Muhammad Ali: 10 lesser known stories about the boxing legend

#8 Ali predicted his own greatness

Sonny Liston ducks under Ali’s attacks

Much before he became popular for predicting the results of his fights, Ali predicted his own greatness. In January 1964, before his bout with Liston, at the end of a workout, the 22-year-old Ali removed his gloves and wiped off the sweat. Then he reached for a pen and autographed one of his training gloves for posterity. “From Cassius Clay,” he wrote, and capitalized the first letter of the following words for emphasis: “Next Heavyweight Champion of the World.” Then he underscored it.

Today the gloves, acquired from the Dundee family by curator Paul Gardullo, reside in the collections of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, scheduled to open in 2015.