LIFE ALI: A Life in Pictures by The Editors of LIFE

Author:The Editors of LIFE
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SPO008000;BIO032000;SOC022000
Publisher: THEI
Published: 2016-07-07T16:00:00+00:00

THOMAS HOEPKER/MAGNUM

In the ring, the fighter, then aged 24, prays to Allah before scoring a victory against Brian London, 32, at a minute and 40 seconds of the third round in August 1966 in London, England. As said earlier, many Americans were chilled by these images. Ali, by contrast, held that “Followers of Allah are the sweetest people in the world . . . They don’t tote weapons. They pray five times a day.” He believed this sincerely and would remain a Muslim for the rest of his life.

PHOTOGRAPH ©HARRY BENSON 1964

ALI LOVED MUSIC AND, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, HAD a brief fling at a singing career in the 1960s. He was better suited to the listening end, as here at home (above) not long after claiming the heavyweight crown, and in Las Vegas in November of 1965, flirting with the women at a record store during a break in training (below). He was in Sin City to prepare for a title defense against former world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson, who had been deposed by Sonny Liston. Patterson, a theretofore gentlemanly competitor, upped the ante in anticipation of the bell when he said, “Cassius Clay is disgracing himself and the Negro race.” That comment certainly cut deep, but more damaging still, surely, was the great Joe Louis saying at the time that Ali was “unfit” to hold the title. Louis, the former heavyweight champion known as the Brown Bomber, was considered by many the greatest fighter ever and was an idol in the African American community roughly equivalent to Babe Ruth. The boxing establishment and even fellow blacks were turning on Ali. His response was to lash out with his fists. He punished Patterson mercilessly for round after round before laying him low with a technical knockout in the 12th round. He admitted afterward that the extent of his savagery was due to Patterson’s refusal to call him by his name—which, he pointed out yet again, was Ali.

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