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In 1954, 12-year-old Muhammad Ali’s Schwinn parked outside the Spalding University gym was stolen. He told the gym owner/police officer that he was going to “whup” the thief and the trainer replied he should first learn how to box. Ali began training there, a rare place where black and white men worked out together, and it was home to some of his first matches.
But before knocking out opponents, Muhammad Ali worked checking out books to patrons at the university’s library. A nun from the adjacent convent recalled seeing him moving spasmodically in the stacks. Turns out he was shadowboxing!
– Eve Lederman, The 100 Companies