Born: 17 January 1942

Birth Place: Louisville, Kentucky,, USA

Nationality: American

Nickname: The Greatest & The People’s Champ

Division: Heavyweight (200lbs+)

Height: 6’ 3” / 191 cm

Reach: 80″ / 203 cm

• 1960 Olympic Light Heavyweight Gold Medallist

• First and Only Three Time Lineal World Heavyweight Champion

• Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated

• Sports Personality of the Century by BBC

• Left Jab

• Hand Speed

• Foot Movement

One of the greatest of all time, and arguably the greatest heavyweight ever, Muhammad Ali has a style that’s best described in his own words “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”.

True to every word, Ali used his superior foot movement to keep his opponents off balance and walking onto punches that they don’t see. His jab was a thing of beauty, delivered with such quickness and accuracy which sets him up for the right hand.

Muhammad Ali transcends boxing and is seen as a cultural icon, who’s idolized all around the world. As a fighter, he was cocky and was known for his trash talk, but would back it up every time.

In an era where the heavyweight division was filled with so many other great fighters, Ali was involved in a number of historic fights against Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Ken Norton. Ali was an innovator at a time where boxing didn’t have much scientific training behind it.

He devised the rope-a-dope strategy which he used to defeat George Foreman. This required Ali to stay on the ropes for long periods of time, while his opponent swung away at him, often missing due to Ali leaning backwards whenever they punched. The whole aim is to get his opponent to become exhausted and wear down during the course of the fight.

During sparring sessions, Ali would sometimes allow his sparring partners to hit him at will by laying on the ropes. He may have been practicing his rope-a-dope strategy, but unfortunately, the punishment he sustained during these sparring sessions would affect his health towards the end of his boxing career.

The legendary trainer, Angelo Dundee was Ali’s trainer throughout much of his career and knows first-hand just how special his fighter was and the kind of work ethic he had. “A lot of times, he couldn’t get a ride from Miami to 5th Street Gym, so he would run from his apartment and then run back. I’d say it’s about seven miles…He was the first guy in the gym, and the last to leave”.