One Night That Changed It All

It is one of the most famous moments in sports history: the February 1964 match when a braggadocious 22-year-old named Cassius Clay beat Sonny Liston in Miami Beach to win the world heavyweight boxing championship.

Yet what happened in the hours that followed is little known: Clay - soon to be known as Muhammad Ali - celebrated his triumph in a room at the Hampton House, a motel in Miami's Black Brownsville neighborhood that was frequented by Black celebrities.

Accompanying Clay to the two-story lodge were three friends who had been in the smoky, crowded Convention Hall when Liston surrendered: Nation of Islam minister Malcolm X, crossover soul singer Sam Cooke and Cleveland Browns running back and future Hall of Famer Jim Brown, then all in the prime of youth.