Black, Muslim and proud, Muhammed Ali won the heavyweight title three times and became a voice for black and white American youth. His father, Clay Senior, was a sign painter, while his mother, Odessa Grady Clay, was a household domestic.
Robbed of his bike in school, Cassius Clay started to box at 12. As a high school student, he won the national Golden Gloves middleweight championship in 1959 and 1960, and the AAU national light heavyweight title in 1960, then the light heavyweight gold medal at the Olympics. He had his first professional fight on 29 October, 1960.
