... in which he would defeat his opponents. The arrogant poems quickly followed. Unbeaten, he felt he could face Sonny Liston, the Heavyweight Champion of the world. After being pummeled for six straight rounds, Liston could not get off his stool to fight the seventh round. Cassius Clay was now the ... Heavyweight Champion! In 1963, a few weeks after his fight with Liston, Cassius announced that he was a member of the Muslim faith and had ... just could not stay away from boxing. He decided to box against Larry Holmes in 1980. Though he trained hard, the 38 year old, three time heavyweight ...

• Word Count: 1570
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... American hero. His childhood was a huge struggle but with all the racial discrimination he made it to the top of the boxing world and stayed there longer than any heavyweight ever. Joseph Louis Barrow was the son of an Alabama sharecropper, "Munn Barrow," on May 13th, 1914. His family struggled ... the top of the boxing pyramid. His reputation was growing at a huge rate. In June of 1935 he fought Primo Carnera, the former heavyweight champion in front of 62,000 fans at Yankee Stadium. He followed the Carnera fight with one against Max Baer, who he knocked out in fourth ... two minutes ...

• Word Count: 1383
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... superman. The man formerly known as Cassius Clay has transformed himself from a boy in desperate search for his stolen bicycle into the heavyweight champion of the world and then into the man who proudly lit the Olympic torch at the 1996 summer Olympics. Whenever there is any debate over who ... timeless ditties like "float like a butter-fly, sting like a bee." Ali entered a heavyweight weigh-in with poems explaining how badly he was going to thrash his opponents. David Remnick's book King of the World colorfully highlights some of Ali's best poetic moments. "Who would have thought/ When...

• Word Count: 1433
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School