Muhammad Ali 21 during an elimination bout following Rocky Marciano's retirement. Mike Tyson broke both records in 1986 when he defeated Trevor Berbick to win the heavyweight title at age 20. Soon after the Liston fight, Clay changed his name to Cassius X, and then later to Muhammad Ali upon converting to Islam and affiliating with the Nation of Islam. Ali then faced a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine. It had been scheduled for Boston the previous November, but was postponed for six months due to Ali's emergency surgery for a hernia three days before. The fight
Asterix and the Big Fight opponent is called Aplusbégalix ("A plus B equals X"). In the English translation, his name of Cassius Ceramix is a reference to the boxer Muhammad Ali, formerly known as Cassius Clay, who was world heavyweight champion when the story was written. Vitalstatistix's strategy of wearing down his opponent ('rope a dope') and his victory dance (the Ali shuffle) is a parody of Ali's style. When a Roman envoy is sent to inform Ceramix that "Getafix has been disposed of", he is told that Ceramix is "inspecting Professor Berlix's school for modern languages": a play on Maximilian Berlitz and his International