Date: June 1963

Cover: Muhammad Ali

What’s So Important About This Issue? It was the first solo cover for the most famous fighter in history. Ali (then Cassius Clay) was merely a contender on the rise at the time, rated number two by The Ring. But with his undefeated record, flashy style, and over-the-top personality, Ali was becoming one of the most talked-about athletes in the world.

Cover Story: The article advertised on the contents page as the cover story was in fact as much about Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson as it was Ali, as indicated by the headline “Liston-Patterson Go Off To Vegas.” Dan Daniel wrote about how a proposed bout between contenders Ali and Patterson collapsed when Patterson and champ Liston instead agreed to a rematch. He also wrote that after his victory over Doug Jones, Ali had become boxing’s number-one attraction: “Clay’s brash boasting, his efforts at so-called poetry, his living up to every rule and regulation in the old and almost forgotten book of Ballyhoo, built up an attraction which American boxing long had been hoping for.”

Also In This Issue: “‘Life Not Sweet’: Featherweight King Writes Of Rise To Title And Past Glories Of Cuban Isle” by Sugar Ramos … “Gene Tunney, 65 Years Young” … “Mauro Mina, Peruvian Jaguar” by Frank Burns … Fighter of the Month: Carlos Ortiz.

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