The Life and Times of Muhammad Ali Quiz

Answer: Zbigniew Pietrzykowski

Clay won the gold medal bout by a 5-0 scoreline. Pietrzykowski never made it in the professional game, but did win a bronze in the 1964 Summer Olympics to add to his silver in 1960. Madigan lost in the semi-finals to Clay, and went on to win two Commonwealth Games gold medals, taking the top prize in 1958 and 1962. Shatkov was beaten by Clay in the quarter-finals, but had previously won the gold medal in the 1956 Summer Olympics at middleweight. Hunsaker was Clay's first professional opponent on 29th October 1960, losing to the future world champion in a six round decision.

Answer: Willi Besmanoff

A Jewish German, Besmanoff was a survivor of Buchenwald concentration camp before becoming a contender in the 1950s. Clay beat Besmanoff on 29 November 1961 for his tenth professional victory. Clay fought Sabedong in June 1961 for his seventh win, but he was an American. Clay beat Miteff in October 1961, but Miteff was an Argentinian citizen.

His first fight against Cooper came in June 1963, with Clay defeating the Brit via a fifth round technical knockout.

Answer: 1961

Clay attended his first meeting with the Nation of Islam in 1961, but decided to keep this hidden from the media. Leaders of the Nation of Islam had been sceptical about welcoming him due to his boxing career, but were much more receptive to him after becoming world champion.

He first met Malcolm X, his spiritual mentor, in 1962. However, Clay lost contact with him when the Nation of Islam parted ways with him. The Nation's leader Elijah Muhammad bestowed the name "Muhammad Ali" upon Clay, and Clay announced the permanent name change in March 1964.

Answer: Jersey Joe Walcott

The rematch was controversial for several reasons. Liston was floored by Ali in the first round, but many within the crowd and watching on television could not recall seeing Ali throw a punch before Liston fell. This became known as the "phantom punch". Referee Walcott did not start the count immediately, Ali refused to go to the neutral corner and Liston was down for 20 seconds before Walcott allowed the fight to continue. Timekeepers then informed Walcott that Liston had been down for more than ten seconds, ending the fight.

There has been speculation that Liston lost intentionally after betting against himself, hoping to pay off debts. Some even believed that the Nation of Islam threatened to kill Liston if he took the fight seriously. None of these claims have been verified or proven, but are still fascinating nonetheless.

Answer: 35,000

Williams was one of the hardest hitters of his generation, although by 1966 his finest days were behind him. Ali put up arguably the finest performance of his career in Houston, comfortably defeating the challenger. The win improved Ali's record to 27-0 as a professional. Williams is still considered by boxing experts and historians as one of the finest heavyweight boxers to never win a world title.

Answer: Marciano in the 13th round

Ali's lawsuits against his conviction and stripped boxing license were expensive and he needed to find money while not boxing. He accepted $10,000 dollars to have his footage used in the computer-generated fight.

The boxers were filmed sparring for 75 one-minute rounds and acted out a number of alternate endings to the bout. The US version suggested that Marciano would win in round 13, but the European version stated that Ali would win after cutting Marciano.

Answer: 2

In August 1970, Ali was given a license to fight in the city of Atlanta, thanks to Georgia senator Leroy R. Johnson. On October 26, Ali fought Jerry Quarry in Atlanta's Municipal Auditorium, and won after Quarry did not answer the bell after the third round. Two months later, he battled with Argentinian Oscar "Ringo" Bonavena at Madison Square Garden. Ali put in a sluggish performance, winning by technical knockout in the 15th round.

Answer: Pennsylvania

The Fight of the Century saw the former undefeated titleholder Ali, challenge Frazier, who was also undefeated. Ali began his training for the Fight of the Century in Reading, Pennsylvania. He enjoyed the country setting and sought to create a proper training facility in the region. In Deer Lake, Pennsylvania, Ali used a five acre site to build what would become his training camp from that point. Ali trained at the Deer Lake camp for the rest of his career.

Ali lost for the first time in his career in the Fight of the Century via a unanimous points decision. It was the first of three bouts that Ali and Frazier had.

Answer: 1 billion

The fight was a massive event. It was the most watched live television broadcast of all time, with 50 million viewers watching on pay-per-view and closed circuit TV. The fight also grossed over a hundred million dollars in worldwide revenue.

With the win, Ali became world champion for a second time. Foreman suffered the first loss of his career after coming into the fight with an incredible 40-0 (37 KOs) record.

Answer: Wepner did not go the distance with Ali like Rocky does with Apollo Creed

After the war that he had just fought with Foreman, Ali wanted a more comfortable title defence to follow. Wepner had only won 30 of his previous 41 fights and was seen as a reasonable opponent, but not someone who could go the distance. Wepner was knocked out with 19 seconds left in the final round, going much further than anyone previously believed he could. Ali was knocked down by Wepner in the ninth round.

Incredibly, Wepner fought Andre the Giant in 1976, losing by count-out after being thrown out of the ring. It is believed to have inspired the Rocky vs Thunderlips scene from the third Rocky instalment.

Answer: Quezon City

The bout took place at Araneta Coliseum, which was renamed the Philippine Coliseum specifically for the Ali vs Frazier fight. The stadium is one of the largest indoor arenas in Asia. Quezon City is the most populous city in the country and was the capital between 1948 and 1976.

The "Thrilla in Manila" nickname comes from an Ali quote in the build up to the bout, when he said the fight would be a "killa and a thrilla and a chilla, when I get that gorilla in Manila".

Answer: Richard Dunn

Ali fought Dunn in Munich, West Germany on 24 May 1976. Ali won by technical knockout in the fifth round. Ali did fight Norton in his next fight, but won via decision. Ali fought Leon Spinks on two occasions in 1978, losing via split decision before winning the rematch via unanimous decision. Ali failed to register a knockdown in the last seven bouts of his career.

Answer: Bahamas

The legendary boxer's last bout took place on 11 December 1981 at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. His opponent was Jamaican fighter Trevor Berbick, who defeated Ali via unanimous decision. It was the first Ali fight since 1973 that had not been for any form of championship. Berbick would go on to win the world title in 1986. Ali never entered the ring again.

Answer: 34

Ali fought in ten world heavyweight title fights between 25 February 1964 and 22 March 1967. After losing to Frazier upon his return, he was involved in nine North American Boxing Federation title fights. Between 30 October 1974 and 2 October 1980, Ali fought in 14 heavyweight championship fights, bringing the overall total to 34 title fights.

Answer: 3

Ali was nominated alongside his fellow countrymen Jack Nicklaus and Jesse Owens. In addition, cricketer Donald Bradman and footballers Pele and George Best were also placed in the shortlist. Ali received more votes from the British public than the other five candidates combined.