19. His First Professional Win – 1960
It’s hard to not imagine that Ali’s first official win as a professional boxer must have ranked pretty high on his own list of personal accomplishments. The bout was scheduled in 1960 and Cassius Clay was scheduled to face Tunney Hunsaker. The match was a unanimous decision for Ali, but both men had positive things to say about each other.
Hunsaker stated, “Clay was as fast as lightning … I tried every trick I knew to throw at him off balance but he was just too good.” Later in Ali’s biography, he describes Hunsaker as delivering one of the hardest body blows that he ever suffered in his career.
18. Mohammad Ali vs Sonny Liston – February, 1964
When it comes to talking about the legacy of Muhammad, there is still more to be said about the time when he still went by Cassius Clay. Clay was one of the best boxers in the world, but Liston was downright feared. He had won his two previous fights in first round knockouts, which makes Ali’s victory all the more impressive. In fact, in Liston’s 3 previous bouts, he had boxed for under 6 minutes, total! Clay was not shy at attacking Liston prior to the fight with his mouth.
“After the fight, I’m gonna build myself a pretty home and use him as a bearskin rug. Liston even smells like a bear. I’m gonna give him to the local zoo after I whup him… if Sonny Liston whups me, I’ll kiss his feet in the ring, crawl out of the ring on my knees, tell him he’s the greatest, and catch the next jet out of the country.”
On top of this, he claimed that he was going to win the bought in 8 rounds. The match ended after Sonny failed to answer the bell to start the 7th round. Liston had battled shoulder issues, and by that point in the bout was paralyzed in that arm, which you can imagine makes it hard to fight.
This was also the fight that saw Ali shout at the cameras that he was the greatest in the world. “Look at me. Not a mark on me. I could never be an underdog. I am too great. Hail the champion!” Clearly the new heavyweight champion was not a humble one.
Liston admitted that he did not properly train for the bout, drinking beer, eating hot dogs and enjoying plenty of women’s company at the training facility.
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