Young Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, knocked
out opponent Sonny Liston for his first world title in boxing
on this day in history, Feb. 25, 1964.

According to History.com, twenty-two-year-old Clay achieved
the unthinkable by dethroning Liston, who was then the world
heavyweight boxing champion.

Ali beat the steep odds by winning the fight in a seventh-round
technical knockout.

NEW YORK (AP) — Carl Weathers, a former NFL linebacker
who became a Hollywood action movie and comedy star,
playing nemesis-turned-ally Apollo Creed in the “Rocky”
movies, starring alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in
“Predator” and teaching golf in “Happy Gilmore,” has died.

Matt Luber, his manager, said Weathers died Thursday. His
family issued a statement saying he died “peacefully in his
sleep. No cause of death was mentioned.

Comfortable flexing his muscles on the big screen in “Action
Jackson” as he was joking around on the small screen in
such shows as “Arrested Development,” Weathers was
perhaps most closely associated with Creed, who made
his first appearance as the cocky, undisputed heavyweight
world champion in 1976’s “Rocky,” (below) starring Sylvester
Stallone.

The classic rags-to-riches story got a macho spin in the Oscar-
winning Rocky, which was written by its star, Sylvester Stallone,
and began filming on January 9, 1976. Stallone had his own rags-
to-riches tale: Born in the gritty Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of
New York City, he was a juvenile delinquent who was kicked out
of a number of schools before he turned 15. After attending high
school in Philadelphia and studying drama at the University of
Miami, Stallone moved back to New York and later to Los Angeles,
with dreams of becoming an actor.

When shooting his famous jog through the streets of Philadelphia, Stallone pulled a tendon in his leg and
was taken to a nearby hospital in a wheelbarrow.

Most of the jogging scenes of Rocky jogging were
shot guerrilla-style, with no permits, no equipment,
and no extras. The entire movie w as shot in 28
days.

Ryan O’Neal (April 20, 1941 – December 8, 2023)

O’Neal was a native of Los Angeles, he trained as an amateur
boxer before beginning a career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he
landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime
soap opera Peyton Place.

In April 2012, O’Neal stated he had been diagnosed with stage
4 prostate cancer. He later stated it was stage 2.

SANDY KOZEL