Becoming Muhammad Ali

The novel opens with Lucius (“Lucky”), Cassius Clay’s best friend, declaring that he “remember[s] everything. You probably would have too. That night was a piece of American history” (1). It is February 1958, and Lucky is waiting to hear from Cassius, who is in Chicago, fighting for a championship at the Golden Gloves boxing tournament. Cassius is 16.

Cassius has won a lot of fights in Louisville, Kentucky, his hometown, but the Chicago Golden Gloves is an important tournament. All of his supporters are confident that he will win, and Lucky joins them in a packed room in the Clay household.

Mrs. Clay brags about her son, explaining that “Cassius always told her he was bound to be the greatest—with a capital G—and she believed it with all her heart” (4). Everyone did.

The phone rings, and Cassius recounts the fight.

The perspective and form switch, as Cassius Clay recounts the night through poems.

A reporter asks Cassius if he thinks he’s as good as two other famous boxers, Joe Louis and Sugar Ray. Cassius responds, “I don’t think / I’m as good, / I’m BETTER” (5). The poem moves down along the page, accelerating in tempo as Cassius describes how fast he is in the ring.