“In Washington, D.C., during the 1970s, a black man could get into the newspapers in one of two ways: crime—or boxing.” Such begins the synopsis for boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard’s 2012 ...

Ali—then Cassius Clay—first appeared on the cover of TIME on March 22, 1963. That cover story detailed his rise from kid dreamer to boxing great, a trajectory that arguably began when he became the ...