Did Muhammad Ali get his bike back?

You can understand why Ali would think of throwing his gold medal in the river. As he said he came back from the Olympics as hero, Went to the White House had dinner with the President. Two weeks later he was refused service in a Louisville Diner because of his skin color

 

So, what are you saying, C.J.? Did he do it or not?

 

He must not have known whose bike he stole. Otherwise you gotta come collect your 15 minutes of fame, maybe get paid for an exhibition!

Either that, or it was Angelo Dundee/Budini the whole time.

 

And I thought it was the Butler the whole time, Good Golly Miss Molly, yikes. Lol.

 

Imagine some elderly retired respected family man in Kentucky having a stolen bike from his misspent youth not being able to have some fame with Ali’s bike cause he’d have to admit t

 

I guess that should be a lesson to kids that if you go around stealing things you might miss out on your chance to meet a legend.

 

No doubt in my mind that this story is true.
Somwhere in Kentucky shortly after the young Cassius Clay became known an erstwhile bike thief would think of the bike he'd stolen several years before,after reading Cassius' story and think to himself "WHAT" ?

 

Always thought both stories about his bike being stolen and him tossing his medal into the river were true .... What's the point of lying about your bike being stolen lol

 

I believe the bike story. Why would he go to Joe Martin a policeman at the time crying if he lied. Joe Martin himself repeated this story. Someone pointed young Cassius to the gym where Martin trained fighters to report the theft to him. As for the medal some reports were that he simply lost it

 

If I had a lower IQ I could enjoy this thread

 

The bike story was true. The gold medal story came much, much later and was likely a story concoted by the Nation of Islam after Ali joined them and Ali 'throwing it away" became part of the myth they built.

The more likely story was the gold medal, too, was stolen. The story I've heard often was Bundini took the gold medal and sold it. Bundini was always stealing from Ali when Bundini needed money. He'd get kicked out of camp. Then he'd return crying and sorrowful. Nobody wanted him back. Ali would let him return. Then he'd steal something and get kicked out again. It went on like that for almost two decades. Most of the people around Ali after 1964 - aside from a handful of boxing guys - were felons or served time. Lots of people came and went. And when the Nation of Islam splintered and Malcolm X took some people with him, and people started getting shot and blown up, things like a gold medal laying around a house could easily disappear (since it wasn't nailed down or in a safety deposit box where most athletes keep them).

 

I understand and read that Bundini Brown had also pawned Ali's championship belt while they were estranged.

 

I agree. One of the dumbest things I've ever seen on this forum and that says A LOT.

 

After Ali's bike was stolen, he reported it to Police Officer Joe Martin, who taught boxing, the rest is history.

 

It is one thing to speculate that someone made up a story that was colorful for fun & self promotion.
It is another thing to accuse that person, a child, of having stolen a bicycle without any evidence.

Since there is no evidence of him aving committed any crimes, even as a child, is this not unfair, like if someone did the same to you, & just bias (at least against Ali personally) & hate?