The Story
“It’s not bragging if you can back it up.”
The Greatest of All Time’s boxing career began with his red Schwinn bicycle was stolen at a local Louisville event. He happened to wander into a gym and found a local policeman who trained young fighters. The sobbing, skinny 12 year old claimed he wanted to “whup whoever stole my bike.”
The rest is history.
An important piece of Ali’s personal boxing history is his ongoing battles with Ken “Jaw Breaker” Norton. A relentless powerhouse, Norton broke Ali’s jaw in the early rounds of their first fight.
“I asked him to let me stop the fight,” said Angelo Dundee, Ali’s trainer at the time. “He said ‘No, I can beat this sucker.’”
Ali went on to finish the 12 round battle, and lose in a split decision.
Ali came back to beat Norton in their next two fights, one of which took place in a packed Yankee Stadium, with Ali spending as much energy entertaining the crowd with his antics as he did dispensing with Norton.
A list of the athletes Ali defeated looks like an all-star roster in boxing history – Sonny Liston, Archie Moore, Henry Cooper, Floyd Patterson, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, George Foreman, Leon Spinks, Earnie Shavers.
Discussing his retirement, Ali himself put it best: “I won’t miss fighting; fighting will miss me.”
