No question, the most famous boxing champion of the twentieth century born in 1942 is Muhammad Ali. His real name was as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. and he won 56 of his 61 professional fights. He also won three times the world heavyweight championship and a gold medal in the 1960 Olympic light-heavyweight competition in Rome. In 1964 after winning at Miami Beach against Sonny Liston, Ali was crowned heavyweight champion. After the boxing match he stated: “I am the greatest, I shook up the world” – it was difficult to argue with him by the end of his career.

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Sugar Ray Robinson was born in 1921 in Georgia as Walker Smith Jr, He got the name Ray Robinson when he borrowed a (Ray Robinson’s) boxing card from a friend in order to use it in the Harlem Gym. After George Gainford (his coach) saw him fighting for the first time the name Sugar Ray Robinson stuck and his motions and style were described as ‘sweet as sugar’.

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The professional male boxers are split initially into eight categories based on their weight class: heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight, and flyweight:

• Heavyweight boxers have no weight limit, but they must weigh over 200lbs or 91kg. Some of the world famous heavyweights, include Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali;
• Light heavyweight fighters weigh maximum 175lbs or 79.5kg. For example in the beginning of his career in 1936, Archie More was a light heavyweight fighter;
• Middleweights weigh up to 160lbs or 72.5kg. Some of the world famous British boxers in this division are Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank;
• Welterweight boxers such as ‘Sugar’ Ray Robinson weigh maximum 147lbs or 66.7kg;
• Lightweight fighters weigh up to 135lbs or 61.4kg. Roberto Duran and Julio Cesar Chavez are two star lightweights;
• Featherweights like Willie Pep and ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed weigh up to 126lbs or 57.1kg;
• Bantamweight boxers weigh a maximum of 118lbs or 53.5kg. Legendary bantamweight fighters are Eder Jofre and Wayne McCullough;
• Flyweight fighters weigh maximum 112lbs or 51kg. Good examples for this category fighters are the incredible Ricardo Lopez and Jimmy Wilde.

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