Ali and the Fifth Street Gym

Cassius Clay points to a sign he wrote on a chalk board in his dressing room before his fight against Archie Moore in Los Angeles, on Nov. 15, 1962, predicting he'd knock Moore out in the fourth round, which he went on to do. AP Photo/Harold P. Matosian

(Adapted from “It Happened in Miami, the Magic City: An Oral History” by Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer)

With the passing of one of our all-time favorites, with affection for Muhammad Ali and his memory, we proudly present this excerpt.

“Cassius Clay was born in Louisville. But Muhammad Ali was born in Miami.”—Ferdie Pacheco

DAVE ROGERS: The Fifth Street Gym on Fifth Street and Washington Avenue was iconic. People came there from all walks of life. There was no air conditioning. It was musty. It smelled of sweat—boxers sweat. There was a back room with a bed and mattress, a place where the boxers would shower, towel off.

BERNIE ROSEN: There was no elevator. You had to walk up two flights of steps to the first floor. Sitting right there at a table would be Chris Dundee who ran the gym. He used to charge 25 cents to let people in to see the fighters train. If he knew you, you paid nothing.

LUISTA PACHECO: I remember one guy didn’t want to pay the quarter because, he said, he was the press.

“Press my pants,” he was told.

Muhammad Ali punches the heavy bag in one of his daily workouts at Miami on Jan. 10, 1964. AP Photo