Jan. 15 stamps for boxer and humanitarian Muhammad Ali punch well above their weight

By Scott Tiffney

On Jan. 15 in Louisville. Ky., the United States Postal Service will commemorate the legacy of boxing legend and humanitarian Muhammad Ali (1942–2016) with two nondenominated (78¢) forever stamps in a pane of 20.

A first-day ceremony for the new Muhammad Ali stamps will take place Thursday, Jan. 15, at noon Eastern Time at the Angel’s Envy Bourbon Club in the L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium on the campus of the University of Louisville, 2550 S. Floyd St., in Louisville.

Due to the popularity of the event, those wishing to attend the ceremony are encouraged to individually register with the Postal Service at usps.com/muhammadalistamps.

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in Louisville, Ali is often considered the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. He held that title with different boxing organizations from 1964 to 1970, 1974 to 1978 and 1978 to 1979. During his professional boxing career of 61 fights, he compiled a record of 56 wins and 5 losses.

As an activist, Ali was a powerful advocate who used his athletic fame to champion civil rights, anti-war efforts, and global humanitarian causes, both during and, especially, following his boxing career.

“Muhammad Ali (1942–2016) challenged the best fighters in the world — and challenged the world itself,” the Postal Service said. “Muhammad Ali’s activism and bravery continue to inspire athletes to speak on social issues. His influence is also felt in hip-hop, politics and the American lexicon.”

Ali was once quoted as saying, “I should be a postage stamp, because that's the only way I'll ever get licked.” Ali’s professional boxing career spanned more than two decades, from 1960 to 1981. After a few unmemorable fights to begin his career, Ali, still known then as Clay, challenged then heavyweight champion Sonny Liston on Feb. 25, 1964, for the world title. As an overwhelming underdog, Clay defeated Liston in one of the most stunning upsets in sports history.

Soon after the fight, Clay changed his name to Ali and began following the teachings of the Nation of Islam. Over his career the boxer, nicknamed “the greatest,” would participate in some of the most memorable boxing matches in the sport’s history, successfully defending his world heavyweight title a total of 19 times.

Outside of the ring, Ali used his celebrity to voice his views against involvement in the Vietnam War. He resisted the draft, pursued an acting career on television and movies, and, most notably, became involved with humanitarian causes around the world that involved children’s hospitals, disaster and famine relief, college funding for the underprivileged, racial injustice, and ambassador missions for the United Nations.

Following a lifetime of achievements both inside and outside the ring, Ali died on June 3, 2016, at the age of 74 from septic shock due to complications from a respiratory illness. His death followed a 30-year battle with Parkinson's disease.

The two stamps feature a 1974 Associated Press photo of Ali in a boxing stance with the name “ALI” in a black bold font below the photo on one stamp and the text in red above the photo on the other. “THE GREATEST” appears in the I of ALI along the right edge of the design on both stamps. USPS art director Antonio Alcala designed the stamps. …

Post offices wishing to hold an event for the Muhammad Ali stamps are required to use a pictorial dedication postmark consisting of a circular datestamp to the left of “MUHAMMAD” in a vertical bold font with “ALI” to the right in an outline font. “The word ‘Station’ or the abbreviation ‘STA’ is required somewhere in the design because it will be a temporary station,” the USPS said. “Use of any image other than the … special pictorial image is prohibited.”

Two pictorial first-day cancels for the Muhammad Ali issue are being offered by the Postal Service, one in black and the other in color. The black postmark is applied free, up to a quantity of 50, to most collector-submitted covers. There is a 5¢ charge for each additional postmark over 50.

The black postmark features the vertical text “MUHAMMAD” in a bold font to the left of “ALI” in a large, horizontal outline font. On the right are first-day details separated into three sections with two horizontal lines.

The color postmark features a variation of the same design, with “MUHAMMAD” to the far left and “ALI” to the far right, both in a solid red bold font. In the center is the first-day details with the same line-separated format used with the black-and-white version. The first-day details overlap part of the “A” in “ALI.”

The color postmark can be obtained by collectors on envelopes made from laser-safe paper. There is an order minimum of 10 envelopes with a fee of 50¢ per postmark.

Technical details and first-day cancel ordering information for the Muhammad Ali forever (78¢) stamps were not available at the time of publication. They will be presented in a future issue of Linn’s.

The Postal Bulletin provides additional ordering and production information. Both postmarks are also applied to first-day covers manufactured and sold by the Postal Service. All requests for the Muhammad Ali first-day cancels must be postmarked by May 15. Further Muhammad Ali issue products are available from the online USPS postal store at https://store.usps.com/ store/home.

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