Training the Greatest: The Story of Ali and Dundee
Photograph and caption courtesy of the Louisville Times, February 26, 1964.
Taking the Title
When Muhammad Ali and Angelo Dundee first met, Ali told him that he was going to be the Heavyweight Champion of the World. When they first began working together in late 1960, Dundee told newspapers that "This is a guy who wants to be," which meant Ali would not be satisfied until he had earned the title of champion.
After nineteen fights, Ali remained undefeated as a professional boxer. He was rated the number one contender for the title of Heavyweight Champion of the World, and only one person stood in his way: Sonny Liston.
Ali finally got his chance at the title on February 25, 1964. Every major newspaper, sports journalist, and boxing expert placed the odds against Muhammad Ali (then still known as Cassius Clay). People were convinced that Sonny Liston was going to do what he had done to every other boxer before winning the title: knock Ali out within the first three rounds. However, Ali and Dundee had their own plans.
Muhammad Ali taunted Sonny Liston to no end leading up to the fight, continuously calling him a 'big, ugly bear' and harassing him at his workouts. Simultaneously, Dundee advised Ali as to how he could evade Liston's deadly left jab, and helped out a bit with one of Ali's well-known poems, which referred to Sonny Liston becoming a human satellite.
All of the taunting and training led up to a very, very surprising fight. Both Ali and Liston wanted to quit at one point or another. At the end of the fourth round of the fight, Ali complained of something in his eyes. He could not see. He came to his corner and told Dundee to cut his gloves off, to end the fight, that he was finished. Dundee would not, however, and told him that this was his shot, this was what he wanted all along. He and the rest of the cornermen cleaned Ali's eyes and kicked him out of the corner, back into the ring for the fifth round. By the sixth, Ali was back to normal, dancing circles around Liston. When the bell rang for the seventh round, Sonny Liston would not get up from his stool.
Muhammad Ali was now the World Heavyweight Champion for the first time.
