![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stallonezone.com\/zone\/2016\/z060416muhammad_ali_rip.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Muhammad Ali<\/strong>, Olympic Boxing Gold Medal winner, three time World Heavyweight Boxing Champion and world icon passed away yesterday. \u00a0Ali had suffered for 32 years with Parkinson’s disease. \u00a0He was 74.<\/p>\n Before I went to bed Friday night the reports were coming in that Ali<\/strong> was in the hospital on life support. \u00a0Things didn’t sound good, but Muhammad Ali<\/strong> had overcome great odds before.<\/p>\n I can’t say I was shocked (that would come later) when my wife woke me at about 2am to say that Ali<\/strong> had died. \u00a0We had fallen asleep with the bedroom tv on and she woke up to the news.<\/p>\n The next morning reports and rememberances of Muhammad Ali<\/strong> were all over the tv and internet. \u00a0And rightly so. \u00a0Muhammad Ali<\/strong> was the self-proclaimed “Greatest” who later was ready to give up the braggadocio title, but could not because the world had accepted it as reality. \u00a0Muhammad Ali<\/strong> transcended boxing. \u00a0Especially to those of us old enough to remember his start as Cassius Clay<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In 1960, at the young age of 18, Cassius Clay<\/strong> won the Gold Medal in Olympic boxing. \u00a0He was an American Hero and ready to become a professional boxer. \u00a0Yet when Clay<\/strong> returned to the states, he was refused service at a diner because he was black. \u00a0In 1963, Clay<\/strong> became a American Muslim but kept it a secret.<\/p>\n In 1964, the undefeated Clay<\/strong> (19 – 0) got a title shot against the Heavyweight Champ, Sonny Liston<\/strong>. \u00a0Liston<\/strong> was heavily favored because of his knockout power, his intimidating presence and reputation as a thug. \u00a0Liston<\/strong> would be a man fighting a boy. \u00a0Clay<\/strong> taunted Liston<\/strong> prior to the fight and backed up the taunts with a 6th round TKO.<\/p>\n After winning the title, Clay<\/strong> announced his conversion to the Muslim faith and his name change to Muhammad Ali<\/strong>. \u00a0Although this didn’t sit well with some of his fans, Ali<\/strong> stayed true to his beliefs.<\/p>\n Ali<\/strong> gave Liston<\/strong> a rematch and knocked him out in the first round. Ali<\/strong> then went on to win 8 more title matches before being stripped of his title in 1967 for refusing to comply with the draft due to religious reasons. \u00a0Ali<\/strong> was convicted of draft evasion and sentenced to five years in prison. \u00a0Although released on appeal, Ali<\/strong> was not allowed to fight or leave the country, so he took to the lecture circuit to speak out for civil rights. \u00a0In 1971, Ali<\/strong> won his appeal and could once again box. \u00a0Still, he had lost 4 years of his prime.<\/p>\n Ali’s<\/strong> comeback fight was against Jerry Quarry<\/strong>. \u00a0I remember watching the fight on tv with my dad. \u00a0Ali<\/strong> won in by TKO in 3 rounds. \u00a0Ali<\/strong> had another fight which he won before challenging Joe Frazier<\/strong> for the title.<\/p>\n The fight against Frazier<\/strong> was the first of their 3 meetings. \u00a0It went 15 rounds in what some called the “Fight of the Century” and ended with a unanimous decision for Joe Frazier<\/strong>. \u00a0It was Ali’s<\/strong> first loss.<\/p>\n Between 1971 and 1973, Ali<\/strong> reeled off 10 more wins. \u00a0Then he fought Ken Norton<\/strong> and lost on a split decision. \u00a0Ali<\/strong>\u00a0went through most of the fight with a broken jaw. \u00a0Seven months later Norton<\/strong> and Ali<\/strong> fought again, but this time Ali<\/strong> won the split decision.<\/p>\n In 1974, Ali<\/strong> and Frazier II<\/strong> took place. \u00a0I remember listening to the radio for round-by-round updates to learn that Ali<\/strong> won on a split decision. \u00a0Ali<\/strong> and Frazier<\/strong> were now 1 and 1. \u00a0Ali’s<\/strong> win put him in line for the title shot against George Foreman<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Foreman<\/strong> was 40 – 0 with most of his wins by KO or TKO. \u00a0Ali<\/strong> was the underdog, but as we all know won by 8th round KO. \u00a0Ali<\/strong> defended his title 3 more times and then was ready for the rematch with Frazier<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The fight went 12 brutal rounds before Ali<\/strong> won by a unanimous decision. \u00a0Ali<\/strong> jumped into another brutal battle when 9 months later he took on\u00a0George Foreman<\/strong>\u00a0in a bout Ali won by KO in the 8th.<\/p>\n Ali’s<\/strong> next fight (which he won by TKO in the 15th), against Chuck Wepner<\/strong>, inspired Sylvester Stallone<\/strong> to create Rocky<\/strong><\/em>. \u00a0Ali<\/strong> racked up two more wins and then it was time for the rubber match with Frazier<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Dubbed, by Ali<\/strong>, “The Thrilla in Manila,” the fight went 14 brutal rounds before Ali<\/strong> won by TKO. \u00a0Ali would fight six more times including wins over Ken Norton<\/strong> and Ernie Shavers<\/strong> before Ali<\/strong> signed to fight Olympic Gold Medalist Leon Spinks<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The fight was televised and I remember watching it. \u00a0Ali<\/strong> didn’t look to be in the best of shape perhaps taking Spinks<\/strong> too lightly. \u00a0As the fight went the 15 rounds it became obvious that it would be a close decision… and it was. \u00a0Spinks<\/strong> won via split decision and became the new Heavyweight Champion.<\/p>\n The Spinks – Ali<\/strong> rematch was set up 7 months later and Ali<\/strong> came back in much better shape winning a unanimous decision. \u00a0Ali<\/strong> retired after that fight only to come back two years later to lose by TKO in the 10th to Champion, Larry Holmes<\/strong>. \u00a0The following year Ali<\/strong> lost a 10 round decision to Trevor Berbick<\/strong> and then retired for good.<\/p>\n Most fighters when they finally retire slowly drift away from the public’s consciousness. \u00a0Not so with Muhammad Ali<\/strong> who over the years had increased his popularity through displays of his wit and charm with appearances on many entertainment programs. \u00a0So people were shocked to learn just a year after Ali<\/strong> had retired from boxing that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.<\/p>\n That didn’t stop Ali<\/strong> from traveling the world to promote\u00a0humanitarian causes. \u00a0In 1985 Ali<\/strong> went to Lebanon and in 1990 to Iraq to broker the release of American hostages. When the Olympics were in Atlanta in 1996, Ali<\/strong> was chosen to light the Olympic flame. \u00a0In 2005, President George W. Bush<\/strong> honored Ali<\/strong> with the Presidential Medal of Freedom which is the highest award a civilian can achieve.<\/p>\n Muhammad Ali<\/strong> was a boxer who transcended boxing. Ali’s<\/strong> popularity wasn’t limited to the United States or people that shared his same faith. \u00a0Ali<\/strong> was a man of the world, a true people’s champion. \u00a0And it will be a long time before we ever see another like him.<\/p>\n Our thoughts and prayers go out to Muhammad Ali’s<\/strong> family, friends and fans.<\/p>\n Muhammad Ali, Olympic Boxing Gold Medal winner, three time World Heavyweight Boxing Champion and world icon passed away yesterday. \u00a0Ali<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":912,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17,57,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebs","category-rip","category-sports","comments-off"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/912"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15595"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15614,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15595\/revisions\/15614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stallonezone.com\/zone\/2016\/z060416muhammad_ali_rip2.png\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"