Muhammad Ali died June 3 at the age of 74. Ali won fame as a boxer — a Golden Gloves winner, Olympic gold medalist, three-time world heavyweight champion, who retired with a record of 56 and 5. To call him a boxer, however, woefully misses the man. Ali was an icon, one of the — if not the — greatest sports figures of the 20th century. He called himself "the Greatest," and by the time of his passing many in the world would agree.
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. in Louisville, Kentucky in 1942, Clay's youth was scarred by racial discrimination. Reportedly after his bicycle was stolen he took up boxing to "whup" the thief who took it. He made his amateur debut at the age of 12, and within six years had racked up a record of 100 wins and five losses. His amateur career culminated at the 1960 Rome Olympics, at which he won the gold medal in the light heavyweight division. Ali often claimed that he threw the medal in the Ohio River after returning home and being refused service at a whites-only restaurant, although friends say that he actually lost the medal.
After the Olympics, Clay turned pro, and quickly dominated the competition, amassing within three years a record of 19-0, with 15 wins by knockout. In 1964, he stunned the boxing world by defeating world heavyweight champion Sonny Liston by a technical knockout, despite being a 7:1 underdog. Clay defeated Liston in a rematch a year later, dropping him to the canvas half way through the first round with "the phantom punch," a swing so fast most people watching the fight never saw. After that bout, he would defend his title several more times before it was taken from him in 1967 because he refused to serve in the U.S. military and fight in Vietnam. He would be found guilty of draft evasion and sentenced to prison, although the sentence was stayed on appeal.