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Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. was born on January 17, 1942. One day, when he was 12, his bicycle got stolen. Frustrated, he said to the police officer, Joe Martin, who was also a boxing coach, that if he ever found the kid who stole his bike, he would shred him to pieces, Joe responded by saying that he should learn how to beat someone up. Joe invited Cassius to his gym. Instantly he wanted to be a boxer. His mom, Odessa, thought that boxing was a better pastime than hanging out with other kids. He graduated out of high school with a D minus average. Before turning professional, he represented the U.S at the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960. He won the gold medal. He paired up with trainer Angelo Dundee, and turned professional. He won his first heavyweight championship against Sonny Liston. Later, Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali, and switched his religion to Islam. He became a member of the Nation of Islam, a Muslim religious group. In August, 1964, Muhammad and Sonji Roy got married. At that time, the Vietnam War started. Ali held the draft status 1-A which meant that he was eligible to be drafted into the army. Ali was denied exemption from the draft. He refused to join the armed forces in any way due to his religion. Ali was prosecuted for draft evasion and found guilty. He was stripped of his boxing championship.
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