Following his 108-bout amateur career (which garnered him 100 victories, just one loss, national titles in both AAU and Golden Gloves competition and an Olympic gold medal) Clay set his sights on the heavyweight championship. Less than two months after the 1960 Olympics, Clay, still only 18, signed a professional contract with the Louisville Sponsoring Group, made up of 10 local businessmen. The group agreed to pay him $10,000 cash and a guaranteed $4,000 a year for two years. Any money Clay made above the guarantee would be split 50-50 with the sponsors, who agreed to take care of all travel and training expenses. In a prepared statement that called Cassius Clay "one of the nation's outstanding young athletes," the group summed up how Louisville felt about the fighter's amateur career, and the hopes it held for his future: "Each of the 10 members of the group has admiration for Cassius Clay as a fine young man and confidence in his ability as a boxer. The principal purpose of the group is to provide hometown support for Cassius' professional career and to aid him in realizing the maximum benefits from his efforts."