In a career spanning 21 years and 1 month, Muhammad Ali fought 61 times with 56 wins and 5 losses. By his last professional fight on December 11, 1981, Ali's boxing record stood at 56-5 (37 KO wins, 1 KO loss).
WBA | WBC | TheRing |
---|---|---|
HV w3 d12 | HV w2 d19 | HV w3 d19 |
Muhammad Ali (The Greatest) was an American professional boxer. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. on January 17, 1942. Ali made his professional boxing debut at the age of 18 on October 29, 1960. He was a heavyweight world champion. He died on June 3, 2016 at the age of 74 years. Ali is a Hall of Famer.
Total Fights | 61 |
---|---|
Wins | 56 |
Losses | 5 |
Draws | 0 |
No-Contests | 0 |
KO Wins | 37 |
---|---|
Total Title Wins | 9 |
Title Defenses | 19 |
Title-Fight KO Wins | 14 |
Losses via KO | 1 |
# | Date | Age | Opponent | Result | Via |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
61 | Dec 11, 1981 | 39 | Trevor Berbick | Loss | UD |
60 | Oct 2, 1980 | 38 | Larry Holmes | Loss | RTD10 |
59 | Sep 15, 1978 | 36 | Leon Spinks | Win | UD |
58 | Feb 15, 1978 | 36 | Leon Spinks | Loss | SD |
57 | Sep 29, 1977 | 35 | Earnie Shavers | Win | UD |
56 | May 16, 1977 | 35 | Alfredo Evangelista | Win | UD |
55 | Sep 28, 1976 | 34 | Ken Norton | Win | UD |
54 | May 24, 1976 | 34 | Richard Dunn | Win | TKO5 |
53 | Apr 30, 1976 | 34 | Jimmy Young | Win | UD |
52 | Feb 20, 1976 | 34 | Jean-Pierre Coopman | Win | KO5 |
51 | Oct 1, 1975 | 33 | Joe Frazier | Win | RTD14 |
50 | Jun 30, 1975 | 33 | Joe Bugner | Win | UD |
49 | May 16, 1975 | 33 | Ron Lyle | Win | TKO11 |
48 | Mar 24, 1975 | 33 | Chuck Wepner | Win | TKO15 |
47 | Oct 30, 1974 | 32 | George Foreman | Win | KO8 |
46 | Jan 28, 1974 | 32 | Joe Frazier | Win | UD |
45 | Oct 20, 1973 | 31 | Rudie Lubbers | Win | UD |
44 | Sep 10, 1973 | 31 | Ken Norton | Win | SD |
43 | Mar 31, 1973 | 31 | Ken Norton | Loss | SD |
42 | Feb 14, 1973 | 31 | Joe Bugner | Win | UD |
41 | Nov 21, 1972 | 30 | Bob Foster | Win | KO8 |
40 | Sep 20, 1972 | 30 | Floyd Patterson | Win | RTD7 |
39 | Jul 19, 1972 | 30 | Alvin Lewis | Win | TKO11 |
38 | Jun 27, 1972 | 30 | Jerry Quarry | Win | TKO7 |
37 | May 1, 1972 | 30 | George Chuvalo | Win | UD |
36 | Apr 1, 1972 | 30 | Mac Foster | Win | UD |
35 | Dec 26, 1971 | 29 | Jürgen Blin | Win | KO7 |
34 | Nov 17, 1971 | 29 | Buster Mathis | Win | UD |
33 | Jul 26, 1971 | 29 | Jimmy Ellis | Win | TKO12 |
32 | Mar 8, 1971 | 29 | Joe Frazier | Loss | UD |
31 | Dec 7, 1970 | 28 | Oscar Bonavena | Win | TKO15 |
30 | Oct 26, 1970 | 28 | Jerry Quarry | Win | RTD3 |
29 | Mar 22, 1967 | 25 | Zora Folley | Win | KO7 |
28 | Feb 6, 1967 | 25 | Ernie Terrell | Win | UD |
27 | Nov 14, 1966 | 24 | Cleveland Williams | Win | TKO3 |
26 | Sep 10, 1966 | 24 | Karl Mildenberger | Win | TKO12 |
25 | Aug 6, 1966 | 24 | Brian London | Win | KO3 |
24 | May 21, 1966 | 24 | Henry Cooper | Win | TKO6 |
23 | Mar 29, 1966 | 24 | George Chuvalo | Win | UD |
22 | Nov 22, 1965 | 23 | Floyd Patterson | Win | TKO12 |
21 | May 25, 1965 | 23 | Sonny Liston | Win | KO1 |
20 | Feb 25, 1964 | 22 | Sonny Liston | Win | RTD6 |
19 | Jun 18, 1963 | 21 | Henry Cooper | Win | TKO5 |
18 | Mar 13, 1963 | 21 | Doug Jones | Win | UD |
17 | Jan 24, 1963 | 21 | Charlie Powell | Win | KO3 |
16 | Nov 15, 1962 | 20 | Archie Moore | Win | TKO4 |
15 | Jul 20, 1962 | 20 | Alejandro Lavorante | Win | KO5 |
14 | May 19, 1962 | 20 | Billy Daniels | Win | TKO7 |
13 | Apr 23, 1962 | 20 | George Logan | Win | TKO4 |
12 | Feb 28, 1962 | 20 | Don Warner | Win | TKO4 |
11 | Feb 10, 1962 | 20 | Sonny Banks | Win | TKO4 |
10 | Nov 29, 1961 | 19 | Willi Besmanoff | Win | TKO7 |
9 | Oct 7, 1961 | 19 | Alex Miteff | Win | TKO6 |
8 | Jul 22, 1961 | 19 | Alonzo Johnson | Win | UD |
7 | Jun 26, 1961 | 19 | Duke Sabedong | Win | UD |
6 | Apr 19, 1961 | 19 | LaMar Clark | Win | KO2 |
5 | Feb 21, 1961 | 19 | Donnie Fleeman | Win | RTD6 |
4 | Feb 7, 1961 | 19 | Jim Robinson | Win | KO1 |
3 | Jan 17, 1961 | 19 | Tony Esperti | Win | TKO3 |
2 | Dec 27, 1960 | 18 | Herb Siler | Win | TKO4 |
1 | Oct 29, 1960 | 18 | Tunney Hunsaker | Win | UD |
Featured Opponents
Muhammad Ali's professional boxing career spanned more than 21 years — from 1960 to 1981.
Ali made his debut against Tunney Hunsaker at the age of 18 on October 29, 1960, defeating Hunsaker via 6 round unanimous decision. He went on to win 30 more consecutive fights after the debut, which included 25 wins via stoppage.
Ali had his first world title fight at the age of 22 on February 25, 1964 after 19 professional fights, against Sonny Liston for the heavyweight NYSAC, WBA, WBC, and The Ring titles. He defeated Liston via 6th round RTD to become the heavyweight champion of the world.
He was a two-time undisputed heavyweight world champion, and won eight world titles at heavyweight. For all the details about Ali's world title wins and defenses refer to "Muhammad Ali World Titles".
Some of Ali's best fights and notable victories include wins over Henry Cooper, Sonny Liston, Archie Moore, George Foreman, Leon Spinks, Ernie Terrell, and Joe Frazier.
Muhammad Ali had a total of five losses in his professional boxing career — three of them in title bouts and two in non-title bouts. He suffered his first loss against Joe Frazier via 15 round unanimous decision on March 8, 1971, which ended his 31-fight win streak. He was stopped once and lost four times via decision. For more details about these defeats, refer to "All of Muhammad Ali's losses".
His last professional fight was a non-title bout against Jamaican boxer Trevor Berbick at 39 years of age, on December 11, 1981. Ali lost the fight via 10 round unanimous decision.
Ali retired from professional boxing with a record of 56-5, which included 37 knockout wins and 1 loss via knockout, and 8 title wins. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) in 1990.
Muhammad Ali fought a total of 61 times during his professional career. He was among the very best of his generation and is one of the pound-for-pound best boxers of all time. These eight fights are the highlight of his career.
The first remarkable big fight in Muhammad Ali's career. A 21-year old Ali (18-0, 14 KO) faced Henry Cooper on June 18, 1963. Cooper was 29 years old with a record of 27-8-1. Cooper was on a four-fight win streak with 18 KO wins. Ali was the taller of the two by 4 cms and also had a 7 cm reach advantage.
Ali defeated Cooper via 5th round TKO.
A 22-year old Muhammad Ali (19-0, 15 KO) faced Sonny Liston, who was 31 years old with a record of 35-1 in a undisputed heavyweight championship bout. Liston was on a 28-fight win streak with 25 KO wins. Ali was the taller of the two by 6 cms but Liston had a 15 cm reach advantage over Ali.
Ali defeated Liston via 6th round RTD to win the NYSAC, WBA, WBC, and Ring Magazine heavyweight titles.
In an immediate rematch, a 23-year old Muhammad Ali (20-0, 16 KO) faced Sonny Liston, who was now 33 years old with a record of 35-2 in a heavyweight title defense fight. Liston had lost to Ali in their last fight. Ali was the taller of the two by 6 cms but Liston had a 15 cm reach advantage over Ali.
Ali defeated Liston via 1st round KO to retain the NYSAC, WBC, and Ring Magazine heavyweight titles.
In a rematch, a 24-year old Muhammad Ali (23-0, 18 KO) faced Henry Cooper, who was now 32 years old with a record of 33-11-1 in a heavyweight title defense fight. Cooper was on a two-fight win streak with 23 KO wins. Ali was the taller of the two by 4 cms and also had a 7 cm reach advantage.
Ali defeated Cooper via 6th round TKO to retain the NYSAC, WBC, and Ring Magazine heavyweight titles.
A 25-year old Muhammad Ali (27-0, 22 KO) faced Ernie Terrell, who was 27 years old with a record of 39-4 in a undisputed heavyweight championship bout. Terrell was on a 15-fight win streak with 18 KO wins, and was the taller of the two by 7 cms and also had a 10 cm reach advantage over Ali.
Ali defeated Terrell via 15 round unanimous decision to retain the NYSAC, WBA, WBC, and Ring Magazine heavyweight titles.
In a rematch, a 32-year old Muhammad Ali (43-2, 31 KO) faced Joe Frazier, who was now 30 years old with a record of 30-1. Frazier was on a one-fight win streak with 25 KO wins. Ali was the taller of the two by 9 cms and also had a 13 cm reach advantage.
Ali defeated Frazier via 12 round unanimous decision.
A 32-year old Muhammad Ali (44-2, 31 KO) faced an undefeated George Foreman, who was 25 years old with a record of 40-0 in a undisputed heavyweight championship bout. Foreman was on a 40-fight win streak with 37 KO wins. Both the boxers were of the same height but Foreman had a 1 cm reach advantage over Ali.
Ali defeated Foreman via 8th round KO to win the WBA, WBC, and Ring Magazine heavyweight titles. He handed Foreman the first loss of his career, and put an end to Foreman's 40-fight win streak.
In an immediate rematch, a 36-year old Muhammad Ali (55-3, 37 KO) faced an undefeated Leon Spinks, who was now 25 years old with a record of 7-0-1. Ali had lost to Spinks in their last fight. Ali was the taller of the two by 6 cms and also had a 5 cm reach advantage.
Ali defeated Spinks via 15 round unanimous decision to win the WBA and Ring Magazine heavyweight titles. He handed Spinks the first loss of his career.
Some of Ali's best wins were against Henry Cooper, Sonny Liston, Archie Moore, George Foreman, Leon Spinks, Ernie Terrell, and Joe Frazier. Despite the loss, his performance against Joe Frazier is also among Ali's best.
Ali knocked out 37 of his 61 opponents. By his last fight, his KO ratio was at 60.7%. Of his total 56 wins, 37 of them were via KO (66.1%).
Ali had 5 losses. Trevor Berbick, Larry Holmes, Leon Spinks, Ken Norton, and Joe Frazier are the five boxers who have beaten Ali.