A graduate of Harvard Business School, Keith Clinkscales served as the CEO of REVOLT for more than 3 years. He has since focused on his position as founder and CEO at Shadow League Digital (SLD), a content creation company he established over 8 years ago. Through his business, Keith Clinkscales has produced and co-produced a number of sports documentaries, including the “Muhammad Ali 70 Special” in 2012.
Despite Muhammad Ali’s popularity and impact within the sports world, there are many unique facts about him that many people don’t know. Here are just a few examples:
He got into boxing because of a bike.
When Muhammad Ali was 12 years old, his beloved Schwinn bicycle was stolen. The theft was reported to Joe Martin, a police officer in Louisville, Kentucky, and Ali vowed to pummel the thief once found. Upon hearing this, Martin, a boxing trainer, recommended that the youth learn to fight, and agreed to take Ali under his wing.
He dodged rocks to improve his speed.
According to Ali’s younger brother, the boxing star would frequently ask his sibling to throw rocks at him. These rocks helped Ali work on his speed. He became so adept at dodging them that his brother reported never being able to hit Ali, regardless of how many rocks he threw.
He was terrified of flying.
In 1960, Muhammad Ali flew to Rome to compete in that year’s Olympic games. While he ultimately earned a gold medal for light-heavyweight boxing, Ali was so scared of the plane that he wore a parachute during the entire flight.
He was also a singer and actor.
Although Muhammad Ali is best known as a boxer (and perhaps as a poet), he was also a singer and Broadway actor for a time. He released the album I Am The Greatest in 1963, and starred in Buck White, a Broadway musical that ran for only 5 nights.
Keith Clinkscales 