About This Book

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee... I’m the prettiest thing that ever lived!"

From the moment a fired-up teenager from Kentucky won 1960 Olympic gold to the day in 1996 when a retired legend, hands shaking from Parkinson’s, returned to raise the Olympic torch, the boxer known as "The Greatest" waged many a fight. Some were in the ring, against opponents like Sonny Liston and Joe Frazier; others were against societal prejudice and against a war he refused to support because of his Islamic faith. Charles R. Smith Jr.’s rap-inspired verse weaves and bobs and jabs with relentless energy, while Bryan Collier’s bold collage artwork matches every move — capturing the "Louisville loudmouth with the great gift of rhyme" who shed the name Cassius Clay to take on the world as Muhammad Ali.

A dynamic author-illustrator team follows the threetime heavyweight champ through twelve rounds of a remarkable life.

"This unique and thorough tribute to a complex American hero should readily enthrall those seeking a less conventional biography." — Publishers Weekly

A Coretta Scott King Honor Book