Muhammad Ali is no doubt one of the greatest boxers in history, the first fighter to win the world heavyweight championship on three separate occasions. In addition, he was known for his social message of black pride and black resistance to white domination and for refusing induction into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.
But perhaps not much is known by the majority of people how he suddenly took boxing as a profession. Muhammad Ali became a boxer because his bike was stolen. He told a policeman (also a boxing trainer) he wanted to “whup” whoever took it. At the age of 12, Mohammed Ali discovered his talent for boxing through an odd twist of fate. After his bike was stolen, Mohammed Ali told a police officer, Joe Martin, that he wanted to beat up the thief. “Well, you better learn how to fight before you start challenging people,” Martin reportedly told him at the time.
At an early age, young Mohammed Ali showed that he wasn’t afraid of any bout inside or outside of the ring. Soon Mohammed Ali started to learn how to spar and quickly began his boxing career from Martin, (trained young boxers at a local gym). In his first amateur bout in 1954, he won the fight by split decision. Mohammed Ali went on to win the 1956 Golden Gloves tournament for novices in the light heavyweight class.
Three years later, he won the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, as well as the Amateur Athletic Union’s national title for the light heavyweight division.
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