“It doesn?t matter what happens inside the ring; what matters is what you do outside the ring?
The first time I met The Greatest of All Time?Muhammad Ali?I didn?t know who he was.
I was 6-years-old and living in East Los Angeles, a tough neighborhood plagued by gang violence, with my family in a small apartment. My parents decided it would be good for me to visit the local youth gym to keep me out of trouble and off the streets.
The gym wasn?t even really a gym but rather an old church with the pews removed. The boxing ring was positioned in the same place where the altar for worship once stood.
Ali didn?t say anything to us that day when he walked into the gym. He was alone and dressed in a sweatsuit for training that was fashioned from plastic, carrying a small gym bag. He went to the corner, wrapped his hands and quietly began training. We watched in awe as this towering man went from shadow boxing, to the speed bag, to the heavy bag. Suddenly, he stopped and called out to us: ?All you kids! Get over here. I have something to tell you.?
All of us were wide-eyed, not knowing who this man was and what he was going to say. We crowded around him and listened intently.
?Kids, listen to me. It?s good to want to be a champion. I know that?s why you are here and why you work hard. But, never forget: It doesn?t matter what happens inside the ring; what matters is what you do outside the ring.?
