Muhammad Ali’s 1964 robe valued at $300,000

The robe Muhammad Ali wore into the ring against Sonny Liston in 1964 is valued at more than $300,000 ahead of a sale at Goldin Auctions.

At the time Ali was still Cassius Clay.

He would change his name to Muhammad Ali when he converted to Islam later that year.

Cassius Clay robe

Ali took the heavyweight championship title on February 25, 1964 

This was his first world heavyweight championship bout. It was bitterly fought over the course of six rounds, culminating in Ali’s victory by TKO.

In the aftermath he famously shouted from the ringside: "I am the greatest! I shook up the world. I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived."

This robe is embroidered “The Lip”, a reference to Ali’s propensity for trash talk.

It was later embroidered with “The Greatest” to commemorate Ali’s legendary ringside pronouncement, and also features a “Muhammad Ali” signature on the reverse.  

The record for any piece of Muhammad Ali memorabilia is $1.1m, set in 2014 for the gloves he wore in his 1965 fight against Floyd Patterson.

This will be one of the first big pieces of Ali memorabilia to auction since his death last year, a factor that could send it soaring above its estimate.

The auction is being held on April 29 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of legendary slugger Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s colour wall.

A portion of the funds from the sale will go to the Jackie Robinson Foundation.

Barack Obama’s 2008 speech from his acceptance of his presidential nomination is featured with an opening bid of $100,000.

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