Rolland Joseph 'Speedy' Curtis was born in Louisiana in 1922. After serving three years in the Marines during World War II, he and his wife, Gloria, relocated from New Orleans to Los Angeles in 1946. Curtis served four years with the Los Angeles Police Department, but resigned from the force in order to pursue both a Bachelor's and Master's degree from USC. He later became involved in city politics, as an associate of Sam Yorty, and later a field deputy to City Council members Billy Mills and Tom Bradley. He was briefly director of the Model Cities program in 1973. Rolland J. Curtis died in his home in 1979, the victim of a homicide. An affordable housing complex on Exposition Blvd. near Vermont Ave. was named in his honor in 1981, along with a nearby street and park.; Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. (1942-), more famously known as Muhammad Ali as well as "The Greatest", "The Champ", and "The Louisville Lip", is a former boxer and three-time World Heavyweight Champion. In 1964 Clay legally changed his name to Muhammad Ali, after joining the Nation of Islam. Standing tall at 6-ft, 3-in., Ali was known for his fighting style - which he famously described as "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee". His first professional fight came on October 29, 1960, and for the next three years the young fighter amassed a record of 19-0, with 15 knockouts. Among Ali's victims were: Sonny Banks, Alejandro Lavorante, Archie Moore, Henry Cooper, Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, Ernie Terrell, George Chuvalo, Brian London, Karl Mildenberger, Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams, Zora Foley, Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena, Joe Frazier - who dealt Ali his first professional loss in 1971, in the fight known as "The Fight of the Century"; Ken Norton, George Foreman - whom Ali defeated on October 30, 1974 becoming one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, in the bout hyped as "The Rumble In The Jungle"; Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, Joe Bugner, Jean-Pierre Coopman, Jimmy Young, Richard Dunn, Leon Spinks, and Larry Holmes. Ali's final fight was to an up-and-coming challenger named Trevor Berbick in 1981, which resulted in a loss for Ali by unanimous decision after 10 rounds; he announced his permanent retirement that same year. Ali defeated almost every top heavyweight in his era, which has been called 'the golden age of heavyweight boxing'. His professional boxing record stands at: 56 Wins (37 knockouts, 19 decisions), 5 Losses (4 decisions, 1 retirement), and 0 Draws. Muhammad Ali was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990, received a Spirit of America Award in 1991, and was the recipient of the 1997 Arthur Ashe Courage Award. The Champ currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona with his fourth wife, Yolanda 'Lonnie' Ali. Pictured is famed professional boxer Muhammad Ali (at left), shaking hands with Ralph Dills who is a member of the California State Senate, at the Compton NAACP Prexy Maxy Flier testimonial dinner. It appears that the charming Muhammad Ali may have cracked a joke to get Dills to laugh as the two stand in front of the American flag. Ralph Dills is also the longest serving member in history of the General Assembly. Photograph dated October 20, 1966. See images 00119156 through 00119161 for additional photos in this series.
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image
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1 negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Ali, Muhammad,--1942-2016 Dills, Ralph C National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Boxers (Sports) African American boxers African American Men Legislators--United States Flags--United States Handshaking Laughter Men Compton (Calif.)
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