Muhammad Ali’s 1974 WBC heavyweight championship boxing belt and a handwritten letter about his conversion to Islam are among items that will hit the auction block in September, in the biggest such sale since Ali’s death in June.
Heritage Auctions said on Friday that the auction will include the trunks Ali wore for his “Rumble in the Jungle” victory over George Foreman in Zaire in 1974. The gloves worn by Sonny Liston when he lost his title to Ali in 1964 are also among 79 lots in the Sept. 10 auction.
Heritage Auctions said on Friday that the auction will include the trunks Ali wore for his “Rumble in the Jungle” victory over George Foreman in Zaire in 1974. The gloves worn by Sonny Liston when he lost his title to Ali in 1964 are also among 79 lots in the Sept. 10 auction.
The one-time Christian Baptist became the most famous convert to Islam in American history when he announced he had joined the Black Muslim movement under the guidance of Malcolm X.
Heritage said the World Boxing Council belt is the first of those won by the three-time world heavyweight champion to come to auction, and is expected to sell for some $600,000.
Ali’s death on June 4 at age 74, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease, prompted an outpouring of grief and tributes worldwide, culminating in an elaborate public funeral in his Louisville, Kentucky hometown.
Heritage Auctions said most of the items came from collectors, with nothing coming from Ali’s family, who have a number of significant artifacts in their keeping.
