Cassius Clay is the protagonist of Becoming Muhammad Ali, which spans his life from ages 12 to 17 and illustrates the earliest and formative years of his boxing career. When the novel opens, Cassius already believes that he is destined to be “the greatest.” Boxing, over the course of the novel, becomes his means of achieving this goal. Becoming Muhammad Ali is framed by the first two national Golden Gloves championship in Chicago in which he participated, in 1958 and 1959. He loses in 1958, and the book flashes back to just before he began the sport.

Cassius lives in the West End neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky, with his family, and he contends daily with the racism toward people of color in the Jim Crow South. He knows that racism doesn’t make any sense and believes that everyone should be treated equally. However, he hears stories from his parents and his grandfather of the violence of racism, and Mrs. Clay warns him to be especially careful.

A key moment for Cassius is the theft of his red bicycle. The bicycle is a symbol of Cassius finally getting what he deserves when society has tried to pull him down, and its theft leaves Cassius angry.