WASHINGTON: The boxer dubbed as The Greatest has cause for double celebration in 2010. Muhammad Ali is 68 on January 17 and this year is also the 50th anniversary of his professional debut.
On October 29, 1960 the man once known as Cassius Clay fought Tunney Hunsaker at the Freedom Hall State Fairground in Louisville to register his first step towards greatness.
The Greatest was to have another 60 bouts after tackling Hunsaker. But what made Ali stand out from other pugilists was his ability to touch the lives of so many.
His boxing ability, charisma, controversial comments and antics have made him the most recognisable man on earth.
Alis remarkable story began in the amateur ranks. He burst on to the global scene when he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.
After turning professional, he went on to become the first boxer to win the world heavyweight title three times.
Originally known as Cassius Clay, Ali changed his name after joining the Nation of Islam in 1964.
But while his dazzling exploits made him boxings main man, Ali was much more than a boxer. He courted controversy in and out of the ring.
He first got his hands on sports ultimate individual prize when despite the 7-1 odds, he upset Sonny Liston in Miami and became heavyweight champion of the world in 1964. The Ali story was to gather pace thereafter.
In 1967, Ali refused to be inducted into the US military based on his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War.
He was duly arrested and found guilty on draft evasion charges, stripped of his boxing title, and his boxing license was suspended.
Remarkably he was not imprisoned, but did not fight again for nearly four years while his appeal worked its way up to the US Supreme Court, where it was ultimately successful.
Those four years was a loss to not only boxing but Ali himself. He was seemingly at his physical peak but was unable to showcase his skills and personality.
Alis career was so unique that his boxing and humanitarian causes made him, and to this day, the worlds most celebrated sportsman.
Among his many admirers is US President Barack Obama, who in a special US Today tribute to Ali wrote:
We admire the man who has never stopped using his celebrity for good. And we admire the man who, while his speech has grown softer and his movement more restricted by the advance of Parkinsons disease, has never lost the ability to forge a deep and meaningful connection with people of all ages.
By the time he hung up his gloves in 1981, Ali had taken the sport to another level. His rivalry and fights against other great boxers, plus his zany antics, made Ali sports first genuine superstar.
His main rivals were Joe Frazier, who he fought three times, and George Foreman, whom he beat by knockout to win the world heavyweight title for the second time in what was dubbed the Rumble In The Jungle.
Beating Foreman in October 1974 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) was arguably Alis greatest ever achievement.
Ali, at 32, was seen as the fading star who would not be able to live with the hungry and brutal Foreman.
A year later Ali and Fraziers final fight was considered to be the greatest heavyweight fight of all time.
In his unique pre-bout style, Ali promised it would be a killa and a thrilla and a chilla when I get the gorilla in Manilla. It was to prove to be a classic confrontation.
Ali was deemed the victor when after 14 brutal rounds Fraziers trainer, Eddie Futch, would not let his fighter come out for the 15th.
In 1978 Ali shocked the world again, this time dethroning Leon Spinks to become heavyweight champion for an unprecedented third time.
A remarkable career which spawned quips such as “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee,” made Ali popular amongst those that had no genuine interest in the sport.
He suffered only five losses (four decisions and one TKO by retirement from the bout) with no draws in his career, while amassing 56 wins (37 knockouts and 19 decisions).
His career ended sadly in the early 1980s, losing to Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick.
Berbick ended Alis career in December 1981, taking a unanimous points decision at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre in Nassau, Bahamas.
Berbick, who briefly held the World Boxing Council (WBC) version of the heavyweight crown, was murdered in Jamaica in 2006.
Alis daughter, Laila, made her professional boxing debut on October 8, 1999. She knocked out her opponent, April Fowler, 31 seconds into the first round.
Laila went on to claim the super-middleweight world title with a 24-0 record, with 21 knock-outs.
Her father developed Parkinson”s disease due to the injuries he sustained throughout his career.
On a recent visit to the United Kingdom, Ali looked frail and a shadow of the man who had entertained millions during his career.
Some observers are of the opinion that his rope-a-dope tactics (where Ali took heavy punches while on the ropes) against Foreman was catalyst for his current ill health.
But despite his own travails, Ali has relentlessly championed the issues of the developing world and has been a major focus of his life.
He has been instrumental in providing over 232 million meals to the world”s hungry. Traveling across continents, he has hand-delivered food and medical supplies to children in Cote D”Ivoire, Indonesia, Mexico, and Morocco among other countries.
The sporting accolades have been many. He was crowned Sportsman of the Century in 1999 by Sports Illustrated and Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC.
However, there was always far more to Muhammad than what took place in a boxing ring.
