" He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

A source of inspiration for all the sportsmen, Ali’s life was full of challenges and adversities. He was a black born in America; he started fighting with people who bullied him when he was a child.
At the age of 12, when he was at the theatre someone stole his bike. After getting to know the culprit, he encountered him and got into a mess. The police officer handling the case suggested him to channelize his anger in boxing. From this point, his career in boxing started.  He always had a disturbed family life due to lack of time, but still succeeded as a boxer.
But the reason why he started to box is a very interesting one. When he was 12 years old, he and his friend had gone to the Columbia Auditorium to watch the Louisville Home Show where they were providing free hot dogs and popcorn for the visitors. When Ali and his friend finished eating and were planning to go back home, they found that Ali bicycle was missing. Ali was angry and went to report the crime to police officer Joe Martin who was also the boxing coach at the Columbia gym.

Ali said that he wanted to beat up the person who stole his bicycle. Joe martin saw the rawness and confidence in the small kid to fight even someone older than him. So he offered Ali a chance to practice at his gym. Ali started training six days a week at Martin’s gym and would wake up early in the morning to run and build his fitness. For a 12-year-old boy the amount of dedication and self-discipline that Ali had was unbelievable. Soon Ali began taking his diet seriously avoiding alcohol, cigarettes and the junk food he loved.

Ali became professional in 1960 and made his debut on October 29, 1960. He was the top dog in the sport and nobody could come close to beating him. Till the year 1967, he had won 29 matches in a row without losing even one. When he won the World Heavyweight Title in February 25, 1964 he was the youngest person to achieve this landmark. Soon after winning the championship, he changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali.

Now Ali was back in the ring but had lost out on the peak years of his boxing career. On the return he won in three rounds against JerryQuarry in October, 1970. But he did not have the same energy and speed in the boxing ring. He contested against Joe Frazier for the Heavyweight Title in what was called the Fight of the Century’. The fight lived upto its billing but Ali lost making the fight his first professional defeat. But in 1974, Ali came back to defeat Joe Frazier after a tough climb to the top.

Now he challenged the Heavyweight Title holder George Foreman in 1974. Ali was 32, and many considered Ali to be incapable to match Foreman’s heavy punches. But Ali made history when he won that fight and regained his Heavyweight Title. Ali’s popularity had reached the skies, wherever he fought there were record audiences who came to watch him destroy his opponents. But the was surprised when he was defeated by Leon Spinks who was just a new comer.