a soft spot for Liston – his is a very tragic story. I also didn’t like the way Ali viciously teased Joe Frazier, one of my favourite fighters. Ali took psyching an opponent to a whole new level. He wasn’t perfect by any means.
In all honesty it was a fantastic advanced write-up however as with every great freelance writers there are a few details that is worked upon. However never your much less it was interesting.