Former 1960 Gold Medalist in Rome, Italy, World Heavyweight champion Muhammad “The Greatest” Ali would have been 82 on this day on January 17th! This 3-time world champion was from Louisville, Kentucky. He was 56-5-1 with 37 knockouts. Known as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, champions.
Having met legendary trainer Cus D’Amato back in 1982 at his Catskill residence, he said if a young boxer was a Capricorn, born from December 22nd to January 19th, he would always work with him.
D’Amato trained champion Floyd Patterson on January 4th. In 1952, he won the Olympic Gold Medal in middleweight in Helsinki, Finland. D’Amato taught “mind over matter,” convincing him he could grow into a heavyweight with just a few fights.
In 1956, he defeated light heavyweight champion Archie “Old Mongoose” Moore for the vacant title. He would lose his title to Ingemar Johansson and regain it, stopping him in a rematch. He finished at 55-8-1 with 40 knockouts, fighting out of Brooklyn, New York.
Philadelphia’s “Terrible” Tim Witherspoon was born on December 27th. In 1984, he defeated Greg Page for the vacant title. He was also a former sparring partner for Ali. He was 55-13-1 with 38 knockouts. In his first attempt at the title, he lost a controversial decision to Larry “The Easton” Assassin.
South Africa’s southpaw Corrie “The Sniper” Sanders was born on January 7th. On March of 2003 he stopped Wladimir ”Dr. Steelhammer” Klitschko. He lost his title to Wladimir’s brother Vitali in his first defense. He was 42-4 with 31 knockouts.
Joe Parker was born on the 9th. Born in Australia, and fought mostly out of the UK. In December of 2016, he defeated Andy Ruiz. His record is 34-3 with 23 knockouts and is still active.
1968 Olympic Gold Medalist out of Mexico City “Big” George Foreman was born on January 10th, stopping ‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier in January 1972 in Kingston, Jamaica. He stopped Frazier again in a rematch. He was 76-5 with 68 knockouts from Houston, Texas.
1964 Olympic Gold Medalist in Tokyo, Japan, Philadelphia’s “Smokin” Joe Frazier was born on January 12th.
In March of 1968, he won the NYCAC title, stopping Buster Mathis, whom he lost to in the Olympic trials but replaced him when Mathis broke a bone in his hand. Frazier was 34-2-1 with 27 knockouts. He dealt Ali his first defeat, only to lose to him twice after that.
