--- title: Muhammad Ali: How His Boxing Career Began description: The boxing career of Muhammad Ali, who died Friday at the age of 74, began when he was just a 12-year-old whose bike had been stolen canonical: https://time.com/4357595/muhammad-ali-dead-career-beginning/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-04T17:45:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:23:35.030Z article:section: History og:title: How Muhammad Ali First Got in the Ring og:description: It began with a stolen bicycle og:url: https://time.com/4357595/muhammad-ali-dead-career-beginning/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt226ecf49a8253883/6988966e5f570f171bb2134b/muhammad-ali-johansson.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Cassius Clay & Johansson og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Muhammad Ali First Got in the Ring twitter:description: It began with a stolen bicycle twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt226ecf49a8253883/6988966e5f570f171bb2134b/muhammad-ali-johansson.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Muhammad Ali First Got in the Ring  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jun 4, 2016 5:45 PM UTC  Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) gives an assist to heavyweight challenger Ingemar Johansson before going a couple of rounds as his sparring partner for Johansson's upcoming title fight with Floyd Patterson, Catskills, New York, 1961. Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) gives an assist to heavyweight challenger Ingemar Johansson before going a couple of rounds as his sparring partner for Johansson's upcoming title fight with Floyd Patterson, Catskills, New York, 1961.Underwood Archives/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jun 4, 2016 5:45 PM UTC The [boxing career of Muhammad Ali](http://time.com/muhammad-ali-dead/?xid=homepage), who [died Friday](http://time.com/3646214/muhammad-ali-dead-obituary/) at the age of 74, began when he was just a 12-year-old whose bike had been stolen. Ali—then Cassius Clay—first appeared on the cover of TIME on March 22, 1963\. That [cover story](http://time.com/3537815/muhammad-ali-dead-the-dream/) detailed his rise from kid dreamer to boxing great, a trajectory that arguably began when he became the proud owner of a shiny $60 bicycle and pedaled to a fair at the Columbia Gym in [downtown Louisville, Ky](http://time.com/4357573/muhammad-ali-louisville-vigil/?xid=homepage). --- > “” --- Ali soon began more rigorous training, jumping rope for hours to toughen his legs and hitting heavy punching bags to strengthen his swing. He practiced in front of a mirror to improve his reflexes. “On weekends, he wandered about like a nomad, taking on all comers in amateur tournaments all across the U.S.,” TIME wrote. One day in February 1961—before he was considered serious boxing competition—Ali was in Miami, where Swedish boxer Ingemar Johansson was training. Ali asked Johansson, who had won the 1959 heavyweight title, if he could “spar a little” with him, TIME wrote. As Ali began to “dance rings around Johansson,” the boxing champ grew angry. “What does this kid do?” he asked. “Ride a bicycle ten miles a day?” Read the complete story here: [Muhammad Ali: The Dream](http://time.com/3537815/muhammad-ali-dead-the-dream/) _For much more on Muhammad Ali, see TIME’s_ ALI: The Greatest_, a 112-page, fully illustrated commemorative edition. Available at retailers and at_ [_AMAZON.COM_](http://amzn.to/1rbALvP) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4357595/muhammad-ali-dead-career-beginning/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4357595/muhammad-ali-dead-career-beginning/"},"headline":"How Muhammad Ali First Got in the Ring","datePublished":"2016-06-04T17:45:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:23:35.030Z","description":"It began with a stolen bicycle","url":"https://time.com/4357595/muhammad-ali-dead-career-beginning/","keywords":["Sports topic","remembrance","Muhammad Ali"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt226ecf49a8253883/6988966e5f570f171bb2134b/muhammad-ali-johansson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt226ecf49a8253883/6988966e5f570f171bb2134b/muhammad-ali-johansson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Cassius Clay & Johansson","caption":"Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) gives an assist to heavyweight challenger Ingemar Johansson before going a couple of rounds as his sparring partner for Johansson's upcoming title fight with Floyd Patterson, Catskills, New York, 1961.","creditText":"Underwood Archives/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4357595/muhammad-ali-dead-career-beginning/","name":"How Muhammad Ali First Got in the Ring"}}]}] ```