Muhammad Ali: A Tribute to the Greatest

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Muhammad Ali: A Tribute to the Greatest Page 24

by Thomas Hauser


  Mark Twain once observed, “It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.” Ali had both. He didn’t change the world as much as he wanted to, but the world is better today because he was here. He brought joy to virtually everyone he encountered and was a warm presence in our lives. If he thought that he could do something to help someone, he did it. He was in love with life and had more love in him than anyone I’ve ever known. He didn’t have to meet people to touch them.

  One of the things that people fear most about death is the thought of being forgotten. Ali enjoyed a status that has been conferred upon only a handful of men and women in history. He will be remembered for as long as there are people on Earth. He became immortal in his own lifetime.

  Don’t cry because he’s gone. Smile because we had him. He did what he was meant to do. His dreams inspired the world.

  MUHAMMAD ALI’S

  RING RECORD

  PROFESSIONAL RECORD:

  56 WINS, 5 LOSSES, 37 KOS, 1 KO BY

  Olympic Record

  Yan Becaus (Belgium)

  KO 2

  Genadiy Schatkov (USSR)

  W 3

  Tony Madigan (Australia)

  W 3

  September 5, 1960

  Zbigniew Pietrzykowski (Poland)

  W 3

  (Won Olympic Light-Heavyweight Gold Medal)

  Professional Fights

  October 29, 1960

  Tunney Hunsaker

  Louisville, KY

  W 6

  December 27, 1960

  Herb Siler

  Miami Beach, FL

  KO 4

  January 17, 1961

  Tony Esperti

  Miami Beach, FL

  KO 3

  February 7, 1961

  Jim Robinson

  Miami Beach, FL

  KO 1

  February 21, 1961

  Donnie Fleeman

  Miami Beach, FL

  KO 7

  April 19, 1961

  Lamar Clark

  Louisville, KY

  KO 2

  June 26, 1961

  Duke Sabedong

  Las Vegas, NV

  W 10

  July 22, 1961

  Alonzo Johnson

  Louisville, KY

  W 10

  October 7, 1961

  Alex Miteff

  Louisville, KY

  KO 6

  November 28, 1961

  Willi Besmanoff

  Louisville, KY

  KO 7

  February 19, 1962

  Sonny Banks

  New York, NY

  KO 4

  March 28, 1962

  Don Warner

  Miami Beach, FL

  KO 4

  April 23, 1962

  George Logan

  Los Angeles, CA

  KO 6

  May 19, 1962

  Billy Daniels

  New York, NY

  KO 7

  July 20, 1962

  Alejandro Lavorante

  Los Angeles, CA

  KO 5

  November 15, 1962

  Archie Moore

  Los Angeles, CA

  KO 4

  January 24, 1963

  Charlie Powell

  Pittsburgh, PA

  KO 3

  March 13, 1963

  Doug Jones

  New York, NY

  W 10

  June 18, 1963

  Henry Cooper

  London, England

  KO 5

  February 25, 1964

  Sonny Liston

  Miami Beach, FL

  KO 7

  (Won World Heavyweight Championship)

  May 25, 1965

  Sonny Liston

  Lewiston, ME

  KO 1

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  November 22, 1965

  Floyd Patterson

  Las Vegas, NV

  KO12

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  March 29, 1966

  George Chuvalo

  Toronto, Canada

  W 15

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  May 21, 1966

  Henry Cooper

  London, England

  KO 6

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  August 6, 1966

  Brian London

  London, England

  KO 3

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  September 10, 1966

  Karl Mildenberger

  Frankfurt, Germany

  KO12

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  November 14, 1966

  Cleveland Williams

  Houston, TX

  KO 3

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  February 6, 1967

  Ernie Terrell

  Houston, TX

  W 15

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  March 22, 1967

  Zora Folley

  New York, NY

  KO 7

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  October 26, 1970

  Jerry Quarry

  Atlanta, GA

  KO 3

  December 7, 1970

  Oscar Bonavena

  New York, NY

  KO15

  March 8, 1971

  Joe Frazier

  New York, NY

  L 15

  (Challenged for World Heavyweight Championship)

  July 26, 1971

  Jimmy Ellis

  Houston, TX

  KO12

  November 17, 1971

  Buster Mathis

  Houston, TX

  W 12

  December 26, 1971

  Jurgen Blin

  Zurich, Switzerland

  KO 7

  April 1, 1972

  Mac Foster

  Tokyo, Japan

  W 15

  May 1, 1972

  George Chuvalo

  Vancouver, Canada

  W 12

  June 27, 1972

  Jerry Quarry

  Las Vegas, NV

  KO 7

  July 19, 1972

  Al Lewis

  Dublin, Ireland

  KO11

  September 20, 1972

  Floyd Patterson

  New York, NY

  KO 7

  November 21, 1972

  Bob Foster

  Stateline, NV

  KO 8

  February 14, 1973

  Joe Bugner

  Las Vegas, NV

  W 12

  March 31, 1973

  Ken Norton

  San Diego, CA

  L 12

  September 10, 1973

  Ken Norton

  Los Angeles, CA

  W 12

  October 21, 1973

  Rudi Lubbers

  Jakarta, Indonesia

  W 12

  January 28, 1974

  Joe Frazier

  New York, NY

  W 12

  October 30, 1974

  George Foreman

  Kinshasa, Zaire

  KO 8

  (Won World Heavyweight Championship)

  March 24, 1975

  Chuck Wepner

  Cleveland, OH

  KO15

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  May 16, 1975

  Ron Lyle

  Las Vegas, NV

  KO11

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  June 30, 1975

  Joe Bugner

  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

  W 15

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  October 1, 1975

  Joe Frazier

  Quezon City, Philippines

  KO14

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  February 20, 1
976

  Jean Pierre Coopman

  San Juan, PR

  KO 5

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  April 30, 1976

  Jimmy Young

  Landover, MD

  W1 5

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  May 24, 1976

  Richard Dunn

  Munich, Germany

  KO 5

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  September 28, 1976

  Ken Norton

  New York, NY

  W 15

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  May 16, 1977

  Alfredo Evangelista

  Landover, MD

  W 15

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  September 29, 1977

  Earnie Shavers

  New York, NY

  W 15

  (Retained World Heavyweight Championship)

  February 15, 1978

  Leon Spinks

  Las Vegas, NV

  L 15

  (Lost World Heavyweight Championship)

  September 15, 1978

  Leon Spinks

  New Orleans, LA

  W15

  (Won World Heavyweight Championship)

  October 2, 1980

  Larry Holmes

  Las Vegas, NV

  KO by 11

  (Challenged for World Heavyweight Championship)

  December 11, 1981

  Trevor Berbick

  Nassau, Bahamas

  L 10

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Pulitzer Prize nominee Thomas Hauser is the author of fifty books on subjects ranging from professional boxing to Beethoven. He is widely recognized as the world’s preeminent writer on “the sweet science” and, in particular, Muhammad Ali. Hauser has won the prestigious Prix Lafayette, the Nat Fleischer Award for Career Excellence in Boxing Journalism, and the Haviva Reik Award. He lives in New York City.

  BOOKS BY THOMAS HAUSER

  GENERAL NON-FICTION

  Missing

  The Trial of Patrolman Thomas Shea

  For Our Children (with Frank Macchiarola)

  The Family Legal Companion

  Final Warning: The Legacy of Chernobyl (with Dr. Robert Gale)

  Arnold Palmer: A Personal Journey

  Confronting America’s Moral Crisis (with Frank Macchiarola)

  Healing: A Journal of Tolerance and Understanding

  With This Ring (with Frank Macchiarola)

  Thomas Hauser on Sports

  Reflections

  BOXING NON-FICTION

  The Black Lights: Inside the World of Professional Boxing

  Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times

  Muhammad Ali: Memories

  Muhammad Ali: In Perspective

  Muhammad Ali & Company

  A Beautiful Sickness

  A Year at the Fights

  Brutal Artistry

  The View from Ringside

  Chaos, Corruption, Courage, and Glory

  The Lost Legacy of Muhammad Ali

  I Don’t Believe It, But It’s True

  Knockout (with Vikki LaMotta)

  The Greatest Sport of All

  The Boxing Scene

  An Unforgiving Sport

  Boxing Is . . .

  Box: The Face of Boxing

  The Legend of Muhammad Ali (with Bart Barry)

  Winks and Daggers

  And the New . . .

  Straight Writes and Jabs

  Thomas Hauser on Boxing

  A Hurting Sport

  Muhammad Ali: A Tribute to The Greatest

  FICTION

  Ashworth & Palmer

  Agatha’s Friends

  The Beethoven Conspiracy

  Hanneman’s War

  The Fantasy

  Dear Hannah

  The Hawthorne Group

  Mark Twain Remembers

  Finding the Princess

  Waiting for Carver Boyd

  The Final Recollections of Charles Dickens

  The Baker’s Tale

  FOR CHILDREN

  Martin Bear & Friends

  MUHAMMAD ALI

  Pegasus Books Ltd.

  148 West 37th Street, 13th Floor

  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2016 by Thomas Hauser

  First Pegasus Books cloth edition 2016

  Interior design by Maria Fernandez

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher, except by reviewers who may quote brief excerpts in connection with a review in a newspaper, magazine, or electronic publication; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other, without written permission from the publisher.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

  ISBN: 978-1-68177-169-4

  ISBN: 978-1-68177-176-2 (e-book)

  Distributed by W. W. Norton & Company

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title

  Author’s Note

  Contents

  Essays

  The Importance of Muhammad Ali

  Muhammad Ali and Boxing

  Muhammad Ali and Congress Remembered

  The Athlete of the Century

  Why Muhammad Ali Went to Iraq

  The Olympic Flame

  Ali As Diplomat: “No! No! No! Don’t!”

  Ghosts of Manila

  Rediscovering Joe Frazier through Dave Wolf’s Eyes

  A Holiday Season Fantasy

  Muhammad Ali: A Classic Hero

  Elvis and Ali

  Personal Memories

  The Day I Met Muhammad Ali

  Transcript of March 1967 Radio Interview

  I Was At Ali-Frazier I

  Reflections on Time Spent with Muhammad Ali

  “I’m Coming Back to Whup Mike Tyson’s Butt”

  Muhammad Ali at Notre Dame: A Night to Remember

  Muhammad Ali: Thanksgiving 1996

  Pensacola, Florida

  A Day of Remembrance

  Remembering Joe Frazier

  “Did Barbra Streisand Whup Sonny Liston?”

  A Life in Quotes

  Legacy

  The Lost Legacy of Muhammad Ali

  The Long Sad Goodbye

  Muhammad Ali’s Ring Record

  About the Author

  Also by Thomas Hauser

  Copyright

 

 

 


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