Ali vs. Tyson: Ali Profile 1

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. on January 17th, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. He started boxing at age 12 after the theft of his bicycle. He was trained by local policeman Joe Martin and Fred Stoner, a coach at the local youth center.
He began his boxing career by participating in "Tomorrow's Champions," a weekly boxing show hosted by Martin. He made $4 a week by participating in these small fights. while only a modest beginning, the young Ali would go on to win 6 Kentucky Golden Glove titles, 2 national Golden Gloves Titles, and the gold medal for men's boxing in the light-heavyweight division. At 6'3.5" tall, the last thing anyone expected this man-mountain to do... was dance.

Look at that footwork! He moves in, jabs, then comes back out before his opponent can react. "He was the fastest light-heavyweight we'd ever seen. 6-foot, 3 and a half, but he was moving like a middleweight..." said British Commonwealth Champion Henry Cooper. Indeed, Ali's speed, in both his hands and his feet, would set an unprecedented mark for heavyweights everywhere. Before him, no one thought that these big goliaths could even fit through the ropes let alone be graceful and move so well. Ali proved them all wrong."When you have fast feet and fast hands, which he [Ali] had, that makes... a fighter," said Cooper.

By 1963, Ali had amassed a record of 19 wins, no losses, with 15 wins coming by way of knockout. By this time, he had hired the legendary Angelo Dundee to be his trainer and manager. Dundee would continue to hone Ali's unbelievable skill as an out-fighter, preparing him for his title fight with the hard-hitting Sonny "Big Bear" Liston.




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