Died Mohammed Ali: the rules of life and the best photos of the legendary boxer

Фото: Depositphotos

Legendary boxer Mohammed Ali 4 Jun died at the age of 74 years in Phoenix, Arizona.

According to Air force, the former absolute heavyweight world champion on the eve was taken to hospital with a respiratory disease.

Ali also suffered from Parkinson's disease, which he fought for 32 years.

During his career, the American boxer nicknamed “The Greatest” had 61 fights in the professional ring, in which he suffered only five defeats.

Three times a boxer became a world champion that no one had managed before. Ali is also the Olympic champion of the 1960 Games of the year in Rome. He is included in the Boxing Hall of Fame and the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

To honor Ali, ForumDaily decided to recall the brightest moments and rules of life of the greatest athlete.

Mom Odessa

Cassius Marcellus Clay (Christian name of Mohammed Ali) was born on January 17 on 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. His father, in whose honor he was named, worked as an artist of signs and posters, the mother of the future boxing legend was called Odessa, she was a housewife.

And you have little to throw the Olympic gold?

Ali started boxing by accident. At the age of twelve, someone stole his bicycle. Clay was very upset and told police officer Joe Martin that he would beat the thief, to which Martin replied: “Before you beat someone, you first need to learn how to do it.” He invited Cassius to the gym, where he trained young boxers, many of whom participated in amateur Golden Gloves tournaments.

Young Cassius' skill was evident. He progressed and won two Golden Gloves and two Amateur Athletic Union tournaments in 1959 and 1960, after which he was called up to the US team for the Rome Olympics, where Ali won gold.

He later threw this medal into the lake after he was refused food in a Louisville restaurant. Back then it was an establishment that did not serve “colored people.”

Flourishing talent

Having won the Games gold, he returned to Kentucky to begin his professional career. Ali won his first fight in 1960, against West Virginia Police Commissioner Tanny Hansaker.

His next fight against Briton Henry Cooper attracted an impressive 55 thousand people, the fight took place at Wembley Stadium. In the fourth round, a few seconds before the bell, Cooper knocked Clay down hard. To get more time to recover, Clay's seconds resorted to a trick - during the break between rounds they tore Clay's glove. Since they did not have spare gloves, one of the seconds followed them to the locker room. Thus, Cassius received extra time to recover. In the fifth round, Cooper suffered a severe cut, and the referee stopped the fight.

Dominant power

After defeating Liston in Miami at the start of 1964, 22-year-old Cassius became the youngest heavyweight champion. His coach was Angelo Dundee, under whose leadership Ali defended the title nine times over the next three years.

“Birth” of Mohammed Ali

In 1964, Cassius converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali, and three years later refused to take the oath of office into the US Armed Forces and go to fight in Vietnam. In an explanatory note, Ali noted that he should be exempt from military service because he is a “priest of the Islamic religion.”

For refusing to fight, the court sentenced the boxer to the maximum penalty: five years in prison, as well as a fine of 10 thousand dollars. In addition, his sporting career turned out to be frozen: he was deprived of the title of world champion, and the athletic commissions of the American states, one by one, were deprived of his license to fight in their territories.

Again on the wave of success

28 June 1971, the US Supreme Court granted Ali's appeal, unanimously acquitting him and restoring all civil rights. In the final verdict, it was said that, given the religious beliefs of Ali, he had the right to refuse to perform military service.

Soon after this, Mohammed became a participant in one of the greatest fights in boxing history, which received from journalists the appropriately resonant slogan “Fight of the Century.” In it, Ali, who had not yet completely recovered from his troubles, lost in a bitter fight to Joe Frazier, from whom he later managed to take revenge twice.

Thunder in the jungle

After defeating Fraser, Ali was again ready to fight for the world title, which was owned by young heavyweight George Foreman. At that time, Foreman had 40 victories and no defeats.

The organizer of the battle was the young promoter Don King, for whom this fight was the first in his career. It was King who proposed to fight in Africa, agreeing with the Zairian dictator Mobutu and persuading him to allocate 12 million dollars to the prize pool (each boxer got 5 million).

Against the seemingly impregnable Foreman, Ali chose an exhausting tactic, where the 7 rounds deliberately missed strikes from the opponent, urging him with curses and hanging on the ropes. In the seventh round, Mohammed began to dominate. By the eighth round, George lost his last strength, and Ali, right before the signal for the end of the round, had an accurate attack that sent Foreman to the ring floor. George managed to get up on 9, but the referee stopped the fight.

After this fight, the nickname entrenched to him, which he rewarded himself with - the Greatest.

Care and return

In September, 1976 held its third fight against Ken Norton, which Ali won by unanimous decision.

In his next fight, Ali won after the 12 round against English puncher Ernie Shayvers, but in the 14 round, the Englishman shook the champion, and, according to eyewitnesses, Mohammed could barely stand, but still managed to hold out 15 round and won the battle. After this duel, doctor Ali - Freddie Pacheco - concluded that his ward could receive irreparable damage to his health if such a fight happened again.

In 1978, Ali lost to former Olympic champion Leon Spinks. Two of the three judges gave him the victory - it was a real sensation. But after seven months, at the age of 36 years, Ali took revenge on Spinks, for the third time winning the world title and repeating the record of Joe Louis.

Completion of career

Announcing the final, seemingly retirement in 1979, Ali still returned to the ring after a fight in Las Vegas against current world champion Larry Holmes.

The fight took place on October 2 1980, at that time Mohammed was 38 years old, he was overweight, and he looked frankly slow. The champion respected Ali and tried not to injure the veteran, but, nevertheless, inflicted numerous injuries on him during the fight. This was the first match in which Mohammed lost ahead of schedule.

In 1984, the doctors' worst fears were confirmed - Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, an ailment that especially affects boxers who take a lot of blows to the head.

The rules of life of Mohammed Ali

God will not shoulder the burden on man that this man cannot take down.

My hardest fight is Parkinson's. No, it doesn't hurt. It is hard to explain. They definitely test me: will I continue to pray, will I keep faith? God tests all great people.

The sun always shines somewhere.

When you're right, nobody remembers. And how you make a mistake - no one will forget.

Silence is gold if you cannot come up with a good answer.

When a mother dies in a person, it really hurts. But over time, he gets used to it. That is life!

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.

Comedy is a way to be serious, pretending to be funny. Joking is my way of telling the truth. There is no joke in the world ridiculous truth.

And the world champion among heavyweights can be quite one woman.

All the time worrying about past mistakes - the worst mistake.

I can only wish that people love everyone the way they love me. Then the world would be better.

The mayor of Kiev, the ex-world heavyweight boxing champion, according to the WBC version, Vitali Klitschko expressed condolences to relatives, friends and all fans of the legendary boxer Mohammed Ali.

“Mohammed Ali passed away, and with him an entire era in sports, an era in boxing. It is hardly possible to find a person who would do more to popularize this sport. It is hardly possible to find a person who would be followed by tens and hundreds of millions of boys around the world, trying to become the same as Muhammad Ali,” he is quoted as saying Klitschko press service of the mayor of Kiev.

The head of the Ukrainian capital is confident that Ali will continue to live in the hearts of his fans for many years to come.

Legendary boxers Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, George Foreman, and US 42 President Bill Clinton also expressed their condolences. Daily Mail.

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