Muhammed Ali
...were complemented by his flashy flamboyant personality. It was his ability that
won him the heavy weight championship on three separate occasions, but only his "Float
like a butter fly sting like a bee" antics won him the title of the "people's champ"
("Ali" 2).
Born Cassius Clay Jr. on January 17, 1942 in Louisville Kentucky, he was far
from over privileged. His father Cassius Clay Sr., worked to support the family as a sign
and mural painter. His mother Odessa Clay, worked part time as a domestic. He
attended school at Duvalle middle school with his brother Rudolph Clay. After this, he
went on to high school at Central High in Louisville Kentucky. Though devoted fully to
nearly every aspect of life, he was a rather poor student. He blames this mostly to his
preoccupation with boxing. His studies in school reflected the fact that he started training
to be a boxer at a young age.
When Ali was a mere twelve years old, his bicycle was stolen from his home in
his criminally active neighbor hood in Louisville Kentucky. He reported the theft to a
near by police department, which appointed Joe Martin to handle his case. Joe Elsby Martin supervised the training of young boxers, and invited Ali to join the gym. He arranged for Ali to train with Fred Stoner who taught Ali the basics of moving with speed and grace. He motivated Ali to be like a dancer in the ring. Even at his young age, he was able to develop the skills needed to become a powerful yet skilled boxer.
Ali had a lot of success even in high school as an amateur. He claimed a victory
in 100 out of 108 matches. The hardware he collected was unheard of for someone his
age. He claimed six Kentucky and two National Golden Gloves championships. In
addition, on his way to greatness, he won two Amateur Union championships. His...
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