| Date | October 7, 1961 | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Result | |||||||||||||||||||
| Clay won by TKO in 6st round (1:45) | |||||||||||||||||||
Cassius Clay (soon Muhammad Ali) fought Argentine Alex Miteff in a ten-round boxing match in Louisville on October 7, 1961. Clay won the fight through a technical knockout when the referee stopped the fight in the sixth round. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Miteff and Clay would feature in the 1962 film Requiem for a Heavyweight. [10] [11] [12]
Miteff had won the gold medal for the heavyweight championship at the 1955 Pan American Games. [10] [13] He had fought twice with George Chuvalo in boxing matches, in June 1958 and March 1961, drawing the first bout and losing on a split decision in the second. [14] Miteff had also defeated Clay's previous opponent Alonzo Johnson. [15] At the time of the Clay-Miteff bout, Miteff had a record of twenty four wins and ten losses. [15]
At the time of the Clay-Miteff bout, Clay was 19 years old and weighed 188 pounds ; Miteff was 27 or 28 and weighed 210 pounds. However, at 6 feet three inches, Clay was two inches taller than Miteff. Miteff had competed against some of the top level boxers at the time. He was tough and had the reputation of being a strong puncher. It was held that the Clay-Miteff match would provide Clay's toughest test to date. [15] [16] Before the fight, Clay had informed reporters:
My plan for fighting Alex Miteff is two fast left jabs, a rapid right, and a left hook. And if he's still standing and the referee isn't holding him up, then I'm gonna run." [2]
However, Clay also made a prediction before this fight: "He'll go in six [rounds]." [6]
Just before the match, it was realized that boxing gloves had not been arranged for the bout. At short notice, two pairs of boxing gloves were procured but they were "half horsehair and half foam rubber" as contrasted with regular boxing gloves which are made only of horsehair. [2] The procured gloves were "hard as a rock"; it was believed that the usage of these gloves would favor Miteff since he was regarded a better puncher than Clay. [2]
In the first round, Clay sprung a surprise by trying for a swift knockout using multiple combinations. However, Miteff was able to withstand Clay's punches while also throwing infrequent hooks to Clay's body. [4]
Clay continued throwing punches at Miteff until he was hit on the jaw by a powerful right by Miteff. This slowed Clay down for the rest of this round which Miteff won. While providing anxious moments to Clay supporters, Clay's recovery from Miteff's punch dispelled doubts about Clay's ability to withstand punishment in the ring. [3] [4]
Rounds three through five featured a similar pattern of Miteff throwing hooks to Clay's body, and Clay throwing combinations at Miteff's face. During these rounds, Miteff would occasionally make strange faces, or let his hands drop, and challenge Clay to punch him. [4]
It was still a close fight till the middle of round 6 when Clay hit Miteff with a tentative left jab followed by a right on the chin which knocked down Miteff. [2] [4] Miteff got up and moved towards a corner "in the determined important walk of a drunk" following which the referee stopped the fight. [17]
Miteff had never been knocked out before. And in the dressing room afterward, he kept asking what happened. He couldn't believe that Cassius Clay had knocked him out. [2]
After the match, Clay commented that the right which had knocked out Miteff was the hardest punch he had thrown in the ring to date. Angelo Dundee noted the technical improvements in Clay's boxing that were observed in this fight:
You see the way he was tying up Miteff's left. He could never do that before. Now I'll teach him how to tie up the right. And he's starting to stick with authority. His jab's not a flick any more. It's a weapon. [4]
Clay's next boxing match, also held in Louisville, would be with Willi Besmanoff. [2] Miteff would only fight three more boxing matches in his fight career—in November 1961, August 1966, and April 1967; he would win the 1966 bout and lose the other two matches. [18] [19] [20] For many years Miteff worked as the chauffeur of David Susskind; [21] [22] he also worked as a hotel greeter. [22]
Both Clay and Miteff featured in the 1962 film Requiem for a Heavyweight in which the protagonist Mountain Rivera, a boxer long past his prime, gets badly beaten in his final bout by a younger opponent. The character of Mountain Rivera was played by Anthony Quinn, and the part of the younger boxer by Clay. [11] [22] [23] Miteff, whose own boxing career had disintegrated by this time, played Quinn's double in the film. It has been suggested that the boxing careers of Mountain Rivera and Miteff have conspicuous parallels. [22]
Clay's performance in the fight scene of the film was later described as "explosive". [23] Stephen Battaglio, in his biography of David Susskind, observes:
It was a stunning early glimpse of Ali, an image that everyone in the country would soon recognize when he became the most dynamic and polarizing sports figure of the decade. Off camera, Ali charmed the cast and crew so much that they passed a hat around the ringside set on Randall's Island Arena to take up a collection to supplement the modest fee he was paid. [23]
Muhammad Ali was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century and is often regarded as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC.
Charles L. "Sonny" Liston was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. A dominant contender of his era, he became the world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round, repeating the knockout the following year in defense of the title; in the latter fight he also became the inaugural WBC heavyweight champion. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time Liston was particularly known for his immense strength, formidable jab, long reach, toughness, and his infamously intimidating appearance.
George Edward Foreman is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. As an entrepreneur, he is known for the George Foreman Grill.
Joseph William Frazier, nicknamed "Smokin' Joe", was an American professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1981. Widely regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of his generation, he was known for his strength, durability, formidable left hand, and relentless pressure fighting style and was the first boxer to defeat Muhammad Ali. Frazier reigned as the undisputed heavyweight champion from 1970 to 1973 and as an amateur won a gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
Floyd Patterson was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in history to win the title, and was also the first heavyweight to regain the title after losing it. As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Jerry Quarry, nicknamed "Irish" or "The Bellflower Bomber", was an American professional boxer. During the peak of his career from 1968 to 1971, Quarry was rated by The Ring magazine as the most popular fighter in the sport. His most famous bouts were against Muhammad Ali. Accumulated damage from lack of attention to defense against larger men at the top level, no head guard sparring, and attempted comebacks in 1977, 1983 and 1992 resulted in Quarry developing an unusually severe case of dementia pugilistica. Unable to perform everyday tasks, dependent on his family, and with the fortune he had earned frittered away, Quarry died at 53 years old.
George Louis Chuvalo, CM is a Canadian former professional boxer who was a five-time Canadian heavyweight champion and two-time world heavyweight title challenger. He is known for having never been knocked down in his 93 bout professional career including fights against Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and George Foreman. Chuvalo unsuccessfully challenged Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight championship in 1966. Chuvalo was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
During the 1960s, boxing, like mostly everything else around the world, went through changing times. Notable was the emergence of a young boxer named Cassius Clay, who would, in his own words shock the world, declare himself against war, and change his name to Muhammad Ali.
Sir Henry Cooper was a British heavyweight boxer. He was undefeated in British and Commonwealth heavyweight championship contests for twelve years and held the European heavyweight title for three years. In a 1963 fight against a young Cassius Clay, he knocked Clay down before the fight was stopped because of a cut to his eye. In 1966 he fought Clay, who was then world heavyweight champion, for a second time and again lost to an eye injury. Cooper was twice voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year and, after retiring in 1971 following a controversial loss to Joe Bugner, remained a popular public figure. He is the only British boxer to have been awarded a knighthood.
The two fights between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston for boxing's World Heavyweight Championship were among the most controversial fights in the sport's history. Sports Illustrated magazine named their first meeting, the Liston–Clay fight, as the fourth greatest sports moment of the twentieth century.
Zora "Bell" Folley was a mid-20th century American heavyweight boxer, known for his defensive game and punching ability.
This article covers the boxer Muhammad Ali's appearances in media and popular culture.
Facing Ali is a 2009 documentary directed by Pete McCormack about Muhammad Ali as told from the perspectives of ten opponents he faced during his career: George Chuvalo, Sir Henry Cooper, George Foreman, "Smokin'" Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, Ron Lyle, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Leon Spinks and Ernie Terrell.
Muhammad Ali and Henry Cooper fought two boxing matches with each other in London. Their first match took place on 18 June 1963 and the second on 21 May 1966. Ali won both matches. The first fight was stopped by the referee in the fifth round, and the second in the sixth round. Both fights were stopped after Cooper started bleeding excessively from a cut to the left eye. The first Ali-Cooper bout is remembered for being one of the four fights in which Ali was officially knocked down in the ring by his boxing opponent, as well as leading to the mandate that ringside handlers always have an extra pair of boxing gloves available.
Heavyweight boxers Muhammad Ali and Oscar Bonavena fought at Madison Square Garden in New York City on December 7, 1970. Ali won the bout, his first at the current Madison Square Garden, through a technical knockout in the 15th round.
Muhammad Ali vs. Ernie Terrell was a professional boxing match contested on February 6, 1967, for the WBA, WBC, NYSAC, and The Ring heavyweight championships. The fight went 15 rounds, with Ali winning through a unanimous decision.
Cassius Clay fought Duke Sabedong in a ten-round boxing match in Las Vegas on June 26, 1961. The fight went the full distance with Clay winning comfortably on points, despite Sabedong's usage of roughhouse tactics.
Cassius Clay fought an eight-round boxing match with Texan Donnie Fleeman in Miami on February 21, 1961. Prior to this fight, Fleeman had a record of 51 fights with 45 wins including 20 knockouts. Clay won the bout through a technical knockout after the referee stopped the fight in the seventh round. This was the first time Clay had gone over six rounds in a boxing match. It was also the first time Fleeman had ever been knocked down in a boxing match. Fleeman retired from boxing after this fight.
LaMar F. Clark was an American professional boxer who fought in the heavyweight division. He was active from 1958 to 1961 and fought a recorded 46 times in his 3 year-career, mostly in his home state of Utah. The Guinness Book of World Records lists Clark as the boxer with the most consecutive knockouts (42), and also the most knockouts in one night (six). Clark's knockout streak garnered him nationwide press attention, though some commentators have derided the poor quality of his opposition.
Muhammad Ali is widely regarded by many boxing commentators and historians as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. Boxing magazine The Ring named him number 1 in a 1998 ranking of greatest heavyweights from all eras. In 1999, The Associated Press voted Ali the number one heavyweight of the 20th century. In 1999, Ali was named the second greatest boxer in history, pound for pound, by ESPN; behind only welterweight and middleweight legend Sugar Ray Robinson. In December 2007, ESPN listed Ali second in its choice of the greatest heavyweights of all time, behind Joe Louis. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1990.
