MUHAMMADALI |JANUARY17,1942—JUNE3,2016 UD SD...
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DUKE SABEDONG ALONZO JOHNSON UD UD ALEX MITEFF TKO WILLI BESMANOFF TKO SONNY BANKS TKO DON WARNER TKO GEORGE LOGAN TKO BILLY DANIELS TKO TKO ALEJANDRO LAVORANTE KO ARCHIE MOORE KO CHARLIE POWELL UD DOUG JONES TKO HENRY COOPER RTD SONNY LISTON TKO FLOYD PATTERSON UD GEORGE CHUVALO 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, a leading historian of Denver’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 nocturnal street thug like Liston was hanging out. Clay and his mouth were directed up to Monaco Parkway, where Liston and his family a couple months earlier bought a tan, brick corner home in an otherwise all-white Park Hill neighborhood. The contract of a title bout between the two fighters was to be signed Tuesday, Nov. 5, at a news conference held at a Denver hotel, but Clay couldn’t wait a few more hours. He had to make an early spectacle. “He began what even Ali 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 immediately made enough racket to wake up the neighbor- hood. Clay was screaming as loud as he could, taunting Liston to come out and protect his home. Within minutes, five police cars ar- rived with sirens blazing. “With Sonny standing in his doorway, Clay exited screaming and his entourage laughed all the way to their motel. Clay demeaned Sonny on a number of occasions but … this was the incident that tormented him the most,” Gallender recalled. “He had been hu- miliated in front of his neighbors, many of whom were white and not thrilled with his presence 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 Beatles made their first appearance on “The Ed Sulli- van Show.” And 16 days after the British band’s introduction to America, Clay whipped Liston, a prohibitive 7-1 favorite, in Miami. When Liston stayed seated in his corner at the seventh-round bell, Clay went berserk in the 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 last time he would fight as Cassius Clay. Clay con- verted his religious beliefs from Baptist to Muslim, joining the Nation of Islam and tak- ing the name Muhammad Ali. Much of the Christian-based, white-majori- ty United States was not ready for the British invasion of rock ’n’ roll, not comfortable with the civil right movements and not happy with the Vietnam war 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 20th century: Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan and Ali. The impact of Ruth and Jordan, though, is pretty much restricted to the arena in which they played. Ruth was an entertaining distrac- tion through the Roaring Twenties and into the Great Depression. Jordan’s name drove sneaker sales. Ali helped change the world. « FROM 1A When he declined enlistment into the mili- tary based on his religious beliefs, he was stripped of his boxing license and heavy- weight title and was sentenced to five years in prison, although his appeals kept him from ever serving jail time. Shortly after he lost his first bout, to Joe Frazier on March 8, 1971, the Supreme Court reversed his conviction by an 8-0 vote. “Not only does he have talent, he uses his platform to make statements as well,’’ said Brother Jeff Fard, a Denver activist. “Now, he’s not only polarizing in racial terms but within the community as well. If you look at Five Points, and its African-American history, a lot of it is also military service. You had African- American soldiers in World War II. They were fighting for democracy, but they weren’t receiving democracy when they came home. “Now you have someone like Ali who says, ‘I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to fight for a place where I don’t have equal rights.’ And now people are saying: ‘I can’t stand with him. He’s anti-government.’ That’s like saying you’re unpatriotic. “Even though history proved that Vietnam and the reasons we were there, we were duped into that. That’s just a fact. But when you stand on the side of your moral convic- tions during a time when it’s not a fact, then you 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 transform him from polarizing militant figure to a more popular, gentler soul. The indubitable substance of Ali through both decades, though, was his ability to box like no one else — before or since. He was a stylish boxer who danced on his toes while keeping his hands low and bending this way and that to avoid punches. Until Ali came long, heavyweight boxing matches were often ponderous, cement-foot- ed slugfests. Ali brought verbal bravado to the ring, then backed up his words by utilizing a finesse method that frustrated opponents and was 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 forward when called for the draft in 1967; 31-0 before he lost to Frazier in “The Fight of the Centu- ry’’ in 1971; 41-1 before he tried boxing through a broken jaw while losing a split decision to Ken Norton in 1973; and 55-2 when he should have retired at 36 years old, but instead hung on to lose three of his final four fights. Ali was loquacious from the crib, if not al- ways a self-promoting braggart. He was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on Jan. 17, 1942, in Louisville to strong Christian parents: Cas- sius Sr., or “Cash,’’ who was named after a Kentucky senator and 19th-century slave owner, and Odessa “Mama Bird.’’ Cash made his living painting murals, billboards and signs while mom stayed home to raise Cassius and his younger brother, Rudy. When he was 12, Ali had his Christmas-new, red-and-white Schwinn bicycle stolen while he was at a bazaar. Infuriated and in tears, he was 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 had honed his skills enough to win the gold medal in the light heavy- weight division in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. He received a hero’s welcome home in Lou- isville, where he was greeted by a police es- cort, crowds lining the streets and a mayor- led ceremony that announced Ali’s gold med- al as the key to the city. He wore his gold medal everywhere he went — until he and his friend went out for a cheeseburger and vanilla milkshake and were refused service at the restaurant. In his autobiography, Ali stated: “I won this gold medal for America, but I still couldn’t eat in my hometown. I had won the gold medal, but it didn’t mean anything because I didn’t have the right color skin.’’ It was a life-changing moment. He fought during the administrations of Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan, a remarkable run that may have been a little too remarkable. “He fought too long,’’ Gallender said. Ali admitted in his auto may have been suffering f kinson’s during his listless Holmes in 1980 and Trevor though he wasn’t officiall the chronic and progressiv ment disorder until 1983. Ali lived out most of his with his fourth wife, Lonnie rien Springs, Mich., where day to pray to Allah. He an recently moved to Scottsda Likely because of Ali, it ceptable for athletes to ex openly, to self promote, to nents. The Civil Rights and tests started well before A ment on both by refusing m — but there can little quest vanize both movements. “Now, we celebrate icon Luther King, but they w then,’’ Brother Jeff said. “Th Muhammad Ali is to be ab ways he was correct. Histo Ali in the end.’’ Former Denver Post sports r now works for Channel 9. Great athletes come and go, but perhaps none were more beautiful and publicly transcendent than Muhammad Ali, the man born in Louisville, Ky., in 1942 as Cassius Marcellus Clay. “Ali was a beautiful warrior and he was reflecting a new posture for a black man,” the author Toni Morrison said. “I don’t like boxing, but he was a thing apart. His grace was almost appalling.” Ali boasted he was “The Greatest” and maybe he was right. He was a boxer and an entertainer, and one of the most recognized faces on the planet. He thrilled, influenced the world MUHAMMAD ALI | JANUARY 17, 1942 — JUNE 3, 2016 “He wasn’t perfect, of course. For all his magic in the ring, he could be careless with his words, and full of co But his wonderful, infectious, even innocent spirit ultimately won him more fans than foes — maybe beca 10A » NEWS sunday, june 5, 2016 B denverpost.com B the denver post 6 15 TUNNEY HUNSAKER ROUNDS TONY ESPERTI DONNIE FLEEMAN LAMAR CLARK HERB SILER 1960 1970 ’81 ’78 ’77 ’76 ’75 ’74 ’73 ’72 ’71 ’67 ’66 ’65 ’64 ’63 ’62 ’61 1980 UD KO KO TKO TKO KO SONNY LISTON UD GEORGE CHUVALO JERRY QUARRY TKO KARL MILDENBERGER TKO CLEVELAND WILLIAMS TKO TKO TKO TKO ALVIN BLUE LEWIS TKO FLOYD PATTERSON RTD RTD BOB FOSTER KO JOE BUGNER UD KEN NORTON KEN NORTON SD SD RUDI LUBBERS JOE FRAZIER UD UD UD GEORGE FOREMAN KO KO RON LYLE CHUCK WEPNER UD JIMMY YOUNG UD KEN NORTON UD UD UD UD ALFREDO EVANGELISTA SD EARNIE SHAVERS LEON SPINKS LEON SPINKS LARRY HOLMES TREVOR BERBICK TKO RICHARD DUNN JOE FRAZIER JEAN-PIERRE COOPMAN JIMMY ELLIS UD BUSTER MATHIS KO JUERGEN BLIN UD MAC FOSTER KO ZORA FOLLEY TKO JERRY QUARRY TKO OSCAR BONAVENA UD JOE FRAZIER UD ERNIE TERRELL HENRY COOPER TKO BRIAN LONDON KO RTD JIMMY ROBINSON 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 JOE BUGNER me out for the next round, it is also considered a technical knockout. obiography that he from onset of Par- s bouts with Larry Berbick in 1981, al- ly diagnosed with ve nerve and move- s retirement years e, on a farm in Ber- he rose early each nd his family most ale, Ariz. became more ac- xpress themselves o trash talk oppo- d Vietnam War pro- Ali made his state- military enlistment tion he helped gal- ns like Dr. Martin weren’t celebrated he way to celebrate le to say in a lot of ory has redeemed reporter Mike Klis ali the icon. During the Beatles’ first visit to the United States in 1964, clever publicity agents arranged a meeting 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 — to many for his brash self-assured- ness. The Beatles are, from left, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney. 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
Transcript of MUHAMMADALI |JANUARY17,1942—JUNE3,2016 UD SD...
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
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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
