Olympic Champion, Wooden Shadow Box with Autographed Glove

The Story

In the summer of 1952, The Greatest of All Time’s boxing career began with his red Schwinn bicycle was stolen at a local Louisville convention center. He happened to wander into a nearby gym and found a local policeman who trained young fighters. The sobbing, skinny 12 year old claimed he wanted to “whup whoever stole my bike.”

Just eight years later, on August 25, 1960, Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. stood on a winner’s platform in Rome, Italy. Barely 18 years old, the youngster from Louisville, Ky had just become Olympic Light Heavyweight Gold Medalist.

in the gold medal bout, 3-time European champion Pietrzykowski of Poland began by punishing him badly. Clay stormed back with a firestorm of combinations that left the Pole slumped against the ropes, defeated.

Three and a half years later, Clay upset Sonny Liston to become Heavyweight Champion of the World. Immediately following that fight, he changed his name to Muhammad Ali.

On the gold medal stand in 1960, his future was still undefined. The young champ’s face reflects the feelings of an Olympic teammate: “Back then an amateur was an amateur. We weren’t fighting to form a professional career. We were fighting for pride.”

Sports Illustrated praised his “supreme confidence” and “intricate dance steps.” Clay was special, but still just one of many amateurs with potential. The photo in “Olympic Champion I,” was taken by Marvin Newman for Sports Illustrated, but never ran the magazine.