Audio Antiques - The Fights of Muhammad Ali

The K-Rob Collection

Muhammad Ali, was an African-American boxer, activist, entertainer, and philanthropist. Many experts regard Ali has the best heavyweight boxer of all time, and the greatest sportsman of the 20th Century. Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. he became the heavyweight champ in 1964, and retired in 1981. Ali was an early performer of spoken word poetry and rap music. In 1963 his album "I Am The Greatest" was nominated for a Grammy Award. In 2001, Muhammad Ali was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by U.S. President Bill Clinton. You're going to hear ABC Radio's ringside descriptions of Ali's 1964 fight against heavyweight champ Sonny Liston which put him on the path to greatness. From 1971 we'll hear Mutual Broadcasting System coverage of Ali's first bout with Joe Frazier which was called the "Fight of the Century". Unfortunately, during the late 1960s boxing promoters banned live ringside reporting by broadcasters, to force fans to buy tickets for closed circuit telecasts in theaters, thus ending radio's long tradition of carrying fights live from the scene. It also sparked a long decline in the popularity of boxing. Finally, there's a 1979 Muhammad Ali press conference on United Nations radio in New York, held just two years before he retired.

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