> Dennis, I recently read Ali's autobiography and wanted to ask what
> you knew about something he mentioned. He says that the legend about
> the policeman who taught him to box after his bike was stolen is true
> as far as it goes, but that he really learned at a black run gym in
> Louisville, where he went without the policeman knowing because he
> would have been barred from the white gym otherwise.
>
> Do you know more of that part of the story?
Alas, I don't. My knowledge of Ali's early years is sketchy, but your Ali quote rings true, from what I have read about his youth. My interest in Ali began with his post-Olympic/early-pro career, when A.J Liebling first wrote about how his fists stung like bees. Then came Liston, The Hon. Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, the draft, banishment, then the Big Return. That's the Ali I know best.
Dennis