Pretend You are Ali

The names' Ali, or once known as "The Greatest". If you're wondering about my name, it was Cassius Marcellus Clay but later I changed it to Muhammad Ali. Many boxers change their names only theirs were meant for a nick name, mine was based on my beliefs. I went from a slave name to a Muslim one, even though not everyone agreed with me, it really wasn't their choice. I'll get into that in a moment.

I was born in Louisville, Kylon on the 17th of January, 1942. As a youngster I had problems in school, because I was a skinny, awkward little twerp. I knew that I had to do something different, but I just didn't know what. When I was about your age, I began my future career. Who would've thought that a stolen bike was the key to the beginning of my story? But it was, in 1954 in Louisville, Kentucky, I had my bike stolen.

English: Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentuc...

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I was so upset. So when I found a cop in a gym, Joe Martin, I told him that I was going to "whup" whoever stole my bike. So the surprised Martin told me, "You better learn to box first." I was a very determined, dedicated, and ambitious one, who by the way didn't smoke or drink, and that many might have said was what made me better then others. The boxing was when it all started, it was the beginning of the adventure of my life. Within weeks, 89-pound me had a first win!

Now, I don't want to share too much of my past, because to me present is more important. So to sum it all up, what set me apart from the other boys was two things: one, I was weak and two, I outworked all the...