Muhammad Ali at 70: How the 'Louisville Lip' became 'The Greatest'

America in the 1960s was a country riven by segregation and racial tension, but a lanky, all talking black boxer from Louisville, Kentucky, overcame great odds to be idolised world over as "The Greatest" and most important sporting figure of the 20th century.

Cassius Clay, as he was then known, first came to the attention of the Guardian at the 1960 Olympics where he strutted to gold, beating Polish slugger Zbigniew Pietrzykowski in the light heavyweight contest.

Three years later, Clay took on England's Henry Cooper for the first time. He beat the British champion, as many had predicted, but only after Cooper knocked him down in the fourth round.

It was Clay's stunning defeat of Sonny Liston in Miami in 1964 that shocked the boxing world, who watched with astonishment as the much fancied Liston failed to come out at the bell for round seven.

Not everyone was impressed with the news that Clay had been crowned the new world champion. In his Guardian column, highly reputed writer Stanley Reynolds described Clay as "celebrating his victory with the quiet dignity of Harpo Marx swinging on a chandelier."

When the excitement of the fight had died down, Ali left fight fans confused and suspicicious as he explained he had accepted the teachings of the Nation of Islam and now wanted to be adressed as Muhammad Ali, a name given to him by his controversial spiritual mentor, Elijah Muhammad.

With his personal life coming under greater scrutiny, Ali became more outspoken, while in the ring he conquered decent opponents like Floyd Patterson, Brian London, George Chuvalo and Henry Cooper.

Ali's contest with Ernie Terell, held in Houston in 1967, was described by the Guardian's Alistair Cooke as a one-sided affair in which Ali blasted his opponent away, first with his verbal taunting and then with his fist. In his piece, Cooke almost mockingly describes Ali as the 'first Muslim priest to be acclaimed as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.'

It was Ali's staunch religious views that led him into a scrap he seemed destined to lose. His refusal to be inducted into the US Army at the height of the war in Vietnam on the grounds of being a conscientious objector drew gasps of disapproval from middle America. Ali didn't help matters by bluntly stating: 'I ain't got no quarrel with the Vietcong. No Vietcong ever called me Nigger.'

The boxing boards stripped Ali of his titles and boxing licence, before the law courts handed down a five year sentence (though he remained free on bail). The world's press picked up on the story and the Guardian wrote a leading article, siding with those burning their draft papers.

The excitement on Ali's return to the ring in the 1970s couldn't gloss over the fact that he had lost a lot of his sharpness. What he hadn't lost was his boxing ring craft, nor his appetite for blockbuster boxing contests. Fight fans were treated to the Joe Frazier trilogy, the spectacular 'Rumble in the Jungle' with George Foreman and his third and final world heavyweight title, overcoming Leon Spinks. It was this victory that cemented his place as a boxing great, becoming the first boxer to win the world heavyweight championship on three separate occasions.

In retirement, Ali's public appearances have become rarer because of his battle with Parkinson's disease, a brain injury which may have been caused by repeated blows to the head.

His professional record of 56 wins and 5 losses with 37 knockouts still stands as a phenomenal achievement in an era not short of great heavyweight boxers.

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