An in-depth exploration of the pivotal Cassius Clay transformed into Muhammad Ali, exploring the events, relationship, and experiences that shaped him.
Although Muhammad Ali's decision to assume a new name has often been portrayed as a sudden transformation, Cassius Clay's conversion to Islam was a process, not an event. For many months he received guidance from Malcolm X, who had traveled from Harlem to Miami to be his mentor as he studied for his entry into the deeply divided and fratricidal Nation of Islam. The name he assumed over those now-forgotten months was Cassius X. This is the story of Cassius X over 12 months in Miami, a city that was changing faster than America itself, as he trains for the fight that will bring him global fame: his world heavyweight title fight against Sonny Liston in February 1964.