A photograph shows Muhammad Ali with all of his winnings in 1964.
A photograph shows Muhammad Ali with all of his winnings in 1964.
In July 2017, a photograph of boxer Muhammad Ali surrounded by piles of cash in a bank vault, frequently shared with inaccurate information, resurfaced. On 8 July 2017, for instance, the â€œHistorical Picsâ€ Twitter account shared the image along with the caption â€œMuhammad Ali showing off his wealth, 1963â€: This image has also been shared with similar claims, such as â€œMuhammad Ali with his winnings in 1964â€œ, â€œMuhammad Ali with his winnings in 1974â€œ, and â€œMuhammad Ali showing off his moneyâ€œ. The photograph was originally taken for the cover ofÂ Sports IllustratedÂ in February 1964. In the cover story, titled â€œMy $1,000,000 Getaway,â€ Ali, who was going by the name Cassius Clay at the time, wrote that he was looking at â€œ$1 million in cold cashâ€ in the photograph: < If I were like a lot of guysâ€”a lot of heavyweight boxers, I meanâ€”Iâ€™ll bet you a dozen doughnuts you wouldnâ€™t be reading this story right now. If you wonder what the difference between them and me is, Iâ€™ll break the news: you never heard of them. Iâ€™m not saying they are not good boxers. Most of themâ€”people like Doug Jones and Ernie Terrellâ€”can fight almost as good as I can. Iâ€™m just saying you never heard of them. And the reason for that is because they cannot throw the jive. Cassius Clay is a boxer who can throw the jive better than anybody you will probably ever meet anywhere. And right there is why I will meet Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship of the world next week in Miami Beach. And jive is the reason also why they took my picture looking at $1 million in cold cash [see cover]. Thatâ€™s how much money my fists and my mouth will have earned by the time my fight with Liston is over. Think about that. A southern colored boy has made $1 million just as he turns 22. I donâ€™t think itâ€™s bragging to say Iâ€™m something a little special. > Although the image was clearly staged, the money is likely real. However, we are doubtful that it actually belonged to the famous boxer, for two reasons: Clay wrote in the article accompanying the photograph that he â€œwill have earnedâ€ $1 million, not that he already had earned it. Also, a man can be seen on the opposite side of the vault. This is most likely a bank manager keeping on eye on the cash. The GuardianÂ identified this person as a â€œsecurity guardâ€ when they published a different photograph of Ali in the bank vault: < The version of this photograph which made the cover of Sports Illustrated was shot by Richard Meek. But I prefer this picture taken shortly beforehand by Aliâ€™s friend Howard Bingham. Itâ€™s just a little more fun. And I like how the security guard is there in the background keeping tabs. > Although Cassius Clay did make a fortune early on in his boxing career and went on to earn $1 million and more and gain worldwide fame, and although the picture likely shows real cash inside of a bank vault, this photograph doesnâ€™t show the boxerâ€™s specific earnings at any time.
"muhammad" AND "ali" AND "winnings" AND "1964"