Cassius Clay, who changed his name to Muhammad Ali after winning the world heavyweight title in 1964, was 12 years old when he got ready to "whup" the boy who stole his bicycle in his hometown in Kentucky. But a local cop warned him that he would need to learn to box first. A few weeks later, he had his first fight - and his first win.
Once, Ali was asked how many children he had. "One boy," he replied, "and seven errors."*
卡修斯．克萊一九六四年贏得世界重量級拳王名銜之後，易名穆罕默德．阿里。他十二歲時，在肯塔基州故鄉，因腳踏車給一個男童偷去，準備「教訓」那男童。但當地一名警察叫他先學拳擊。幾個星期之後，他打了一生第一場架，也贏得第一次勝利。
有人曾問阿里共有多少個兒女。他說：「一個男孩，以及七個錯誤。」*
*阿里稱女兒為「錯誤」，無疑重男輕女，使人想到清朝《嘻笑錄》卷上的「恭喜也罷」故事。話說三戶人家同居一院子，左右兩家同時生了孩子，居中那一家的戶主問左鄰是生男還是生女，聽見生了兒子，就說：「恭喜！」他又問右鄰，聽見生了女兒，就說：「也罷！」右鄰很不高興，那戶主也自覺失言，剛巧外面有個官太太坐轎經過，靈機一觸，說道：「你們看，這不是四個恭喜擡着一個也罷嗎？」和阿里的「錯誤」相比，「也罷」這稱呼應算較為「厚道」。