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Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 60 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
Special Topics
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Muhammad Ali
56-5. Ali stayed in boxing until he was 39.
The Rumble in the Jungle. Although filmed in 1974, legal problems held up the documentary's release for more than two decades.
George Foreman. Ali used Rope-a-Dope against the hard-punching Foreman in their 1974 Zaire fight.
Joe Frazier. Ali beat Frazier in the legendary 1975 Philippine bout.
George Foreman. Ali beat Foreman in 1974 in Kinshasa, Zaire.
It was never suspended. Ali did not box from 1967 until 1970 due to being banned and stripped of his titles for refusing military service. His license was never revoked.
Rome. Ali fought as a Light Heavyweight in the Olympics.
Louisville, Kentucky. Early in his career the loquacious boxer became known as the 'Louisville Lip'.
| After retiring from boxing, Ali urged his fans to support the new champion, Larry Holmes. He said, 'Give Larry all of the love and encouragement you gave me, at least until ______ _______ '? | Muhammad Ali - Heavyweight Champion
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I return . But Ali won't return, and there will never be another boxer like him. He truly was 'The Greatest.'
| Ali's final fight, as the beginning of an attempt to regain the title coming out of retirement, was against what future heavyweight champion? | Muhammad Ali - Heavyweight Champion
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Trevor Berbick. After losing to Holmes in 1980, Ali began an attempt to regain the title against Berbick in December 1981. Berbick won a unanimous decision and Ali finally stopped fighting professionally twenty years after he started.
| As Ali's career wound down, he began fighting men who probably didn't deserve a title shot. One man he fought had only seven professional fights under his belt when he fought Ali. Which boxer was this? | Muhammad Ali - Heavyweight Champion
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Leon Spinks. Spinks shocked the world by winning a split decision after 15 rounds. Ali would beat him soundly in the rematch later that same year and retire shortly afterward.
| In September 1976 Ali won a unanimous decision over the number one contender to retain the title. His opponent believed that he had beaten Ali, and after the fight Ali admitted to sportswriters that he should have lost the fight. Who was his opponent? | Muhammad Ali - Heavyweight Champion
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Ken Norton. Ali fought all of these men in 1976 or 1977, and all four fights went the distance and were scored relatively closely. After the Norton fight, Norton stood in the middle of the ring with his arms in the air shouting at Ali that he had beaten him.
| During the leadup to the Ali-Foreman fight, the bout was delayed due to an injury that Foreman incurred during training. What was the injury? | Muhammad Ali - Heavyweight Champion
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A cut over his eye. The injury delayed the fight six weeks and may be a large factor in why Ali won. Since there was nothing else for him to do in Zaire, Ali did little but train for the additional six weeks.
| After beating Joe Frazier in a 1974 rematch, Ali got another shot at the title against George Foreman in Zaire. What future heavyweight champion did Ali take with him to Zaire as a sparring partner? | Muhammad Ali - Heavyweight Champion
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Larry Holmes. Holmes would defeat Ken Norton after Ali's retirement to win the heavyweight title.
| While meeting with an upcoming opponent in the ABC studio on Wide World of Sports, Ali and the other fighter got into a scuffle that resulted in Ali having his own shoe thrown at him. Who was the opponent? | Muhammad Ali - Heavyweight Champion
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Joe Frazier. Frazier was angry over Ali's non-stop insults and invited Ali to fight right then rather than wait for their scheduled rematch. Ali jumped up and grabbed him in a headlock but Frazier pushed him down and yanked his shoe off as Ali scrambled away. Bodyguards got between them but Joe fired the shoe at Ali anyway. I think Mike Tyson might have seen this one too many times ...
| In early 1973 Ali fought the California heavyweight champion who dealt him the second loss of his career. The fighter was Ken Norton, and Ali ran from him most of the fight because Norton hit him with a right early in the fight that broke Ali's jaw. What round was his jaw broken in? | Muhammad Ali - Heavyweight Champion
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2nd. Watch the replays of the fight and you'll see that Ali is constantly trying to realign the jaw in his corner between rounds.
| Ali began a campaign for another title shot immediately by fighting every heavyweight contender he could. Which opponent was so impressed with Ali's skill that after he was knocked out in the 11th round picked Ali up and tried to carry him around the ring? | Muhammad Ali - Heavyweight Champion
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Blue Lewis. Ali beat all of these fighters shortly after losing to Frazier, but Lewis was the only one that seemed happy about it ...
| When Ali fought Joe Frazier in March, 1971 in his attempt to win back the heavyweight title, he had already been knocked down twice in his professional career. In what round did Frazier knock Ali down? | Muhammad Ali - Heavyweight Champion
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15th. Early in the 15th round Frazier hammered Ali with a left hook that would have put most fighters down for the count. Ali was up at a count of three and finished the close fight to lose a unanimous decision.
| In 1970 Georgia was the first state to allow Ali a boxing license and he immediately staged a fight in Atlanta against the number one ranked heavyweight contender. Which boxer did he fight? | Muhammad Ali - Heavyweight Champion
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Jerry Quarry. Ali won by TKO in the third round when the fight doctor stopped the match due to a terrible cut over Quarry's eye.
| Throughout his ban from boxing Ali became one of the primary figures in the equal rights movement and even more of a hero to African-Americans for his persecution at the hands of the system. What 1970 documentary was made and released to theatres that showed this side of the man, as well as his boxing successes, to a national audience? | Muhammad Ali - Heavyweight Champion
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aka Cassius Clay. Anyone who has seen the film 'aka Cassius Clay' will agree that it shows a remarkably insightful and intelligent man. I threw in the Buck White answer because this was the name of the Broadway play that Ali starred in around the same time. Think about that title - buck white ... could anything be more perfect for Ali?
| In 1967 Ali was convicted of refusing to be drafted into the United States armed forces. Every state revoked his boxing license and he was stripped of the heavyweight title. Who was the last man he defended the title against before this happened? | Muhammad Ali - Heavyweight Champion
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Zora Folley. His destruction of Folley lends credence to manager Angelo Dundee's assertion that the three and a half years that Ali was out of boxing would have been the peak years of his boxing life.
| Immediately after winning the title Clay announced that he had converted to the nation of Islam (the Black Muslims), and that he was now to be called Muhammed Ali. The backlash from this announcement made virtually every major sporting center in the US refuse to host his rematch with Sonny Liston. Where was the fight finally held? | Muhammad Ali - Heavyweight Champion
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Lewiston, Maine. When the fight finally happened it was a letdown to those attending, as Ali knocked Liston out less than two minutes into the first round.
22. As he said in the ring following the fight, 'I don't have a mark on my face, I upset Sonny Liston, and I just turned 22 years old. I must be The Greatest!'
| In the months before he received his title shot, Clay had a very tough fight with a journeyman boxer that many at ringside believe should have won the descision. What was the name of this boxer that nearly beat Clay? | Muhammad Ali - Heavyweight Champion
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Doug Jones. Despite giving Clay such a good fight, Jones was never really an important contender to the heavyweight title. The other three boxers (Henry Cooper, Charlie Powell, and Bill Daniels) were all knocked out by Clay around the same time as the Jones fight.
| After winning Olympic gold and turning professional, Clay was sponsored by a group of Louisville businessmen who hired his first pro trainer. What legendary boxer did they hire as his trainer? | Muhammad Ali - Heavyweight Champion
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Archie Moore. Moore was soon released as he proved too strict for the free-spirited Clay. Two years later he was also the victim of a fourth round knockout at the hands of Clay.
Someone stole his bike and he wanted to beat them up. He complained about the stolen bike to the police officer in question and said he wanted to find the thief and 'whip' him. The cop told him he better learn to fight first.
Kentucky. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, which provided the basis for one of his early nicknames, 'The Louisville Lip.'
Nassau. Ali lost his last bout to Trevor Berbick in Nassau, Bahamas.
37. Ali's ring record: 61 Fights, 56 wins, 5 losses, and 37 wins by KO.
Poland. His last bout at the Olympics matched Ali with the Pole Zbiginiew Piertrzkowski, a veteran with a fight record of over 200 fights. He defeated him to become a Gold Medalist.
1942. On January 17, 1942, at 6:30pm, the biggest sporting legend of the 20th century was born in Louisville, Kentucky.
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