// The Rounds
From Louisville to Legend
Six acts. Twenty-one years in the ring. Three and a half years stolen by a government. One life that changed the world.
1942 – 1960 · The Foundation
Cassius Marcellus Clay
A stolen bicycle and a cop who ran a boxing gym changed the course of history.
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in Louisville, Kentucky. At 12, his bicycle was stolen. He found police officer Joe Martin, who ran a boxing gym in the basement of the Columbia Auditorium. "I'm gonna whup whoever stole my bike," young Cassius said. Martin looked at the skinny kid and said: "Well, you better learn how to fight first." Six years later, Cassius Clay won the light heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics. He was 18 years old, 100-5 as an amateur, and already talking more than any boxer in history.
The Stolen Bicycle
October 1954 · Louisville, Kentucky
Twelve-year-old Cassius Clay's red Schwinn bicycle is stolen at the Louisville Home Show. He finds Joe Martin, a police officer, and tells him he's going to beat up whoever took it. Martin points him toward the gym downstairs. The most consequential bike theft in history.
Scene 06
filmed
vs. Pietrzykowski — Olympic Final
W Unanimous Decision
Olympic Gold
September 5, 1960 · Palazzo dello Sport, Rome
An 18-year-old from Louisville wins the Olympic light heavyweight gold medal, defeating Poland's Zbigniew Pietrzykowski by unanimous decision. He's so proud of the medal he sleeps with it on. The legend says he threw it into the Ohio River after being refused service at a Louisville restaurant. He always denied it.
18 years old
100-5 amateur record
1960 – 1967 · The Rise
I Shook Up the World
A loudmouth kid nobody believed became the heavyweight champion of the world. Then he changed his name and everything else.
Clay turned pro in October 1960 and went 19-0 before challenging Sonny Liston for the heavyweight title. He was a 7-1 underdog. He won by TKO in the seventh round when Liston refused to come out for the round. "I shook up the world!" he screamed into the ringside microphones. The next morning, he announced his membership in the Nation of Islam and his new name: Muhammad Ali. He defended the title nine times, defeating Liston again, Floyd Patterson, and every contender the division could produce.
Scene 12
filmed
vs. Liston — Heavyweight Title
W TKO Rd 7
I Shook Up the World
February 25, 1964 · Miami Beach Convention Hall
Sonny Liston, the most feared fighter alive, refuses to come out for the seventh round. The 22-year-old underdog is heavyweight champion of the world. He leans over the ropes screaming at the press: "I shook up the world! I'm the greatest thing that ever lived!"
The Name Change
March 6, 1964 · Press Conference
The day after becoming champion, he announces his membership in the Nation of Islam. Elijah Muhammad gives him the name Muhammad Ali. "Cassius Clay is a slave name," he tells reporters. "I didn't choose it, and I don't want it. I am Muhammad Ali." Half of America refuses to call him that for a decade.
Scene 16
filmed
vs. Liston — Rematch
W KO Rd 1
The Phantom Punch
May 25, 1965 · Lewiston, Maine
The rematch lasts one round. Ali hits Liston with a short right hand that almost nobody in the arena sees. Liston goes down. Ali stands over him screaming "Get up and fight, sucker!" The photograph of that moment — Ali towering over a fallen Liston — becomes the most iconic image in boxing history.
Outside the Ring
Ali's friendship with Malcolm X was the most consequential relationship of his early career. Malcolm brought Ali into the Nation of Islam. When Malcolm split from Elijah Muhammad, Ali chose Elijah. Malcolm was assassinated in February 1965. Ali later said it was one of the biggest regrets of his life — choosing the organization over the man.
1967 – 1970 · The Exile
I Ain't Got No Quarrel
They stripped his title. They took his passport. They tried to take his name. He wouldn't bend.
On April 28, 1967, Muhammad Ali refused induction into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong," he said. "No Viet Cong ever called me nigger." He was arrested, stripped of his heavyweight title, and banned from boxing. His passport was revoked. He faced five years in prison. He was 25 years old, in the prime of his athletic career, and he gave it all up for his convictions. The exile lasted three and a half years — the best years of his boxing life, gone forever.
The Refusal
April 28, 1967 · Houston, Texas
At the Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station in Houston, Ali refuses to step forward when his name is called. He knows what it means. He does it anyway. Within hours, the New York State Athletic Commission strips him of his title. He is banned from boxing in all 50 states.
The College Circuit
1968-1970 · American Universities
Banned from boxing, Ali speaks at over 200 college campuses. He goes from being one of the most hated men in America to a symbol of the anti-war movement. Students chant his name. He makes more money speaking than he did fighting. The culture shifts beneath his feet.
The Supreme Court
June 28, 1971 · Washington, D.C.
The Supreme Court overturns Ali's conviction in Clay v. United States, 8-0. The government's case collapses. He is vindicated. The three and a half years cannot be given back. He lost his prime. He kept his soul.
Outside the Ring
Ali's stand against the draft cost him an estimated $10 million in lost earnings and the three and a half best years of his boxing career. He was 25 when banned and 28 when he returned. Every boxing historian agrees: the Ali who came back was great, but the Ali they took away might have been unbeatable.
1970 – 1978 · The Second Reign
Rumble in the Jungle
He came back slower, smarter, and more dangerous. He invented the rope-a-dope and won the world again in Kinshasa.
Ali returned on October 26, 1970, stopping Jerry Quarry in three rounds. He was no longer the fastest heavyweight alive — the exile had taken that. So he adapted. He lost to Joe Frazier in the "Fight of the Century" in March 1971, his first professional loss. He lost a split decision to Ken Norton, who broke his jaw. Then he beat Norton, beat Frazier, and traveled to Kinshasa, Zaire to fight George Foreman — the most devastating puncher in heavyweight history. Against all logic, Ali lay on the ropes and let Foreman punch himself out. The rope-a-dope. He knocked Foreman out in the eighth round to reclaim the heavyweight championship at 32.
TKO Rd 14
Thrilla in Manila
Scene 38
filmed
vs. Foreman — World Title
W KO Rd 8
Rumble in the Jungle
October 30, 1974 · 20th of May Stadium, Kinshasa
60,000 people in Zaire chanting "Ali, bomaye!" — Ali, kill him! He leans against the ropes and lets George Foreman, the hardest puncher alive, hit him for seven rounds. In the eighth, Foreman is exhausted. Ali unloads a right hand that sends Foreman to the canvas. He is heavyweight champion again at 32.
Scene 42
post-production
vs. Frazier — Thrilla in Manila
W TKO Rd 14
Thrilla in Manila
October 1, 1975 · Araneta Coliseum, Manila
The greatest fight ever fought. Ali and Frazier go fourteen rounds in 100-degree heat. Frazier's corner stops it before the fifteenth. Ali collapses on his stool and says: "This is the closest thing to death I know of." Both men are never the same. Frazier never forgives Ali for calling him a gorilla in the pre-fight buildup.
Scene 34
filmed
vs. Frazier — Fight of the Century
L Unanimous Decision
Fight of the Century
March 8, 1971 · Madison Square Garden
Two undefeated heavyweight champions. 300 million people watching worldwide. Frank Sinatra shoots photos at ringside for Life magazine. Frazier drops Ali in the 15th with a devastating left hook. Ali loses for the first time. He takes the loss standing. The rivalry will define both men forever.
1978 – 1981 · The Twilight
One Fight Too Many
He lost the title, won it back at 36, and kept fighting when he shouldn't have. The body was breaking down.
Ali lost the title to Leon Spinks in February 1978 — a 7-1 favorite defeated by a man with only seven pro fights. He won it back seven months later, becoming the first man to win the heavyweight championship three times. He should have stopped. He didn't. A brutal loss to Larry Holmes in October 1980 — his corner stopping it after ten rounds — was followed by a final loss to Trevor Berbick in December 1981. The signs of Parkinson's syndrome were already visible.
Scene 50
scripted
vs. Spinks — Rematch
W Unanimous Decision
Three-Time Champion
September 15, 1978 · Superdome, New Orleans
70,000 people watch Ali outbox Spinks for 15 rounds. He is 36 years old. He has won the heavyweight championship three times — something no man has ever done before. He dances in the ring. The crowd roars. It should be the last moment. It isn't.
Scene 54
scripted
vs. Holmes
L TKO Rd 10
The Fight That Shouldn't Have Happened
October 2, 1980 · Caesars Palace, Las Vegas
Ali is 38. He's lost 40 pounds through diet pills. Holmes, his former sparring partner, beats him for ten rounds without Ali throwing a meaningful punch. Angelo Dundee stops it. Holmes cries afterward. Everyone watching knows something is deeply wrong.
1984 – 2016 · The Legend
The People's Champion
Parkinson's took his voice. It couldn't take his spirit. The final act was the most powerful.
Diagnosed with Parkinson's syndrome in 1984, likely caused by the thousands of punches absorbed over 21 years. His speech slowed. His hands shook. His mind stayed sharp. He became the most beloved figure in global sports — traveling to Iraq in 1990 to negotiate the release of American hostages, lighting the Olympic cauldron in Atlanta in 1996 with trembling hands, receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. On June 3, 2016, Muhammad Ali died in Scottsdale, Arizona at age 74. His funeral procession through Louisville drew hundreds of thousands.
The Olympic Flame
July 19, 1996 · Atlanta, Georgia
3.5 billion people watching. The identity of the final torch bearer has been kept secret. Muhammad Ali emerges from the shadows, his left hand trembling from Parkinson's. He holds the torch and lights the Olympic cauldron. The stadium goes silent, then erupts. The man who may have thrown his Olympic medal into a river is given a replacement that night.
The Hostage Negotiation
November 1990 · Baghdad, Iraq
Ali flies to Baghdad during the Gulf War buildup and personally negotiates the release of 15 American hostages from Saddam Hussein. The State Department opposes the trip. Ali goes anyway. He meets Hussein without translators, relying on global recognition and personal charisma. The hostages come home.
The Funeral Procession
June 10, 2016 · Louisville, Kentucky
The funeral procession winds through Louisville, past the house where he grew up, past the gym where Joe Martin taught him to fight. Hundreds of thousands line the route. People throw flowers at the hearse. They chant "Ali! Ali!" one last time. He goes home the way he came — with the whole world watching.
Outside the Ring
Ali converted from the Nation of Islam to Sunni Islam in 1975, following Warith Deen Muhammad after Elijah Muhammad's death. He later embraced Sufism. He had nine children with four wives. In his final decades, he devoted himself to philanthropy, donating tens of millions to charities worldwide and visiting sick children in hospitals across the globe — even as his own body failed him.