By Emily Cardenas Miami Times Executive Editor
(Source Miami Times):
The 60th anniversary of the Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston fight, which launched the heavyweight championship boxing career of Muhammad Ali, was widely celebrated last weekend.
From an original theatrical presentation at the Historic Hampton House to the opening of an exhibition at the site of the original 5th Street Gym in Miami Beach, South Florida was all things Ali.
The festivities began at 555 Washington Ave. in Miami Beach, in the building where Ali, then still known as Cassius Clay, trained for his life-altering match against Liston in what is now The Filmore at 1700 Washington Ave.
While 49 captivating images curated by HistoryMiami Museum take you through that unforgettable evening of Feb. 25, 1964, there is so much more to this 800-square-foot display titled the “Muhammad Ali Historical Timeline.”
As you enter the exhibition, which will continue at least through April 1, resist the urge to go straight and make a sharp left instead to view photos of Ali as a baby, as an adolescent and as a young athlete training for the U.S. Olympics.
Beyond the Liston fight, you’ll see images from Ali’s match against Joe Frazier, nicknamed “The Rumble in the Jungle,” and yet another bout against Frazier known as the “Thrilla in Manila.”
Images including shots of Malcolm X remind us of Ali’s conversion to Islam, his political activism and his loyalty to the Nation of Islam. Others that show him with a bevy of presidents and celebrities are a testament to his legendary star power as the self-professed “greatest of all time.”
The exhibition, including signed artifacts and a boxing ring, is the brainchild of Troy Wright, executive director of the Washington Avenue Business Improvement District (BID), who told The Miami Times he put the whole thing together in just two months.
“This was nothing but a concrete building, unoccupied for five years,” he shared.
Wright said artifacts came from individual collectors, organized private collections and auction houses. A flashy sculpture of Ali was contributed by a local art gallery, which had just previously shown it in Las Vegas.
