Muhammad Ali
“The Greatest” is the best heavyweight of all time. Ali fought with a style and a flamboyance that made you either love him or hate him. But regardless of where you stand, nobody can deny his place in boxing history or as a cultural icon. Ali, then fighting under his birth name of Cassius Clay, won his first heavyweight title at 22 years old against Sonny Liston.
He later converted to Islam and became a controversial figure for refusing to serve in the Vietnam War, a conflict he opposed on religious and moral grounds. Ali was stripped of his heavyweight title and did not fight for four years as a result. Ali is known for his trilogy with Joe Frazier, losing the first but winning the next two, and for utilizing his famed “rope-a-dope” style to upset George Foreman in the Congo in 1974 to regain his titles.
The tactic caused Foreman to expend tremendous energy firing punches in Ali’s guard. Most of the shots were deflected or blocked and led to Ali stopping an exhausted Foreman in the eighth round. In his illustrious career, Ali also holds victories over Bob Foster, Ken Norton, Jimmy Ellis and Floyd Patterson. He is the first man (and thus far, only man) to ever hold the Lineal Heavyweight Championship three times.