On February 25, 1964, at just 22 years old, the underdog Cassius Clay triumphs over champion Sonny Liston in a technical knockout, claiming the world heavyweight boxing championship. The eagerly awaited fight was held in Miami Beach, Florida. Clay, who would be known globally as Muhammad Ali, became the first athlete to win the heavyweight title three times. Liston, a reserved and intimidating fighter, was a decade older than Clay and had been the reigning world heavyweight champion since besting Floyd Patterson in 1962. In stark contrast, Clay was a brash underdog, having earned a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Leading up to their match, Clay, an instinctive self-promoter, taunted Liston and confidently declared to reporters that he would secure victory by knockout. He entered the ring with vigor, leveraging his speed and footwork against the slower Liston. After round six, Liston, burdened with cuts and bruises beneath his eyes and what appeared to be a shoulder injury, announced he could not proceed. Clay emerged victorious via technical knockout, exclaiming for the world to hear, “I am the greatest!” On May 25, 1965, the two boxers faced off again in Lewiston, Maine, for a rematch that concluded with a highly contentious first-round knockout in favor of Clay, who by that time had embraced the Nation of Islam and adopted the name Muhammad Ali. There were allegations that Liston had thrown the fight, possibly under the influence of the Mafia or out of fear of reprisal from Black Muslim extremists. In 1967, during the Vietnam War, Ali declined to join the Army for religious reasons. Consequently, he was convicted for draft dodging, stripped of his title, and banned from boxing for three years. However, in 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction, and Ali regained the heavyweight crown on January 28, 1974, during the “Rumble in the Jungle” in Zaire against champion George Foreman. In February 1978, Ali lost his title to Olympic gold medalist Leon Spinks, but in a rematch seven months later, he defeated Spinks over 15 rounds to reclaim the heavyweight championship, after which he retired. Two years later, he made a brief, unsuccessful return to the sport before retiring permanently in 1981. Ali’s outstanding career record boasts 56 wins, 5 losses, and 37 knockouts. Sonny Liston was discovered dead in his Las Vegas residence on January 5, 1971. It is suspected that he may have been deceased for about a week by that point, and the cause of his death remains unknown. Throughout his career, he achieved 50 wins, 39 knockouts, and 4 losses.