From Stolen Bike to Greatness

Muhammad Ali almost never became the greatest boxer of all time because of a stolen bicycle.

When Cassius Clay was twelve years old in Louisville, someone took his bike.

Furious and ready to fight, he found police officer Joe Martin who trained boxers.

Martin told him to learn how to fight first before looking for trouble. That moment changed

everything. Clay trained obsessively, won Olympic gold at eighteen, turned pro and shocked

the world by defeating Sonny Liston at twenty two. Then he converted to Islam,

changed his name to Muhammad Ali, and refused to fight in Vietnam. The government stripped

his title and banned him for three years during his prime. Everyone thought he was finished.