Plot
The film begins with Cassius Clay before his championship debut against then heavyweight Sonny Liston, in the pre-fight weigh-in Clay heavily taunts Liston (such as calling Liston a "big ugly bear") but Liston vows to "Fuck him (Clay) up". In the fight Clay is able to dominate the early rounds of the match, but halfway through the fight Clay complains of a burning feeling in his eyes (implying that Liston has tried to cheat) and says he is unable to continue. However, his trainer/manager Angelo Dundee gets him to keep fighting. Once Clay is able to see again he easily dominates the fight and right before round seven Liston quits, therefore making Cassius Clay the youngest heavyweight champion at the time. (Mike Tyson would later beat this record).
Cassius Clay then changes his name to Muhammad Ali after converting to the Nation of Islam, and travels to Africa with Malcolm X. Ali continues to dominate as champion, until he is stripped of the title and sent to jail for his refusal to be drafted during the Vietnam War. His conviction is later overturned, and attempts to regain the Heavyweight Championship against Joe Frazier. Frazier wins, giving Ali the first loss of his career. After Frazier loses the championship to George Foreman, Ali fights Frazier again, this time winning. Ali goes to Zaire to face Foreman for the title. While there, Ali has an affair with a woman he meets named Veronica Porsche (who he is said to later marry in the epilogue). After reading rumors of his infidelity through newspapers, Ali's wife travels to Zaire to confront him about this. Ali says he is unsure as to whether he really loves Veronica or not, and just wants to focus on his upcoming title shot. For a good portion of the fight against Foreman, Ali leans back against the ropes and covers up, letting Foreman wildly throw punches at him. As the rounds go on, Foreman tires himself out and Ali takes advantage. He quickly knocks out the tired Foreman, and the movie ends with Ali regaining the Heavyweight Championship of which he was previously stripped.
Read more about this topic: Ali (film)
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