Who did Cassius Clay defeat in February 1964 to become World Heavyweight Boxing Champion?
"Ali: An American Hero Ali: An American Hero is an American television film which aired on August 31, 2000 on FOX. It chronicles portions of the career of heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali, who is portrayed by David Ramsey. Cassius Clay (David Ramsey), winner of the gold medal for boxing in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics, rises in the professional ranks and defeats heavyweight boxing champion Sonny Liston in a stunning upset to capture the title in 1964. Controversy surrounds his decision to join the Nation of Islam, his name change from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali,"
"Boxing in the 1960s During the 1960s, boxing, like mostly everything else around the world, went through changing times. Notable was the emergence of a young boxer named Cassius Clay, who would, in his own words ""shock the world"", declare himself against war, and change his name to Muhammad Ali. Among significant boxers in lower weights, were middleweights Emile Griffith, Nino Benvenuti and Dick Tiger, and lightweights Joe Brown, Carlos Ortiz and Ismael Laguna. The first world champions from Venezuela and Thailand were crowned during the 1960s, and the WBA and WBC started competing against each other, after the WBA"
"Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, activist, and philanthropist. Nicknamed ""The Greatest"", he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century and one of the greatest boxers of all time. He was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, and began training as an amateur boxer when he was 12 years old. At age 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, then turned professional later"
"Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston The two fights between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston for boxing's World Heavyweight Championship were among the most anticipated, watched and controversial fights in the sport's history. ""Sports Illustrated"" magazine named their first meeting, the Liston–Clay fight (Ali had not yet changed his name from Cassius Clay), as the fourth greatest sports moment of the twentieth century. The first bout was held in February 1964 in Miami Beach, Florida. Clay (later Ali) won when Liston gave up at the opening of the seventh round (after being clearly dominated in the sixth). Their second fight was"
"from the fight. Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston The two fights between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston for boxing's World Heavyweight Championship were among the most anticipated, watched and controversial fights in the sport's history. ""Sports Illustrated"" magazine named their first meeting, the Liston–Clay fight (Ali had not yet changed his name from Cassius Clay), as the fourth greatest sports moment of the twentieth century. The first bout was held in February 1964 in Miami Beach, Florida. Clay (later Ali) won when Liston gave up at the opening of the seventh round (after being clearly dominated in the sixth). Their"
"changed its name from the National Boxing Association in 1962 and a group split from the WBA in 1963 to form the WBC. A new division was created in the Jr. Middleweights, where a high school teacher, Freddie Little, was crowned world champion. Fights were seen on color television for the first time, and one of the most famous tragedies, Benny Kid Paret's, was also shown live on TV. Boxing in the 1960s During the 1960s, boxing, like mostly everything else around the world, went through changing times. Notable was the emergence of a young boxer named Cassius Clay, who"
"These are intercut with scenes featuring Ali and veteran boxing trainer Cus D'Amato discussing his career and how he would have fared against past champions such as Joe Louis. A.k.a. Cassius Clay A.k.a. Cassius Clay (styled as a.k.a. Cassius Clay) is a 1970 boxing documentary film about the former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. Directed by Jimmy Jacobs, the film was made during Ali's exile from the sport for refusing to be inducted into the US Army on religious grounds. Narrated by Richard Kiley, the film gives an overview of Ali's career to that point. The film features archival footage of"
"war, but he still respected him greatly as a fighter and as a man. Cassius Clay vs. Tunney Hunsaker Olympic Light heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) fought Tunney Hunsaker in a six-round match on October 29, 1960. Clay won the bout through a unanimous decision on points. This was Ali's first fight as a professional. Hunsaker was a part time boxer who was for many years a respected police officer in Fayetteville, West Virginia. He also helped to train young fighters and he and Ali were friends for many years afterwards. In a 1980 Sports Illustrated article,"
"in May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine, which Ali won with a first-round knockout. Liston was the World Heavyweight Champion at the time of the first Liston–Clay fight in Miami Beach on February 25, 1964, having demolished former champion Floyd Patterson by a first-round knockout in September 1962. Ten months later, Liston and Patterson met again with the same result—Patterson was knocked out in the first round. Liston was the most intimidating fighter of his day, and considered by some, at the time of the Clay fight, to be among the best heavyweights of all time. Many were reluctant to meet"
"officer in his native state of Idaho. Cassius Clay vs. George Logan Cassius Clay (soon Muhammad Ali) fought a ten-round boxing match with George Logan in Los Angeles on March 23, 1962. Clay won the fight through a technical knockout after the referee stopped the fight in the fourth round. This was Clay's 13th professional victory and before the fight Jack Dempsey predicted he would win the title. Logan sustained a serious eye injury during the bout that eventually led to its stoppage. Logan later claimed his cornermen told him to use low blows against Clay but he refused.Logan was"
"that year, before converting to Islam after 1961. At age 22, in 1964, he won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a major upset. He then changed his name from Cassius Clay, which he called his ""slave name"", to Muhammad Ali. He set an example of racial pride for African Americans and resistance to white domination during the Civil Rights Movement. In 1966, two years after winning the heavyweight title, Ali further antagonized the white establishment by refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs, and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War."
"Cassius Clay vs. Doug Jones Cassius Clay (soon Muhammad Ali) and Doug Jones fought a ten-round boxing match at Madison Square Garden in New York City, on March 13, 1963. Clay won the bout on points through a close but unanimous decision. The fight was Madison Square Garden's first boxing sellout in 13 years, grossing a live gate of $304,943 ($ inflation adjusted). The fight purses were $90,000 ($ inflation adjusted) for Clay and $75,000 for Jones. The fight had a closed-circuit theatre television broadcast, which drew 150,000 pay-per-view buys, including 9,000 in Texas and 1,500 at Syria Mosque. The"
"Cassius Clay vs. Tunney Hunsaker Olympic Light heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) fought Tunney Hunsaker in a six-round match on October 29, 1960. Clay won the bout through a unanimous decision on points. This was Ali's first fight as a professional. Hunsaker was a part time boxer who was for many years a respected police officer in Fayetteville, West Virginia. He also helped to train young fighters and he and Ali were friends for many years afterwards. In a 1980 Sports Illustrated article, Hunsaker said he didn't agree with Ali refusing to be drafted during the Vietnam"
"died, aged 80, Fleeman was suffering from Alzheimer's, and also from what Clay/Ali developed in later years: Parkinson's. Cassius Clay vs. Donnie Fleeman Cassius Clay (soon Muhammad Ali) fought an eight-round boxing match with Texan Donnie Fleeman in Miami on February 21, 1961. Prior to this fight, Fleeman had a record of 51 fights with 45 wins including 20 knockouts. Clay won the bout through a technical knockout after the referee stopped the fight in the seventh round. This was the first time Clay had gone over six rounds in a boxing match. It was also the first time Fleeman"
"Cassius Clay vs. George Logan Cassius Clay (soon Muhammad Ali) fought a ten-round boxing match with George Logan in Los Angeles on March 23, 1962. Clay won the fight through a technical knockout after the referee stopped the fight in the fourth round. This was Clay's 13th professional victory and before the fight Jack Dempsey predicted he would win the title. Logan sustained a serious eye injury during the bout that eventually led to its stoppage. Logan later claimed his cornermen told him to use low blows against Clay but he refused.Logan was later a truant officer and a police"
"Cassius Clay vs. Alex Miteff Cassius Clay (soon Muhammad Ali) fought Argentine Alex Miteff in a ten-round boxing match in Louisville on October 7, 1961. Clay won the fight through a technical knockout when the referee stopped the fight in the sixth round. Miteff and Clay would feature in the 1962 film Requiem for a Heavyweight. Miteff had won the gold medal for the heavyweight championship at the 1955 Pan American Games. He had fought twice with George Chuvalo in boxing matches, in June 1958 and March 1961, drawing the first bout and losing on a split decision in the"
"the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Willard and a dispute he had with Harry Houdini is the topic of Andy Duncan's Nebula Award nominated novella ""The Pottawatomie Giant."" Jess Willard Jess Myron Willard (December 29, 1881 – December 15, 1968) was a world heavyweight boxing champion known as the Pottawatomie Giant who knocked out Jack Johnson in April 1915 for the heavyweight title. He was known for his great strength and ability to absorb tremendous punishment, although today he is also known for his title loss to Jack Dempsey. Willard held the championship for more than four years. Today his"
"fight grossed $500,000 ($ inflation adjusted) in closed-circuit television revenue. In addition, the fight also had a pay-per-view home television broadcast in Toronto and Hartford, Connecticut. The fight's combined live gate and closed-circuit revenue was $ ($ inflation adjusted). Cassius Clay vs. Doug Jones Cassius Clay (soon Muhammad Ali) and Doug Jones fought a ten-round boxing match at Madison Square Garden in New York City, on March 13, 1963. Clay won the bout on points through a close but unanimous decision. The fight was Madison Square Garden's first boxing sellout in 13 years, grossing a live gate of $304,943 ($"
"few men to beat the young Cassius Clay (known later as Muhammad Ali) who went on to become the Heavyweight Champion of the world. Ray's career continued as he fought Joe Byrd of Flint, Michigan, in 1969, knocking Joe out in round 1. Ray also knocked out Canton's Marion Conner in Round 2, sealing his stature as Ohio's best light heavyweight. He fought John Griffin of Syracuse, New York twice, losing both in close decisions. Ray Anderson was credited by Joe Frazier, who long used him as sparring partner because of his tall rangy Ali-like style as assisting him in"
"Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981), best known as Joe Louis was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. He reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1949, and is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. Nicknamed the ""Brown Bomber"", Louis' championship reign lasted 140 consecutive months, during which he participated in 26 championship fights. The 27th fight, against Ezzard Charles in 1950, was a challenge for Charles' heavyweight title and so is not included in Louis' reign. He was victorious in 25"
"died in 1965 from injuries sustained in a 9-round bout against Leotis Martin. Sonny Banks Lucien ""Sonny"" Banks (June 29, 1940 – May 13, 1965) was an American boxer best known for being the first fighter to drop a young Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay). At the time Banks was a rising prospect and known for a fast sharp left hook. Banks was from Lee County in northeast Mississippi, near Tupelo. He was born in the farming community Birmingham Ridge, about halfway between Tupelo and Saltillo. (Source: Rick Cleveland column) Banks fought Clay in 1962 and knocked him down for"
"I Am the Greatest (Cassius Clay album) I Am the Greatest is a comedy album by boxer Cassius Clay, released in August 1963 – six months before he won the world heavyweight championship, publicly announced his conversion to Islam, and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. It was released by CBS Columbia. The album helped establish Ali's reputation as an eloquently poetic ""trash talker"". The album has also been identified as an early example of rap music and a precursor to hip hop music. The liner notes were written by the American poet Marianne Moore, a longstanding fan of Clay."
"Carmen Basilio Carmen Basilio (Born Carmine Basilio, April 2, 1927 – November 7, 2012) was an American professional boxer who was the world champion in both the welterweight and middleweight divisions. He is also famous for defeating Sugar Ray Robinson to win the middleweight title. An iron-chinned pressure fighter, Basilio was a combination puncher who had great stamina, and eventually wore many of his opponents down with vicious attacks to the head and body. Basilio was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. ""The Ring"" magazine named him Fighter of the Year in 1957, while the Boxing"
"the box office, an amount unsurpassed in the South, until television receipts for Clay vs. Liston in 1964, managed a richer gate. A fight held in Yankee Stadium later that year, gave Sharkey the United States heavyweight title, when he knocked out former light-heavyweight champion Tommy Loughran. This victory earned him the opportunity to fight for the vacant world title against the German contender, Max Schmeling on June 12, 1930. Sharkey was disqualified in the fourth round after delivering a punch that landed below Schmeling's belt. This was the first time in boxing history when the heavyweight championship was won"
"serving until his retirement in 1974. In 1938 he became a boxing coach at the Columbia Gym in Louisville (now the student center of Spalding University), where, in 1954, he began coaching Cassius Clay, who later became a three-time world heavyweight champion under the name of Muhammad Ali. During this time, he also trained Jimmy Ellis as well as eleven National Golden Gloves champions. Martin was an early leader in Louisville's civil rights movement. At the time the future Muhammad Ali began training there, Columbia Gym was racially integrated, unlike other Louisville boxing gyms of that period. In 1954, a"
"the great trainers of Stillman's Gym. There, his mentors included Charlie Goldman, Ray Arcel and Chickie Ferrera. Later, his brother Chris Dundee opened the Fifth Street Gym in Miami. Carmen Basilio was the first world champion for whom Dundee acted as a cornerman when Basilio defeated Tony DeMarco for the world welterweight crown in 1955 and Sugar Ray Robinson for the world middleweight crown in 1957. Dundee traveled around the world with Ali, and he was the cornerman in all but two of Ali's fights (Tunney Hunsaker in 1960 and Jimmy Ellis in 1971). Dundee trained the young Cassius Clay,"
"In 1984, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's syndrome, which some reports attribute to boxing-related injuries, though both Ali and his physician disputed the claim. As his condition worsened, Ali made limited public appearances, and was cared for by his family until his death on June 3, 2016, in Scottsdale, Arizona. Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. () was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. He had a sister and four brothers. He was named for his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. (1912–1990), who himself was named in honor of the 19th-century Republican politician and staunch abolitionist, Cassius Marcellus Clay, also"
"Cassius Clay vs. Donnie Fleeman Cassius Clay (soon Muhammad Ali) fought an eight-round boxing match with Texan Donnie Fleeman in Miami on February 21, 1961. Prior to this fight, Fleeman had a record of 51 fights with 45 wins including 20 knockouts. Clay won the bout through a technical knockout after the referee stopped the fight in the seventh round. This was the first time Clay had gone over six rounds in a boxing match. It was also the first time Fleeman had ever been knocked down in a boxing match. Fleeman retired from boxing after this fight. Before this"
"Jess Willard Jess Myron Willard (December 29, 1881 – December 15, 1968) was a world heavyweight boxing champion known as the Pottawatomie Giant who knocked out Jack Johnson in April 1915 for the heavyweight title. He was known for his great strength and ability to absorb tremendous punishment, although today he is also known for his title loss to Jack Dempsey. Willard held the championship for more than four years. Today his reign is considered the 11th longest in the heavyweight division. He lost the title to Jack Dempsey in 1919 in one of the most severe beatings ever in"
"21 during an elimination bout following Rocky Marciano's retirement. Mike Tyson broke both records in 1986 when he defeated Trevor Berbick to win the heavyweight title at age 20. Soon after the Liston fight, Clay changed his name to Cassius X, and then later to Muhammad Ali upon converting to Islam and affiliating with the Nation of Islam. Ali then faced a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine. It had been scheduled for Boston the previous November, but was postponed for six months due to Ali's emergency surgery for a hernia three days before. The fight"
"Charles C. Smith (boxer) C.C. Smith (b. 3 May 1860? - 1 October 1924), a.k.a. Charles C. Smith, Charles A.C. Smith, and Charlie Smith, was an African American boxer who claimed the status of being the World Colored Heavyweight Champ and was the first boxer recognized as such. Smith was born in Macon, Georgia, likely into slavery, and he and his mother moved north in 1865. His birth date is given as 3 May 1860, but since he supposedly did not begin boxing until he was 19 and claimed the title in 1876, the birth year likely is spurious. Some"
"Stitch, future WBA World Heavyweight Champion Jimmy Ellis and Mayfield Pennington, who defeated former World Welterweight and Middleweight Champion Emile Griffith. Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, occasionally trained at Bruner's gym. His first gym workout after winning an Olympic gold medal in 1960 was at Bruner's Headline Gym. Larry Boeck wrote in the October 9, 1960, edition of the ""Courier-Journal"": ""Clay gives the impression, when Bruner's name is injected into the conversation, that he respects the ring knowledge of Bud in both matters of boxing technique and of integrity and astuteness in the often shady world of ring"
"the 20/20 hindsight, that doesn’t stop it from grabbing our imaginations' The European premiere was at the Donmar Warehouse, London, 6 October - 3 December 2016. The Donmar Warehouse website described the setting and background: ""The world would come to know him as Muhammad Ali, but on 25 February 1964, 22-year old Cassius Clay was celebrating his world heavyweight title - not by hitting the town, but in a hotel room with his three closest friends: activist Malcolm X, singer Sam Cooke and American football star Jim Brown. To the outside world, they were American icons. But in that hotel"