DUKESABEDONG

ALONZOJOHNSON

UD

UD

ALEXMITEFF

TKO

WILLIBESMANOFF

TKO

SONNYBANKS

TKO

DONWARNER

TKO

GEORGELOGAN TKO

BILLYDANIELS

TKO

TKO

ALEJANDROLAVORANTE

KO

ARCHIEMOORE

KO

CHARLIEPOWELL

UD

DOUGJONES

TKOHENRYCOOPER

RTD

SONNYLISTON

TKO

FLOYDPATTERSON

UDGEORGECHUVALO

KO

TKO

UD

SD

RTD

Win Loss

Knockout

Technical knockout

Retired*

Unanimous decision

Split decision

*If a boxer retires, meaning he doesn’t com

Points News publisher Brother Jeff Fard, aleading historian ofDenver’s African-Ameri-can heritage. “Liston’s too ugly to be champ.The champ should be pretty like me.’’It was a Monday, just before midnight, a

time when not even a reputed nocturnalstreet thug like Liston was hanging out. Clayand his mouth were directed up to MonacoParkway,where Liston andhis family a couplemonths earlier bought a tan, brick cornerhome in an otherwise all-white Park Hillneighborhood.The contract of a title bout between the two

fighters was to be signed Tuesday, Nov. 5, at anews conference held at a Denver hotel, butClay couldn’t wait a few more hours. He hadto make an early spectacle.“He beganwhat evenAli called a campaign

of psychological warfare,” Gallender related.“And it really worked on Sonny.’’Arriving at Liston’s home a little past mid-

night, Clay and his entourage immediatelymade enough racket towake up the neighbor-hood.Claywas screaming as loud as he could,taunting Liston to come out and protect hishome. Within minutes, five police cars ar-rived with sirens blazing.“With Sonny standing in his doorway, Clay

exited screaming and his entourage laughedall the way to their motel. Clay demeanedSonny on a number of occasions but … thiswas the incident that tormented him themost,” Gallender recalled. “He had been hu-miliated in front of his neighbors, many ofwhom were white and not thrilled with hispresence in the first place.’’Two weeks after Clay rolled through Den-

ver, President John F. Kennedy was assassi-nated. Two and half months later, the Beatlesmade their first appearance on “TheEd Sulli-van Show.” And 16 days after the Britishband’s introduction to America, Claywhipped Liston, a prohibitive 7-1 favorite, inMiami.When Liston stayed seated in his corner at

the seventh-round bell, Clay went berserk inthe ring, jumping up and down and shouting,“I shook up the world!’’Not only did the victory bring the 22-year-

old the heavyweight belt, it marked the lasttimehewould fight asCassiusClay. Clay con-verted his religious beliefs from Baptist toMuslim, joining the Nation of Islam and tak-ing the nameMuhammad Ali.Muchof theChristian-based,white-majori-

ty United States was not ready for the Britishinvasion of rock ’n’ roll, not comfortablewiththe civil rightmovements and not happywiththe Vietnamwar protests.And not ready to embrace Muhammad Ali

as the country’s No. 1 superstar.There are really only three men in the dis-

cussion for greatest sports figure of the 20thcentury: Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan and Ali.The impact of Ruth and Jordan, though, ispretty much restricted to the arena in whichthey played. Ruthwas an entertaining distrac-tion through the Roaring Twenties and intothe Great Depression. Jordan’s name drovesneaker sales.Ali helped change the world.

«FROM 1AWhenhe declined enlistment into themili-

tary based on his religious beliefs, he wasstripped of his boxing license and heavy-weight title andwas sentenced to five years inprison, although his appeals kept him fromever serving jail time. Shortly after he lost hisfirst bout, to Joe Frazier onMarch 8, 1971, theSupremeCourt reversed his conviction by an8-0 vote.“Not only does he have talent, he uses his

platform to make statements as well,’’ saidBrother Jeff Fard, aDenver activist. “Now, he’snot only polarizing in racial terms but withinthe community as well. If you look at FivePoints, and itsAfrican-American history, a lotof it is alsomilitary service. You hadAfrican-American soldiers in World War II. Theywere fighting for democracy, but theyweren’treceiving democracy when they came home.“Now you have someone like Ali who says,

‘I’mnot going to do that. I’mnot going to fightfor a place where I don’t have equal rights.’Andnowpeople are saying: ‘I can’t standwithhim.He’s anti-government.’ That’s like sayingyou’re unpatriotic.“Even though history proved that Vietnam

and the reasons we were there, we wereduped into that. That’s just a fact. But whenyou stand on the side of your moral convic-tions during a time when it’s not a fact, thenyou become villainized, you become demon-ized and you become ostracized.’’The riotous ’60s passed into the disco-

dancing ’70s, and Ali’s personality and ac-tions outside the ring seemed to transformhim frompolarizingmilitant figure to amorepopular, gentler soul.The indubitable substance of Ali through

both decades, though, was his ability to boxlike no one else — before or since. He was astylish boxer who danced on his toes whilekeeping his hands low and bending this wayand that to avoid punches.Until Ali came long, heavyweight boxing

matcheswere often ponderous, cement-foot-ed slugfests. Ali brought verbal bravado to thering, then backed up his words by utilizing afinessemethod that frustrated opponents andwas pleasing to fans’ eyes.“The speed he had was unbelievable,’’ Gal-

lender said.Ali was 29-0 when he was stripped of his

heavyweight title for refusing to step forwardwhen called for the draft in 1967; 31-0 beforehe lost to Frazier in “The Fight of the Centu-ry’’ in 1971; 41-1 before he tried boxing througha broken jaw while losing a split decision toKen Norton in 1973; and 55-2 when he shouldhave retired at 36 years old, but instead hungon to lose three of his final four fights.Ali was loquacious from the crib, if not al-

ways a self-promoting braggart. He was bornCassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on Jan. 17, 1942, inLouisville to strong Christian parents: Cas-sius Sr., or “Cash,’’ who was named after aKentucky senator and 19th-century slaveowner, and Odessa “Mama Bird.’’ Cash madehis living painting murals, billboards andsignswhilemomstayedhome to raiseCassiusand his younger brother, Rudy.Whenhewas 12, Ali had hisChristmas-new,

red-and-white Schwinn bicycle stolen while

he was at a bazaar. Infuriated and in tears, hewas pointed to a policeman named Joe Mar-tin, who ran a local gym.And so began the development of the most

famous heavyweight champion in boxing his-tory. By age 18,Ali hadhonedhis skills enoughto win the gold medal in the light heavy-weight division in the 1960OlympicGames inRome.He received a hero’swelcomehome in Lou-

isville, where he was greeted by a police es-cort, crowds lining the streets and a mayor-led ceremony that announcedAli’s goldmed-al as the key to the city.He wore his gold medal everywhere he

went— until he and his friend went out for acheeseburger and vanillamilkshake andwererefused service at the restaurant.In his autobiography, Ali stated: “I won this

goldmedal forAmerica, but I still couldn’t eatin my hometown. I had won the gold medal,but it didn’t mean anything because I didn’thave the right color skin.’’It was a life-changing moment.He fought during the administrations of

Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter andReagan, a remarkable run thatmay have beena little too remarkable.“He fought too long,’’ Gallender said.

Ali admitted in his automay have been suffering fkinson’s during his listlessHolmes in 1980 andTrevorthough he wasn’t officiallthe chronic and progressivment disorder until 1983.Ali lived out most of his

with his fourthwife, Lonnierien Springs, Mich., whereday to pray to Allah. He anrecently moved to ScottsdaLikely because of Ali, it

ceptable for athletes to exopenly, to self promote, tonents. TheCivil Rights andtests started well before Ament on both by refusingm—but there can little questvanize both movements.“Now, we celebrate icon

Luther King, but they wthen,’’ Brother Jeff said. “ThMuhammad Ali is to be abways he was correct. HistoAli in the end.’’

Former Denver Post sports rnow works for Channel 9.

Great athletes come and go, but perhaps noneweremore beautiful and publicly

transcendent thanMuhammadAli, theman born in Louisville, Ky., in 1942 as Cassius

Marcellus Clay. “Ali was a beautiful warrior and hewas reflecting a newposture for a black

man,” the author ToniMorrison said. “I don’t like boxing, but hewas a thing apart. His grace

was almost appalling.” Ali boasted hewas “TheGreatest” andmaybe hewas right. Hewas a

boxer and an entertainer, and one of themost recognized faces on the planet.

He thrilled,influencedtheworld

MUHAMMAD ALI | JANUARY 17, 1942— JUNE 3, 2016

“Hewasn’t perfect, of course. For all hismagic in the ring, he could be careless with his words, and full of coBut his wonderful, infectious, even innocent spirit ultimatelywon himmore fans than foes—maybe beca

10A» NEWS sunday, june 5, 2016 B denverpost.com B the denver post 6

15

TUNNEYHUNSAKER

ROUNDS

TONYESPERTI

DONNIEFLEEMAN

LAMARCLARK

HERBSILER

1960

1970

’81

’78

’77

’76

’75

’74

’73

’72

’71’67

’66

’65

’64

’63

’62

’611980

UD

KO

KO

TKO

TKO

KO

SONNYLISTON

UDGEORGECHUVALO

JERRYQUARRY

TKO

KARLMILDENBERGER

TKOCLEVELANDWILLIAMS

TKO

TKO

TKO

TKO

ALVIN BLUELEWIS

TKO

FLOYDPATTERSON

RTD

RTD

BOBFOSTER

KO

JOEBUGNER

UD

KENNORTON

KENNORTON

SD

SD

RUDILUBBERS

JOEFRAZIER

UD

UD

UD

GEORGEFOREMAN

KO

KO

RONLYLE

CHUCKWEPNER

UD JIMMYYOUNG

UD KENNORTON

UD

UD

UD

UDALFREDOEVANGELISTA

SD EARNIESHAVERS

LEONSPINKS

LEONSPINKS

LARRYHOLMESTREVOR

BERBICK

TKO RICHARDDUNN

JOEFRAZIER

JEAN-PIERRECOOPMAN

JIMMYELLIS

UDBUSTERMATHIS

KO

JUERGENBLIN

UD

MACFOSTER

KO

ZORAFOLLEY

TKOJERRYQUARRY

TKOOSCARBONAVENA

UDJOEFRAZIER

UDERNIETERRELL

HENRYCOOPER

TKOBRIANLONDON

KO

RTD

JIMMYROBINSON

15

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

14

RTD

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

14

Severiano Galván, The Denver Post

JOEBUGNER

me out for the next round, it is also considered a technical knockout.

obiography that hefrom onset of Par-s bouts with LarryBerbick in 1981, al-ly diagnosed withve nerve andmove-

s retirement yearse, on a farm inBer-he rose early eachnd his family mostale, Ariz.became more ac-

xpress themselveso trash talk oppo-dVietnamWarpro-Ali made his state-military enlistmenttion he helped gal-

ns like Dr. Martinweren’t celebratedheway to celebratele to say in a lot ofory has redeemed

reporter Mike Klis

ali the icon.During the Beatles’ first visit to the

United States in 1964, clever publicity

agents arranged ameeting with

Cassius Clay, right, then training for

the bout that would make him

heavyweight champion. The result was

a memorable photo of a whooping Ali

standing astride four “knockout

victims.” That picture was among the

first to show him growing into that

persona alongside the major cultural,

political and entertainment figures of

the era. He was an entertainer, a man at

the center of swirling political and

cultural change, a hero— and a villain

— tomany for his brash self-assured-

ness. The Beatles are, from left, Ringo

Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison,

and PaulMcCartney.The Associated Press

ontradictions as his faith evolved.ause in him, we hoped to see something of ourselves.” President Barack Obama

6 the denver post B denverpost.com • sunday, june 5, 2016 NEWS «11A