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Who would have thought that a stolen bike would be the first step in creating the greatest heavyweight boxing champion of all time?
In 1954, 12-year-old Cassius Marcellus Clay's new red and white bike was stolen while he and a friend were at the Columbia Auditorium in Louisville, Kentucky. Young Cassius, sobbing, found a policeman and-boiling with youthful rage-announced that he was going to "whup" whoever stole his bike. The policeman happened to be Joe Martin, who trained young boxers in a local gym. Martin admonished young Clay that if he wanted to fight someone, "you better learn to box first."
Within weeks, 89-pound Cassius had his first bout, and his first win. The remarkably quick and diligent young athlete had found his calling. For the next 27 years of amateur and professional boxing, and even today as a training regime, Ali has never been far from a boxing ring.
Even in his early years, he had dreams of being heavyweight champion of the world. But his life would take turns that no seer could have predicted. From the controversy he sparked in and out of the ring, to his brief exile from the sport he loved, to a miraculous comeback, and finally to his retirement from the ring as a living legend � Ali has always surprised, always surpassed expectations.
Through it all, the Greatest of All Time has never backed down from a challenge. He has always found a way to overcome adversity, and to grow in that process.
A young boy in 1954 lost his bike. And boxing found its greatest champion.
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