English 9H- Period 3
22 April 2011
Ferocious Elegance
How would you classify a legend? Can it be one of true power and ability? Greatness can be deemed to those who own a true ability that makes them superior to others. Greatness was a young Cassius Clay who took a path of disciplined violence at an early age. Greatness is a man that dares to carry the name of famed, inspirational figure. Greatness is a soul whose potent actions leave a mark in the hearts of a growing generation. This man's bold, fearless nature has allowed him to shape his legacy through a fighting career and impact the feuding issues of our modern society. Greatness is all of these things. Greatness is Muhammad Ali.
Before his remarkable career, the man we know today was first known as Cassius Marcellus Clay Junior. Clay had the desire to fight at such a young age which ultimately allowed him to step foot in the fast-paced world of boxing. Ali had stated that his initial motivation to fight was when someone had stolen his bicycle (Myers 5). Enraged, the young fighter vowed to punish the thief. The officer who he had reported the incident to led him to boxing trainer, Joe Martin. The amateur slugger wasted no time jumpstarting his career. Clay had taken the gold medal in the light heavyweight division of the 1960 Summer Olympics in Italy's capital (Hauser, "Muhammad Ali"). As more victories had stacked, the up and coming fighter took on more serious matters and entered a professional boxing career.
The professional world that the boxer dove into seemed to adapt to him, rather than he adapting to it. A streak of W's lit up his global profile and he became an eye-catcher in every moment he had stridden into...