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Muhammad Ali - or Cassius Clay as he was known then - first appeared on the radar when he clinched gold at the Rome Olympics in 1960. When he went on to become World Champion his career was to take a tun for the worse.
Ali was publicly vilified for refusing to join the army during the Vietnam war. "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong" he said. The boxing commission stripped him of his title and took away his licence and he was idle for three-and-a-half-years when at the peak of his career. When the ban was lifted, Ali didn't fight for his title in the courts, but vowed to win it back in the ring - and his path back to the title culminated in the 'Rumble in the Jungle'.
On 30 October 1974, Ali faced the hugely powerful George Foreman in Zaire. The publicity surrounding the fight was huge, as the two boxers spent the summer in the country acclimatising to the African humidity. With Ali on the ropes soaking up the punches (a tactic he later referred to as 'rope-a-dope') he turned the fight on its head in the dying seconds of the eighth round. With Foreman on the floor, Ali was once more World Champion, and no-one could argue that he truly was 'the greatest'.
The feud between these boxing greats kicked-off in the build up to the first of their three titanic collisions. Ali called Frazier stupid, inarticulate 'too ugly to be the champ' and 'an uncle Tom'. Ali's comments hit a nerve and Frazier responded by calling his opponent a draft-dodger and referred to his as Cassius Clay, Ali's pre-conversion name. Attempts were made to reconcile the pair but 25 years after the feud started Frazier said: "They want me to love him but I'll open up the graveyard and bury his ass when the good Lord chooses to take him." Ali did finally apologise a few years ago claiming "it was all meant to promote the fight", to which Frazier is said to have accepted.
Dozens of guests gathered at the weekend to celebrate Muhammad Ali's 70th birthday with the boxing champ.
As about 35 people mingled in a lobby of the Muhammad Ali Centre in Ali's hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, he walked out to a second-floor balcony overlooking them.
Ali, who is battling Parkinson's disease, leaned against a rail and raised his right hand to wave to the crowd.
Those gathered then headed into a banquet hall where the party was taking place.
Ali turns 70 tomorrow.
