Summary Ali rose to fame overnight when he knocked down Sonny Liston in 1964
WEB DESK - As the world remembers Muhammad Ali on his first death anniversary, let’s call the history and remember as to why he was dubbed as the The Greatest of All Time .
Ali rose to fame overnight when he knocked down Sonny Liston in 1964 to become the youngest world champion at that time. After the fight, he proclaimed, "I am the greatest! I shook up the world. I m the prettiest thing that ever lived."
However, it were three fights later during his career that singled him out as one of the greatest prizefighter in history.
Fight of the Century
The first one was The Fight of the Century that was fought between WBC/WBA heavyweight champion Joe Frazier and Ring magazine/lineal heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali being held on Monday, March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The Rumble in the Jungle
The Rumble in the Jungle was a historic boxing event in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) on October 30, 1974. The undefeated world heavyweight champion George Foreman was against challenger Muhammad Ali, a former heavyweight champion.
The attendance was 60,000. Ali won by knockout, putting Foreman down just before the end of the eighth round.
The Thrilla in Manila
The Thrilla in Manila was the third and final boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier and was contested in 1975 for the heavyweight championship of the world at the Philippine Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines, on Wednesday, October 1.
The contest s name was derived from the frequent rhyming boast that Ali continuously made prior to the fight
"It will be killa and a thrilla and a chilla, when I get that gorilla in Manila."
