Description:
While still a teenager, Cassius Clay approached trainer Angelo Dundee and asked for the chance to spar with one of his professional boxers. The 17-year-old entered the ring with Willie Pastrano and quickly outboxed him. Clay went on to win the Olympic gold medal in Rome. Three months later, Clay moved to Miami to train with Dundee. Flip Schulke was an up-and-coming photographer on assignment with Sports Illustrated and Life. He went to Miami to cover this upstart boxer. Shulke took to Clay immediately: "I fell in love with the guy the minute I met him. He was so much fun." The result was a series of photographs taken over three extended periods. Muhammad Ali: The Birth of a Legend includes dozens of these photos of the young Clay--including the famous underwater shots first published in Life. Shulke captures the boyish Clay and his bright, broad smile as well as his serious shift to the Muslim faith and his name change to Muhammad Ali. He also sheds light on the pervasive racism Ali endured: though he had won a medal for the United States, he was not allowed to try on a shirt in a Miami department store. ("Once in a while, [Blacks] could try a jacket on because they can slip that on over a shirt. But a shirt's against your skin.") The accompanying text by Matt Schudel features lengthy reminiscences from Schulke about his encounters with Ali. A warm and fitting tribute to The Greatest. --Sunny Delaney
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