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Muhammad Ali's Aged
Twelve
A 16x20 Inch Black & White Photograph
from muhammad ali's childhood. It was at twelve years of
age that Muhammad Ali became interested in boxing. His bicycle
was stolen and he reported the theft to the nearest policeman,
Joe Martin, who happened to be a boxing coach. The officer
Joe Martin asked Muhammad Ali if he could fight, and Ali
said no, so Martin invited him to come to the gym and learn
how to box, so he could get pay back on the bicycle thief.
Signed Muhammad Ali in Blue Sharpie. Nice clear Signature.
MUHAMMAD ALI
£1,495.00
On an October afternoon in 1954, a 12-year-old Muhammad Ali
attended an annual convention of the Louisville Service Club
at the Columbia Auditorium with a friend. He arrived at the
black merchant bazaar upon a new $60 red and white Schwinn.
However, after Muhammad Ali and his friend indulged themselves
with free popcorn and ice cream they left the auditorium to
find that their bicycles had been stolen. A tearful Ali was
directed to the basement of the auditorium where a policeman
was manning the boxing gym.
Joe Martin listened to young Ali boast about
a statewide hunt for his precious bike and heard the threats
he was making to the thief if he was ever caught. After
a while, Martin asked of Ali, “Well, do you know how
to fight?” Ali quipped back, “No, but I’d
fight anyway.” Martin’s best advice to the hot-tempered
preteen was to come back around the gym and learn to fight.
“Why don’t you learn something about fighting,”
Martin suggested, “before you go and make any hasty
challenges?”
Young Muhammad Ali dedicated himself to boxing
with fervor unmatched by other young boxers. Indeed, it
was his only activity. As a teenager, he never worked. He
boxed and trained. He had 108 amateur bouts. According to
Joe Martin, Ali set himself apart from the other boys by
two things: He was "sassy," and he outworked all
the other boys.
