Boxing in the early '60s, largely controlled by the people, was in a failing state until Muhammad Ali-Cassius Clay, in those days-appeared on the scene.
Though Ali won the gold medal at the Rome Olympics in 1960, at the time the experts didn't think much of his boxing skills. His head, eyes wide, seemed to float above the action. Rather than slip a punch, the traditional defensive move, it was his habit to sway back, bending at the waist-a tactic that appalled the experts. Madness.
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