GOAT Index

Two legends at a time. Thousands of votes. One ranking.

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Muhammad Ali: the case for the GOAT

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    Muhammad Ali: the case for the GOAT

    Heavyweight · USA · Born 17 January 1942, Louisville, Kentucky, USA · Died 2016 · Career 1960–1981

    Heavyweight who fought as Cassius Clay before becoming Muhammad Ali. Fast hands, dancing feet and a granite chin made him the most famous fighter on earth, inside the ring and out.

    Career highlights

    Why Muhammad Ali could be the GOAT

    Ali beat the best heavyweights of the sport's deepest era, often as the underdog, and won the title three separate times. He lost three prime years to his stand against the Vietnam draft and still came back to beat Frazier and Foreman. No one on this list combined speed, nerve and cultural impact like he did.

    What fans say

    Muhammad Ali is #7 of 25 in the fan ranking, with a 1–0 head-to-head record from 19 Men's boxing votes. See the full Men's boxing GOAT ranking

    Muhammad Ali head to head

    How the ranking works. Every head-to-head vote is a result, like a game. The standings use a Bradley–Terry model, the same idea behind chess ratings: beating a highly rated legend counts for more than beating a long shot. Ratings are shown on a chess-style scale centred on 1500.

    One vote per matchup per person. If you see a pairing again in another session your new answer replaces the old one, so nobody can stuff the ballot by repeating a matchup.

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    Photo credits

      Photos come from Wikimedia Commons under the licenses listed. Each links to its source page.