Muhammad Ali was not the greatest fighter of all-time

The Louisville Lip, The People’s Champion, The Greatest

You might notice that people say Muhammad Ali ‘The Greatest’ and not “the greatest of all-time.” That’s not by accident. Ali’s nickname is ‘The Greatest’ because he called HIMSELF ‘The Greatest.’

Ali fought in the 1960’s. In American culture we hear a lot about the sociopolitical and cultural boom of The 60’s. Between 1963 and 1969 there was the Civil Rights Movement, the March on Washington, the “I Have A Dream” speech, the violent televised clash at Selma, the Vietnam War, Woodstock, the Beatles, the moon landing, and the assassinations of JFK, Malcolm X, Robert Kennedy, and MLK Jr. All of this happened in a span of 6 years (For reference and scale, the financial collapse happened 8 years ago). The 1960’s represents the first tenure of Muhammad Ali’s career and the beginning of his outspoken activism.

“Let me see you close your mouth and just keep it closed.”

The First Tenure, Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston, 1964

In 1964, 22 year-old Muhammad Ali (known at the time as Cassius Clay) fought Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Championship. At the time, Liston was already being compared to the top heavyweights of all-time. He was one of the scariest fighters people had ever seen. Some said they were afraid to meet him, others said they were afraid to walk on the same side of the street as him.

Liston had gone to prison twice (once for assaulting a police officer), had learned to fight while in prison, and was allegedly an enforcer for the mafia. Sonny Liston was a baad maan. There’s a story that Ali once backed down from an altercation with a man at a gas station because he resembled Sonny Liston.

Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali on the other hand was a good-looking loudmouthed Olympic champion who was calling himself ‘The Greatest’ of all-time. This 22 year-old kid with at least a decade of boxing ahead of him was already declaring himself ‘The Greatest.’ He wasn’t just saying it, he was shouting it in people’s faces as a fight with the most intimidating boxer anyone had ever seen was fast approaching. The public and the press thought Ali was too cocky and needed a beating to keep his loud mouth shut. There’s a famous interview leading up to the fight where a reporter tells Ali, “Let me see you close your mouth and just keep it closed.” Ali responds, “Well you know that’s impossible… I’m The Greatest.”

Ali was a 7–1 underdog entering the his fight against Liston in 1964. The people didn’t like him, the press didn’t like him, everyone thought it was a mismatch. Some sports reporters didn’t even cover the fight. Of the fight, Ali said 100% of the people were there to see him and 99% of them wanted him to lose. He may have been right.

The fight was a good one. A fighter’s fight, a fight of styles. Ali’s quick, slippery style, standing tall, delivering long jabs to the head. Liston’s hunched, brooding, and bullish style delivering overhand power punches to the head and body. There was some drama. Each fighter stunned the other in the 3rd round. Entering the 5th round Ali claimed he was unable to see blinking his eyes wildly and evading Liston for most of the round.

In the 7th round Sonny Liston, the baddest man in boxing, refused to leave his corner.

In the 7th round Sonny Liston, the baddest man in boxing, refused to leave his corner. Ali had won. As the announcement was being made Ali ran to the ropes with his mouth wide open. He held it open as he went from corner to corner presenting a full view of his oral cavity to all ringside observers. A taunt to all of the disappointed people who had come to see the cocky loudmouth Clay lose. Ali was showing them that he would NEVER shut his mouth because he was ‘The Greatest.’ Shortly after the fight he changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali.

The Second Tenure

In 1967, only three years after becoming heavyweight champion and beginning to enter his prime at the age of 25 Muhammad Ali would be suspended from boxing for refusing to fight in the Vietnam War as a conscientious objector. “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong — no Viet Cong ever called me nigger,” Ali said. His case as a conscientious objector would go all the way to the Supreme Court.

“I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong — no Viet Cong ever called me nigger,”

Ali’s boxing license was reinstated in 1970. He would go on to have more iconic fights including a trilogy with Joe Frazier culminating in the “Thrilla in Manilla” and another underdog performance against George Foreman in the “Rumble in the Jungle” which some call the greatest sporting event of the 20th century. Despite his success most believe that Ali’s best boxing years were taken away from him in the three years of his suspension.

Not The Greatest Fighter of All Time

Muhammad Ali was not the greatest fighter of all-time. In most “pound-for-pound all-time great boxers” lists Ali is consistently beat by lightweight Sugar Ray Robinson (1940–1960, 173 wins, 19 losses, 6 draws). Watching “Rumble in the Jungle” we see Ali getting away with holding the back of George Foreman’s neck and measuring his punches by pawing at the face, both illegal moves in boxing. In his very next fight Ali should have dispatched Chuck Wepner quickly and with ease in a title defense, but instead allowed Wepner to last nearly all 15 rounds. The Ali-Wepner fight would become the inspiration of the film Rocky. Ali continued to fight well beyond his prime ending his career with 1 win and 3 losses. Some think all-time greats don’t come back to phone it in like that. With all that said, it’s hard to watch Muhammad Ali fight Archie Moore and not think you were watching the greatest fighter ever.

The Black Boxer and America in the 20th Century

It’s easy to draw parallels between 20th century African-American heavyweight boxing champions and the African-American fight for equality. From Jack Johnson (1898–1924) to Joe Louis (1934–1951) to Muhammad Ali (1960–1978) to Mike Tyson (1985–1990). The stories of the lives of each of these Black men give us a glimpse of what it was like and what it meant to be Black in America in their time.

Johnson was despised by white America. He was a man who did as he pleased during a time in American history when Blacks were told they were nothing more than former slaves. Louis was largely the anti-Johnson, an American hero during wartime. He died indigent, owing the federal government over half a million dollars in taxes, much of which was owed on earnings he donated to the war effort. Louis was a hero betrayed. Ali wouldn’t keep his mouth shut in a time when opening your mouth could, and often did, get you killed. Tyson was nearly as much a victim as he was a terror throughout his tumultuous life.

Even the perceptions of Floyd Patterson and Sonny Liston, the Black champions who immediately preceded Ali, personify the perception of Black men. One seen as a good Negro, the other as a bad Negro.

Muhammad Ali was The Greatest

Muhammad Ali’s willingness to stand up for what he believed with certainty and with confidence during a volatile time in American history is what makes him ‘The Greatest’ and most beloved figure in American sports. It is remarkable that he was both the most outspoken and most recognized athlete in the chaotic world of the 1960’s and a miracle that an attempt was never made on his life. Muhammad Ali was and still is ‘The Greatest.’

Below I’ve linked work of more elegant writers who’s beautiful writing gets deeper into why Muhammad Ali was so highly revered.

Allah Yerham. Rest in Peace.

Luis Antonio Perez became a boxing fan in 2005 after watching Corrales v. Castillo. His favorite films about Muhammad Ali are “Through The Eyes of the World” and “Muhammad Ali — The Greatest Collection.” His favorite boxing memory is attending Pacquiao-Marquez 4 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in December 2012.