Muhammad Ali e news buzz

Name: Muhammad Ali

Birth name:Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.

Nickname:The Greatest, The Champ,

The Louisville Lip

Height: 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)

Reach: 2 m

Weight division Heavyweight

Nationality: United States

Birth date:January 17, 1942

Birth place: Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.

Stance: Orthodox

Boxing record

Total fights 61

Wins 56

Wins by KO 37

Losses 5

Draws 0

No contests 0

Ali was best known for his fighting style which he described as "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee". Throughout his career Ali made a name for himself with great handspeed, as well as swift feet and taunting tactics. While Ali was renowned for his fast, sharp out-fighting style, he also had a great chin, and displayed great courage and an ability to take a punch through out his illustrious career. Ali also exclusively attacked the head of an opponent, usually ignoring a body attack.

Ali was first directed toward boxing by Louisville police officer, Joe E. Martin, who encountered the then twelve-year-old Cassius Clay fuming over the fact that his bicycle had been stolen. However, without Martin knowing, he also began training with Fred Stoner at another gym. In this way, he could continue making $4 a week on Tomorrow's Champions, a TV show that Martin hosted, while benefiting from the coaching of the more-experienced Stoner, who continued working with Ali throughout his amateur career.

Ali's last amateur loss was to Kent Green of Chicago, who could say he was the last person to defeat the champion until Ali lost to Joe Frazier in 1971 as a pro. Under Stoner's guidance, Muhammad Ali went on to win six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union National Title, and the Light Heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Ali's record was 100 wins, with five losses, when he ended his amateur career.

Ali states (in his 1975 autobiography) that he threw his Olympic gold medal into the Ohio River after being refused service at a 'whites-only' restaurant, and fighting with a white gang. Whether this is true is still debated, although he was given a replacement medal during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he lit the torch to start the games.