Family Lore Fact-Check: Finding The Teen Muhammad Ali 'Boxed Along The Way'
For years, Miriam Colvin's grandfather told the story of a boxing match between a young Indiana farm boy and a 14-year-old kid from Kentucky — named Cassius Clay. But was the story true?
Every family has that story you've heard a thousand times. It's swapped at family reunions, over holidays or at birthday parties. Sometimes the edges change, or details get added, but the shape of the story is always there — that one persistent detail that always gets the reaction.
For Miriam Colvin, the story was about a boxing match: A young farm boy from Indiana facing off against a 14-year-old kid from Kentucky. There was a broken three-legged stool. The farm boy was wearing swim trunks and a tank top. Or was it tights and military boots? The details weren't the point. The point was.
