Muhammad Ali, arguably the greatest boxer of all-time, was born on this day in 1942. He is widely celebrated as one of the most recognised sporting figures of the 20th century. Born as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr in Louisville, Kentucky in the United State Ali converted to Islam in 1961 and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. He started practising boxing at the age of 12 and was 18 when he clinched the gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics. By the age 22, Ali had beaten Sonny Liston to win his maiden World Heavyweight title. But at his peak, Ali was suspended from boxing for three years and all his titles were stripped after he had refused to join the US military during the 1967 Vietnam War. He was even arrested before a Supreme Court decision overturned the ban and allowed to pursue boxing again. Tokyo Olympics 2020: Indian Boxing Squad for Asia Oceania Olympic Qualifiers Announced.

Interestingly, Ali was never interested in boxing and wanted to actually become a Soccer player. But the incident of a thief stealing his bicycle from the fair led Ali into meeting Louisville police officer and boxing coach Joe E. Martin, who told Muhammad Ali that he must first learn how to box before trying to ‘whup’ the thief.  After six weeks of training, Ali – then still known as Clay – played his first amateur boxing bout and won by a split decision. He won 100 of his 108 amateur boxing matches before turning to professional boxing. Take a look at some lesser-known facts about Muhammad Ali.

  • Muhammad Ali was born as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr in Louisville, Kentucky, United States

  • Clay started practising boxing after his red and white bicycle was stolen for a fair

  • Just six weeks into training, a 12-year-old Clay won his first boxing bout

  • As an 18-year-old, clay won his first gold medal at the 1960 summer Olympics in the light heavyweight division

  • In 1961, Clay converted to Sunni Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali

  • During the 1967 Vietnam War, Ali refused to join the US military and therefore his boxing license was stripped and titles stripped

  • Ali won 100 of his 108 amateur fights and 56 of his 61 professional boxing bouts

  • In 2005, Ali was honoured with the United States presidential Medal of Freedom

Ali made his professional boxing debut on October 29, 1960, with a win over Tunney Hunsaker. His records in the opening weeks read 19-0, in which 15 were won via knockouts. By 1963, Ali had already become the top contender to challenge than World Heavyweight champion Sonny Liston. They faced on February 25, 1964, and Ali won by a knockout after 7 rounds.

They faced in another bout a year later but the match lasted only 2 minutes with Ali the unconvincing winner. Ali remains the only three-time heavyweight champion and holds the record of beating 21 boxers to land the world heavyweight title. Unfortunately, he passed away at the age of 74 on June 3, 2016, after a lengthy period of illness.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 17, 2020 08:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).