Cassius Clay’s Best Cards from the 1970’s
1970 Baggioli Caccia Al Campione
This eye-popping art deco style Italian card stands out in the crowd. So few of them exist, that they can be under appreciated when they surface. Based on pop reports and extremely limited sales data in recent years, it appears that the 1970 Baggioli Caccia Al Campione (printed in Italy) had an extremely low print run. All of these cards came with the redeemable tear off tab. They had a perforated edge on the tab to make it easy to remove and also had perforated edges around the round die cut image that allowed collectors to separate the disc from the original card. I have seen these cards graded as a whole card (with tab), a square card with tab removed, or the smaller disc version (probably most common). The most valuable version today is the untouched original form with redemption tab intact. There are only 7 copies of this card graded by PSA, with a PSA 8.5 representing the highest and best. Owners of the two PSA 8’s were sad to see that card added to the pop report from Italy this year.
1971 Chapitas Album El Galazo Del Ano #136
This impossibly rare album of 150 circular metal discs was produced in Uruguay around the time of the 1970 World Cup, and covers a variety of sports. I have seen photos of the album, and a number of other discs from the same set including Pele. I own a raw copy of this card and have seen a photo of at least one other Clay disc online. PSA would not grade mine due to lack of information about the set. Below is a look at the album cover.
1971 Panini Olympia #208 - Bisvalida Back
After a 2 year hiatus during Cassius Clay’s boxing license suspension, Panini brought him back to its 1971 Olympia set just in time for the Fight of the Century with Joe Frazier. This card is underrated by collectors in my opinion. The card really pops with the blue borders that match Clay’s outfit from his famous photo in the Olympic Village in 1960. The date on the card is also deceiving and I have seen several listings over the years try to portray this as a 1960 rookie card, which it obviously is not. Centering problems and chipping on the blue borders make this card very tough to find in high grade. There are also 3 back variations for Clay in this set. The standard and most common back has red text. There is a Brown Letter back that is about 2x as rare on the pop report than the Red Letter back and there is also a Bisvalida redemption back parallel, pictured here. Currently there are only 7 Bisvalidas on the PSA pop report with a PSA 8 representing the highest graded example.
1971 Barratt & Co - Goldflake Famous Sportsmen #24
In 1971 London’s Barratt & Co. Ltd released their 50 card “Famous Sportsmen” set which included Cassius Clay. It gained a reputation as one of the first cards to list Muhammad Ali on the card (although it was misspelled). We now know of several cards with Ali’s name referenced in earlier releases (first that I have seen is the 1967 Crack Figuritas Sport #149). I have seen countless examples of listings with this card referenced as a “rookie”. It is not. But it is a cool card with a completely unique image and it also appears to be the first (and only?) card of Clay that was used to sell a Tobacco product. The dimensions of these cards are noticeably smaller than today’s typical cards and the set also includes the first ever card of Jack Nicklaus (collectors seem to consider that and the 1973 Panini both as rookies for the Golden Bear). The pop counts of this set are much higher than any of Clay’s previous cards. In fact the total PSA population of this card represents about 1/2 of the total PSA population of all Cassius Clay’s 1960’s options. The 1971 Barratt & Co set is notorious for centering problems and PSA 9+ copies do command higher price tags. There do exist 3 PSA 10’s.
1973 Panini VIP OK #182 - Joe Frazier & Cassius Clay
The 1973 Panini VIP OK set was certainly eye catching. This album featured cartoon cards of famous actors, musicians, politicians and athletes (mostly soccer players). Other than the Pele card, this Joe Frazier - Cassius Clay card is by far the most popular. These are not terribly hard to find and appear to be one of the most actively traded Cassius Clay cards from the 1970’s. The significance of having Ali and Frazier on the same card is also fitting from the year 1973. Frazier beat Ali in their first meeting in the Fight of the Century in 1971 and gets first mention on this card. Ali won the Super Fight II in the year of this card’s release as well as their 3rd and final matchup; the Thrilla in Manila in 1975. These two boxers’ careers will forever be linked together and this is the first of many cards to feature them both in the years to come.
1975 Sprengel Huberty #25 - Clay vs Liston 1964
The 1975 Sprengel Huberty set from Germany had two Cassius Clay cards. These were printed on very thin stock, came with removable tabs on the bottom and are impossible to find in high grade. They are also oversized (similar to postcards). The in-fight action images of the two iconic fights is what is most unique and appealing about these cards. Card #25 shows Clay defeating Sonny Liston in their first fight in 1964 to become heavyweight champ for the first of 3 times. He would defeat Liston again in the 1st round of their rematch a year later with the “Phantom Punch”. Many believe that Liston threw that 2nd fight to settle debts with the mob.
1975 Sprengel Huberty #26 - Clay vs Frazier 1971
The 1975 Sprengel Huberty set from Germany had two Cassius Clay cards. These were printed on very thin stock, came with removable tabs on the bottom and are impossible to find in high grade. They are also oversized (similar to postcards). Card #26 shows Cassius Clay fighting Joe Frazier in their first fight, dubbed the Fight of the Century in 1971. Clay would lose in a 15 round decision after Frazier connected with a hard left hook in the final round for the only knockdown of the fight. It was Clay’s first professional loss and it is widely regarded as one of, if not the greatest fight of all time. Clay would be victorious in their next two meetings. The close-up action shot of this epic fight is probably the most impressive of any Cassius Clay trading card that I have seen.
1976 Panini Montreal #79
Panini went back to the well one more time with this famous headshot for their 1976 Montreal set. This time using a black and white image with a red border, which gives it a rather understated look (almost like a reprint of the 1966 Campioni Dello Sport). This card has a very low pop count of just 64, but it is one of Clay’s most affordable Panini releases. Unless it comes in a high grade. Panini still hadn’t fixed their centering issues by 1976, so this card is often found with a heavy left to right imbalance. There are only 5 PSA 9’s on the pop report and it has never received a Gem Mint grade. A Bruce Jenner rookie can also be found in this set.
1978 Swedish Samlarsaker #32 - Ali & Superman
The massive 1978 Swedish Samlarsaker set has 900+ cards and is mostly musicians. But it contains a wide variety of other pop culture, movie & tv stars and athletes. There are two Muhammad Ali cards in it. Card #46 contains an in-fight photo of Ali with Leon Spinks. Card #32 contains Ali and Superman. The image on this card ties in with a “Superman vs Muhammad Ali” comic book (seen below) which was also released this same year. It is a fun image to capture on a trading card. How can you not want to own a card featuring the Greatest Fighter and the Greatest Superhero of all-time. This set also contains several early release Star Wars cards and two Bob Marley cards which are recognized as his rookie(s).
1979 Venorlandus Ltd. Our Heroes World of Sport #3
In 1979 Venorlandus Ltd. released a cartoon image set of 48 different athletes. The set has several tennis, racing, and golfing cards including Jack Nicklaus. Card #3 features Muhammad Ali floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee. This image is fun and symbolic but this card is extremely common in comparison to the other Clay / Ali cards that preceded it. The total PSA pop count is over 1,400 and counting. The 158 PSA 10’s still easily fetch over $1,000 when they surface. PSA 9’s sell in the $150 range.