ROCKY MARCIANO
The Brockton Blockbuster
49-0
Undefeated



Rocky Marciano Biography
17th March 1947 - 21st September 1955
Professional Record
49 Bouts
49 Wins
43 Knockouts
  0 Losses
(born Sept. 1, 1923, Brockton, Mass., U.S.—died Aug. 31, 1969, near Newton, Ia.) U.S. boxer and world heavyweight champion. Marciano began boxing in the army in World War II. An unscientific but hard-punching and exceptionally durable fighter, he won the championship title in 1952 by defeating Jersey Joe Walcott and relinquished it upon retiring in 1956. He was undefeated in 49 professional fights, scoring 43 knockouts.

CHAMPIONS FOREVER





MUHAMMAD ALI
Float Like A Butterfly Sting Like A Bee



Muhammad Ali Biography
29th October 1960 - 11th December 1981
Professional Record
61 Bouts
56 Wins
  5 Losses
37 Knockouts

Boxer, philanthropist, social activist. Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. Once one of the top American boxers, Muhammad Ali has shown that he is not afraid of any fight—inside or outside the ring. Growing up in the segregated South, Ali experienced firsthand the prejudice and discrimination that African Americans faced during this era.At the age of 12, Ali discovered his talent for boxing through an odd twist of fate. His bike was stolen, and Ali told a police officer, Joe Martin, that he wanted to beat up the thief. "Well, you better learn how to fight before you start challenging people," Martin reportedly told him at the time. In addition to being a police officer, Martin also trained young boxers at a local gym.Ali started working with Martin to learn how to box, and soon began his boxing career. In his first amateur bout in 1954, he won the fight by split decision. Ali went on to win the 1956 Golden Gloves Championship for novices in the light heavyweight class. Three years later, he won the Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions and the Amateur Athletic Union's national title for the light-heavyweight divisionIn 1960, Ali won a spot on the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team. He traveled to Rome, Italy, to compete. At 6 feet 3 inches tall, Ali was an imposing figure in the ring. He was known for his footwork, and for possessing a powerful jab. After winning his first three bouts, Ali then defeated Zbigniew Pietrzkowski from Poland to win the gold medal.After his Olympic victory, Ali was heralded as an American hero. He soon turned professional with the backing of the Louisville Sponsoring Group. During the 1960s Ali seemed unstoppable, winning all of his bouts with majority of them being by knockouts. He took out British heavyweight champion Henry Cooper in 1963 and then knocked out Sonny Liston in 1964 to become the heavyweight champion of the world.Often referring to himself as "the greatest," Ali was not afraid to sing his own praises. He was known for boasting about his skills before a fight and for his colorful descriptions and phrases. In one of his more famously quoted descriptions, Ali told reporters that he could "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" in the boxing ring.This bold public persona belied what was happening in Ali's personal life, however. He was doing some spiritual searching and decided to join the black Muslim group, the Nation of Islam, in 1964. At first he called himself Cassius X, but then settled into the name Muhammad Ali. Two years later, Ali started a different kind of fight when he refused to acknowledge his military service after being drafted. He said that he was a practicing Muslim minister, and that his religious beliefs prevented him from fighting in the Vietnam War.In 1967, Ali put his personal values ahead of his career. The U.S. Department of Justice pursued a legal case against Ali, denying his claim for conscientious objector status. He was found guilty of refusing to be inducted into the military, but Ali later cleared his name after a lengthy court battle. Professionally, however, Ali did not fare as well. The boxing association took away his title and suspended him from the sport for three and a half years.

LARRY HOLMES
The Easton Assassin




Larry Holmes Biography
21st March 1973 - 27th July 2002 
Professional Record  
75 Bouts                
69 Wins              
  6 Losses
44 Knockouts

(born November 3, 1949, Cuthbert, Georgia, U.S.) American heavyweight boxing champion of the late 1970s and early '80s who was known for his solid defense.Holmes, a street fighter in his youth, entered organized boxing at a youth centre in Easton, Pennsylvania. He won 19 of his 22 fights and several titles before turning professional at age 24. In the mid-1970s he was a sparring partner for both competing heavyweight champions, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Holmes struggled to establish his identity as a first-rate fighter with these two great heavyweights in contention and found it difficult to get top-level bouts.From 1973 to 1978 Holmes won 28 consecutive bouts, culminating in a victorious 15-round decision over reigning champion Ken Norton on June 9, 1978, for the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight crown. Holmes defended the title 17 times between 1978 and 1983, defeating such formidable boxers as Earnie Shavers, Leon Spinks, and Gerry Cooney. On October 2, 1980, Holmes faced the celebrated Ali, who at age 38 was mounting a comeback. Holmes won in 11 rounds, cementing his claim as world heavyweight champion. The fight, however, was emotionally difficult for Holmes. He counted Ali as a good friend, and this fight, occurring after Ali's prime, put Holmes in the position of having to beat, in fact pummel, his mentor.In 1983, amid ongoing disagreements with boxing promoter Don King, Holmes relinquished his WBC title. The International Boxing Federation, however, still regarded him as heavyweight champion, and he defended that title three times before losing it to Michael Spinks in a 15-round decision on September 21, 1985. Holmes retired after the loss, his first in 49 bouts, which kept him from matching Rocky Marciano's career record of 49–0.Holmes came out of retirement in 1986, only to lose a rematch to Michael Spinks. In 1988 he again returned to the ring to take on heavyweight champion Mike Tyson; the referee halted the fight in the fourth round after Holmes had endured three early knockdowns. In 1991, after beating opponent Ray Mercer, Holmes advanced to the title bout with Evander Holyfield, who defeated him in a decision. On April 8, 1995, Holmes challenged Oliver McCall for the WBC heavyweight crown but lost in 12 rounds.


GEORGE FOREMAN



George Foreman Biography

Boxer. Born January 10, 1949 in Marshall, Texas. Reared in the black ghetto of Houston, Foreman learned to box in a Job Corps camp in Oregon. In the Mexico City Olympic Games (1968) he won the gold medal in the heavyweight class. He turned professional in 1969, and became the world heavyweight champion in 1973, knocking out Joe Frazier, but lost the title to Muhammad Ali in 1974. He later won the US heavyweight championship, defeating Ron Lyle, and successfully defended the title against Joe Frazier in 1976.Foreman announced his retirement in 1977, but made a surprise return to the ring as a contender for the world title against Evander Holyfield in 1991, losing on points. He regained a version of his title in 1994, at the age of 45, by which time he had become a preacher. By this time, the formerly aloof Foreman had become the smiling, happy purveyor of everything from mufflers to his eponymous grills.Foreman and his wife, Joan, have 10 children (five daughters and five sons). All five sons are named George Edward Foreman


KEN NORTON 



Ken Norton Biography

While serving for four years in the Marine Corps, Norton won three all-Marine championships. He became a sparring partner for Joe Frazier after being discharged. Norton's first professional fight was a 9th-round knockout of Grady Brazell in San Diego on November 14, 1967. The angular 6-foot-3, 210-pound Norton had a powerful punch and an awkward boxing style that often puzzled opponents. He won 16 straight fights, 15 by knockout, before being knocked out by Jose Luis Garcia on July 2, 1970. He then won 13 more matches to earn a fight against Muhammad Ali for the North American Boxing Federation version of the heavyweight championship. In a stunning upset, Norton took a 12-round decision from the former world champion on March 31, 1973. After the fight, it was learned that he had broken Ali's jaw in the 7th round. Ali reclaimed the NABF title with a 12-round decision on September 10.George Foreman knocked Norton out in the 2nd round of a match for the world championship on March 26, 1974, in Caracas, Venezuela. After Ali won the title from Foreman, Norton faced Ali for the third time on September 28, 1976. He put up a good fight but lost a 15-round decision.The title fell into confusion less than two years later. After Michael Spinks beat Ali to win the championship, Norton was ranked as the top contender by the World Boxing Council. Spinks signed for a rematch with Ali instead of fighting Norton, and the WBC stripped him of his crown and proclaimed Norton champion on March 29, 1978. Norton lost the title in his first defense, on June 9, 1978, when Larry Holmes won a 15-round decision in Las Vegas.In 50 professional fights, Norton had 42 victories, 33 by knockout. He lost 7, 4 by knockout, and also had one draw. His son, Ken Jr., played football at UCLA and was a starting linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys when they won Super Bowl XXVII after the 1992 season.


JOE FRAZIER 
Smokin Joe



Joe Frazier Biography

Frazier dropped out of school at the age of thirteen to become a mule driver, went to New York to work in the garment district at sixteen, and then became a butcher's apprentice in Philadelphia, where he began boxing.Buster Mathis beat Frazier in the finals of the 1964 Olympic trials, but hurt his thumb in the fight and Frazier was his replacement. He won a gold medal with three knockouts and a unanimous decision in four Olympic fights. The following year, Frazier turned professional. He won 19 consecutive fights, 17 by knockout, before meeting Mathis for the New York heavyweight championship on March 4, 1968. Frazier knocked Mathis out in the 11th round.He won the vacant world heavyweight title by knocking out Jimmy Ellis in the 5th round on February 16, 1970. However, many fight fans still considered Muhammad Ali the champion. Ali had been stripped of his title for refusing induction into the U. S. Army in 1967.Frazier and Ali, both undefeated as professionals, met in one of the most ballyhooed matches in boxing history on March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden. Frazier knocked Ali down with a left hook in the 15th round and won a unanimous decision that made him undisputed champion.After two defenses, Frazier suffered a stunning 2nd-round knockout against George Foreman on January 22, 1973, at Kingston, Jamaica. The lightly regarded Foreman knocked Frazier down five times before the knockout.Ali beat Frazier twice in the next two years, first on a 12-round decision and then on a 14th-round knockout. After being knocked out by Foreman in 1976, Frazier retired. He toured and recorded for a time with a singing group called the Knockouts, returned to the ring for one lackluster fight in 1981, and then retired again to manage his son, Marvis, who lost a heavyweight title fight to Larry Holmes in 1983.Known as "Smokin' Joe" because of his style of constantly boring in and throwing punches, Frazier didn't have a great knockout punch, but he wore opponents down with his relentless attack. He won 32 professional fights, 27 by knockout; lost 4, 3 by knockout; and fought 1 draw.