Muhammad Ali Dies Aged 74, Here’s Our Tribute To The Boxing Legend

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, you can’t catch me, I’m Muhammad Ali”

The worst news has been confirmed, as boxing legend Muhammad Ali has passed away aged 74. The three time world heavyweight boxing champion was rushed to hospital earlier this week in Phoenix, Arizona.

With his family along side him, ‘The Greatest’ was placed on life support as he battled breathing difficulties in his final moments. After a 32-year fight with Parkinsons disease, during which Ali made frequent media appearances and never stopped his charitable efforts, the end has finally and sadly arrived.

But with the sorrow and deep sadness that comes with the death of such a great man in Muhammad Ali, comes the chance to look back over his incredible journey on this plane of existence.

Ali’s boxing career started in 1960, where he fought among a generation of feared power punchers in the heavyweight division. Quickly racking up a record of 19-0, and fought for the heavyweight belt against Sonny Liston in 1964.

Ali bludgeoned the feared power punchers Liston until he could take no more, refusing to answer the bell for round seven. The rematch ended in a knockout after the infamous ‘phantom punch.’

Eight title defenses later, and the government temporarily halted his journey in boxing, as Ali was stripped of his titles for refusing to be drafted in to the Vietnam war.

More than three years passed before Ali would return to the ring, and he experienced his first pro loss in the first of his trilogy of fights with Joe Frazier in 1971, but his greatness was far from fully revealed.

At the age of 32 with a record of 45-2, very few people believed he could win the heavyweight title for a second time, especially not against the much younger and more powerful George Foreman.

Against what everyone thought, Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in front of a crowd that went wild. “The Rumble in the Jungle” which happened in Zaire is arguably Ali’s greatest moment in the squared ring.

Ali beat Leon Spinks in 1978 to win the belt for a third time, but pushed too far in fighting Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick, where he sustained terrible damage in his last two fights.

He fought Parkinsons disease for 32 years, which is pretty much unheard of, proving once again why he was the greatest of all time.

His work with charities and poverty stricken children saw the humanitarian side of Muhammad Ali, and he’ll go down as one of the greatest humans of all time, let alone boxers.

R.I.P. Muhammed Ali

January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016

RIP champ, you will be sorely missed.

Record: 56 Wins, 5 Loss, 37 KOs
Born: Jan. 17, 1942 — Louisville, KY

1960
29 Oct — Tunney Hunsaker, Louisville, KY — W 6
27 Dec — Herb Siler, Miami Beach, FL — KO 4

1961
17 Jan — Tony Esperti, Miami Beach, FL — KO 3
6 Feb — Ingemar Johansson, Miami Beach, FL — Spar 2
7 Feb — Jim Robinson, Miami Beach, FL — KO 1
21 Feb — Donnie Fleeman, Miami Beach, FL — KO 7
19 Apr — Lamar Clark, Louisville, KY — KO 2
26 Jun — Duke Sabedong, Las Vegas, NV — W 10
22 Jul — Alonzo Johnson, Louisville, KY — W 10
7 Oct — Alex Miteff, Louisville, KY — KO 6
29 Nov — Willi Besmanoff, Louisville, KY — KO 7

1962
19 Feb — Sonny Banks, New York, NY — KO 4
28 Mar — Don Warner, Miami Beach, FL — KO 4
23 Apr — George Logan, Los Angeles, CA — KO 6
19 May — Billy Daniels, New York, NY — KO 7
20 Jul — Alejandro Lavorante, Los Angeles, CA — KO 5
15 Nov — Archie Moore, Los Angeles, CA — KO 4

1963
24 Jan — Charlie Powell, Pittsburgh, PA — KO 3
13 Mar — Doug Jones, New York, NY — W 10
18 Jun — Henry Cooper, London — KO 5

1964
25 Feb — Sonny Liston, Miami Beach, FL — KO 7
(Won World Heavyweight Title)

1965
25 May — Sonny Liston, Lewiston, ME — KO 1
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)
31 Jul — Jimmy Ellis, San Juan, PR — Exh. 3
31 Jul — Cody Jones, San Juan, PR — Exh. 3
16 Aug — Cody Jones, Goteborg, Sweden — Exh. 2
16 Aug — Jimmy Ellis, Goteborg, Sweden — Exh. 2
20 Aug — Jimmy Ellis, London — Exh. 4
20 Aug — Cody Jones, Paisley, Scotland — Exh. 4
22 Nov — Floyd Patterson, Las Vegas, NV — KO 12
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)

1966
29 Mar — George Chuvalo, Toronto — W 15
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)
21 May — Henry Cooper, London — KO 6
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)
6 Aug — Brian London, London — KO 3
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)
10 Sep — Karl Mildenberger, Frankfurt, Germany — KO 12
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)
14 Nov — Cleveland Williams, Houston, TX — KO 3
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)

1967
6 Feb — Ernie Terrell, Houston, TX — W 15
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)
22 Mar — Zora Folley, New York, NY — KO 7
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)
15 Jun — Alvin Lewis, Detroit, MI — Exh. 3
15 Jun — Orvill Qualls, Detroit, MI — Exh. 3

1970

Sep – Rufus Braswell — Exh. 2
?? Sep — Johnny Hudgins — Exh. 2
?? Sep — George Hill — Exh. 4
26 Oct — Jerry Quarry, Atlanta, GA — KO 3
7 Dec — Oscar Bonavena, New York, NY — KO 15

1971
8 Mar — Joe Frazier, New York, NY — L 15
(For World Heavyweight Title)
25 Jun — J.D. McCauley, Dayton, OH — Exh. 2
25 Jun — Eddie Brooks, Dayton, OH — Exh. 3
25 Jun — Rufus Brassell, Dayton, OH — Exh. 3
30 Jun — Alex Mack, Charleston, SC — Exh. 3
30 Jun — Eddie Brooks, Charleston, SC — Exh. 4
26 Jul — Jimmy Ellis, Houston, TX — KO 12
21 Aug — Lancer Johnson, Caracas — Exh. 4
21 Aug — Eddie Brooks, Caracas — Exh. 4
23 Aug — Lancer Johnson, Port of Spain, Trinidad — Exh. 4
23 Aug — Eddie Brooks, Port of Spain, Trinidad — Exh. 2
6 Nov — James Summerville, Buenos Aires — Exh. 5
6 Nov — Miguel Paez, Buenos Aires — Exh. 5
17 Nov — Buster Mathis, Houston, TX — W 12
26 Dec — Jurgen Blin, Zurich, Switzerland — KO 7

1972
1 Apr — Mac Foster, Tokyo — W 15
1 May — George Chuvalo, Vancouver, Canada — W 12
29 Jun — Jerry Quarry, Las Vegas, NV — KO 7
1 Jul — Lonnie Bennett, Los Angeles, CA — Exh. 2
1 Jul — Eddie Jones, Los Angeles, CA — Exh. 2
1 Jul — Billy Ryan, Los Angeles, CA — Exh. 2
1 Jul — Charley James, Los Angeles, CA — Exh. 2
1 Jul — Rudy Clay, Los Angeles, CA — Exh. 2
19 Jul — Al Lewis, Dublin — KO 11
1 Aug — Gregorio Peralta, Barcelona, Spain — Exh. 8
24 Aug — Obie English, Baltimore, MD — Exh. 4
24 Aug — Ray Anderson, Baltimore, MD — Exh. 2
24 Aug — Alonzo Johnson, Baltimore, MD — Exh. 2
24 Aug — George Hill, Baltimore, MD — Exh. 2
28 Aug — Alonzo Johnson, Cleveland, OH — Exh. 2
28 Aug — Amos Johnson, Cleveland, OH — Exh. 2
28 Aug — Terry Daniels, Cleveland, OH — Exh. 2
28 Aug — Rodney Greene, Cleveland, OH — Exh. 1
28 Aug — Gary Dee, Cleveland, OH — Exh. 1
20 Sep — Floyd Patterson, New York, NY — KO 7
11 Oct — John Dennis, Boston, MA — Exh. 2
11 Oct — Cliff McDonald, Boston, MA — Exh. 2
11 Oct — Doug Kirk, Boston, MA — Exh. 2
11 Oct — Ray Anderson, Boston, MA — Exh. 2
11 Oct — Paul Raymond, Boston, MA — Exh. 2
18 Nov — Al Jones, Johannesburg, S.A. — Exh. ?
21 Nov — Bob Foster, Stateline, NV — KO 8
28 Nov — Charlie Boston, Salem, Va — Exh. 2
28 Nov — Jimmy Wingfield, Salem, Va — Exh. 2
28 Nov — John Jordan, Salem, Va — Exh. 2
28 Nov — Alonzo Johnson, Salem, Va — Exh. 2

1973
14 Feb — Joe Bugner, Las Vegas, NV — W 12
23 Feb — Cookie Wallace, Dallas — Exh. 4
31 Mar — Ken Norton, San Diego, CA — L 12
10 Sep — Ken Norton, Los Angeles, CA — W 12
20 Oct — Rudi Lubbers, Jakarta — W 12

1974
28 Jan — Joe Frazier, New York, NY — W 12
30 Oct — George Foreman, Kinshasa — KO 8
(Won World Heavyweight Title)

1975
24 Mar — Chuck Wepner, Cleveland, OH — KO 15
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)
16 May — Ron Lyle, Las Vegas, NV — KO 11
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)
30 Jun — Joe Bugner, Kuala Lumpur — W 15
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)
1 Oct — Joe Frazier, Manila — KO 14
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)
6 Dec — Randy Stephens, Dallas, TX — Exh.

3

1976
20 Feb — Jean Pierre Coopman, San Juan, PR — KO 5
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)
30 Apr — Jimmy Young, Landover, MD — W 15
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)
24 May — Richard Dunn, Munich, Germany — KO 5
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)
25 Jun — Antonio Inoki, Tokyo — Exh. D 15
28 Sep — Ken Norton, New York, NY — W 15
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)

1977
29 Jan — Peter Fuller, Boston, MA — Exh. 4
29 Jan — Walter Haines, Boston, MA — Exh. 1
29 Jan — Jerry Houston, Boston, MA — Exh. 2
29 Jan — Ron Drinkwater, Boston, MA — Exh. 2
29 Jan — Matt Ross, Boston, MA — Exh. 2
29 Jan — Frank Smith, Boston, MA — Exh. 1
16 May — Alfredo Evangelista, Landover, MD — W 15
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)
29 Sep — Earnie Shavers, New York, NY — W 15
(Retained World Heavyweight Title)
14 Nov — Bernardo Mercado, Bogata, Colombia — Exh. 5
2 Dec — Scott LeDoux, Chicago, IL — Exh. 5

1978
15 Feb — Leon Spinks, Las Vegas, NV — L 15
(Lost World Heavyweight Title)
15 Aug — Leon Spinks, New Orleans, LA — W 15
(Won World Heavyweight Title)

1979
27 May — Alonzo Johnson, Randers, Den — Exh.

5
27 May — Jimmy Willis, Randers, Den — Exh. 5
14 Jul — Lyle Alzado, Denver, CO — Exh. 8

1980
2 Oct — Larry Holmes, Las Vegas, NV — KO by 11
(For World Heavyweight Title)

1981
11 Dec — Trevor Berbick, Nassau — L 10