Muhammad Ali: Robert Lipsyte on the Life of the Greatest

The Beatles were on their first American tour, and they had been taken to the Miami training camp of Sonny Liston, the heavyweight champion of the world, for a photo op. Liston took one look at the four mop-topped Brits in their matching white terry-cloth cabana jackets and refused to pose with “those little sissies.” So the photographer scrambled for second best. Stuffing the lads back into the limo, he headed for Clay’s training camp, the Fifth Street Gym. Read more here.

Excerpted from TIME’s ALI: The Greatest, a 112-page, fully illustrated commemorative edition. Available at retailers and at AMAZON.COM