Frank Carlson Library

In his own words, the heavyweight champion of the world pulls no punches as he chronicles the battles he faced in and out of the ring in this fascinating memoir edited by Nobel Prize-winning novelist, Toni Morrison.

Growing up in the South, surrounded by racial bigotry and discrimination, Ali fought not just for a living, but also for respect and rewards far more precious than money or glory. He was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated

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Joe Louis was born in a sharecropper's shack in Alabama and raised in a Detroit tenement. Max Schmeling grew up in poverty in Hamburg, Germany. For both boys, boxing was a way out and a way up. Little did they know someday they would face each other in a pair of battles that would capture the imagination of the world. In America, Joe was a symbol of hope to blacks yearning to participate in the American dream. In Germany, Max was made to symbolize...

From his childhoodd in the segregated South to his current fight with Parkinson's disease, Ali never backed down. He was banned from boxing during his prime because he refused to fight in Vietnam. He became a symbol of the antiwar movement - and a defender of civil rights. As "The Greatest," he was a boxer of undeniable talent and courage. He took the world by storm - only Ali could "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!" Muhammad Ali is...

"More words have been written about Muhammad Ali than almost anyone else. He was, without doubt, the world's most-loved sportsman. At the height of his celebrity he was the most famous person in the world. And yet, until now, the one voice missing belonged to the man who knew him best--his only sibling, and best friend, Rahaman Ali. No one was closer to Ali than Rahaman. Born Cassius and Rudolph Arnett Clay, the two brothers grew up together, lived...

Provides a biography of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, told as though happening in real time, discussing his rise to fame as a world heavyweight champion, personal hardships, including his refusal to be drafted during the Vietnam War, and legacy.