125 pages • 4 hours read
James Patterson, Kwame AlexanderBecoming Muhammad Ali
Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Middle Grade | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Round 6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Round 6, Introduction Summary
Cassius always dreamed big, Lucky explains, still addressing the reader. He remembers how, when they were children listening to President Eisenhower on the radio, Cassius envisioned himself as president, “[n]ot just the best; the most beautiful one!” (167). Lucky thinks that Cassius really believed this, despite the fact that it was difficult for African Americans to vote, let alone become president.
Most of the time, Cassius was filled with cocky confidence, but Lucky explains that occasionally Cassius would worry. When Cassius was about to have his first fight, he pretended he was unafraid, but Lucky could tell when he was acting. His act, Lucky posits, was to make him believe it too.
Cassius was not the biggest kid in the gym. He was likely going to get beaten up sometimes. His boxing gloves looked huge on his skinny arms, and he even confided to Lucky once that he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to keep his arms up because the gloves were so heavy.
They were both afraid that his dreams wouldn’t come true.
Round 6, Poem 76 Summary: “Distance”
Cassius has known Riney and Lucky since grade school. He now sees Lucky only on the weekends or after school because Lucky goes to a Catholic school.
Round 6, Poem 77 Summary: “Conversation with Lucky”
In a dialogue at the gym, Cassius asks if Lucky likes his new school, and he says it’s fine, adding that he may skip a grade. He wants to go to Bellarmine College to study journalism. Cassius wants to go to the Olympics. First, however, he must win the Golden Gloves. Boxing is his path to fame.
Joe Martin tells Cassius that he needs to focus on his practice. At the end of the chapter, Martin asks him, “What’s the best way to make a dream come true?” (174).
Round 6, Poem 78 Summary: “Only Way”
Martin explains that the only way to make a dream come true is to work hard. They practice together, with Cassius doing jabs and crosses. Martin tells him to talk less.
Round 6, Poem 79 Summary: “Roadwork”
Cassius runs in addition to doing practice inside the gym. Martin recommends this, explaining that a fight is “like a short marathon” (176). Running helps build up endurance. It also strengthens Cassius’s lungs and legs so that he can get up round after round after round in the ring.
Round 6, Poem 80 Summary: “Chickasaw Park”
Rudy and Cassius run almost every day before school, starting at 4:30 in the morning. They run through Greenwood Cemetery, avoiding white neighborhoods, and then they go through Chickasaw Park three times.
When they arrive home, Cassius’s mother is headed off to work.
Round 6, Poem 81 Summary: “Conversation with Bird”
Mrs. Clay thinks that Cassius is crazy for waking up early and running each day, but he tells her that it’s a small price to pay for being the champion. When she asks how long he’s going to do this, he responds, “Until I’m a beast in the east, and the best in / the west […] I’m gonna be heavyweight / champion of the WORLD…” (180). He wants to buy her a big house, like the one she cleans for rich families.
Bird reminds him that that she takes pride in her work. Cassius replies that he takes pride in boxing too, in “being the Greatest” (181). He sees the sport as a way of getting everything they want. When she tries to quote the Bible, Cassius responds that the Bible didn’t help him and Rudy when it came to folks keeping them out of places because they’re Black, adding that “I’m just saying, I don’t need church to tell me / what I already know” (181). He tells her that he’s listening to Granddaddy Herman in knowing who and whose he is.
His mother makes him promise that he’ll read the Bible, go to school, and not get injured. He asks her if she wants to hear the poem he’s been working on for when he wins at the Olympics.
Round 6, Poem 82 Summary: “My Victory Speech”
Cassius recites his poem for the Olympics, telling his story as though it is a legend. He imagines recounting the story of his win, being stronger than his opponent and surprising those who discounted him. He ends by saying. “I’m the greatest, you have been told. / Now, hand me my Olympic Gold” (183).
Round 6, Poem 83 Summary: “Craps”
After last period at school, Cassius, Riney, Rudy, and Big Head Paul spy on older students gambling with dice and playing craps behind the school. Cassius makes the sound of a police car. The other boys scatter, dropping their coins. Cassius and his friends run over and grab them.
Round 6, Poem 84 Summary: “We Take”
They take the money and go to Rainbow. Cassius eats a second raw onion because his father told him that they make his bones stronger and improve his digestion.
Round 6, Poem 85 Summary: “Regimen”
Cassius keeps a regular boxing schedule each week, moving from jogging to speed bags to weightlifting, from sparring to doing heavy bag. He’s frustrated that Joe Martin won’t let him fight on Tomorrow’s Champions.
Round 6, Poem 86 Summary: “Conversation with Joe Martin”
A year has passed since Cassius first started boxing with Joe Martin. He is anxious to box in a televised fight. Joe asks Cassius how many sit-ups he’s done that day and then tells him that he can box when he can do five sets of 20 sit-ups and 100 lunges. He also wants Cassius to stop joking around.
Cassius feels like the finish line keeps moving, with Martin coming up with new goals for him to reach. He insists that he’s ready, saying he can win any fight in the ring. Martin tells him, “The fight is won before you get in the ring” (187). Cassius is confused, but Martin goes on to say that he needs to strengthen both his body and his mind. He also needs to hold his fists up to protect his head.
Feeling like he’s fast enough, Cassius replies that his feet will protect him. He’s “got music in / my soul, and rhythm in my sole,” suggesting that they put some Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley music on (188). When Joe asks if he’s a dancer or a boxer, Cassius responds that he might be both.
Round 6, Poem 87 Summary: “The First Time”
Cassius recounts his first experience facing an opponent in the ring. Caden Wilkinson is 16, and he nearly breaks Cassius’s nose, bruising his jaw in the process. Cassius nearly passes out, but Martin puts a stop to the fight.
Martin tells him to keep his fists up, but Cassius says little.
Round 6, Poem 88 Summary: “Sunday”
Cassius isn’t allowed to box on Sundays, and Bird catches him. She sends both of her sons to get their hair cut at their Aunt Coretta’s. He shadowboxes all the way to the church, then goes to Sunday school. The teacher offers five dollars to anyone who can recite the most Bible verses.
Round 6, Poem 89 Summary: “Love”
Riney and Teenie remember the most verses, but ultimately Teenie wins when Riney can’t remember the last word of “And now these three remain: / faith, hope, and love. / But the greatest of the these / is…” (192).
When Teenie collects her winnings, she blows a kiss toward Riney, and Cassius begrudgingly admits that he is jealous.
Round 6, Poem 90 Summary: “Conversation with Rudy”
On their father’s birthday, Cassius convinces Rudy to practice with him. Cassius asserts that champions have to practice on birthdays and holidays. When Rudy replies that they’re already champions, Cassius says, “Yet. Starts in your mind, Rudy. Believe it” (193).
Coach Martin comes up, suggesting that they call Rudy “the Louisville Lip.” He asks if Ronnie O’Keefe intimidates Cassius, who doesn’t know who the other boy is. Martin reveals that O’Keefe is Cassius’s opponent, whom he will face on the following Saturday in a televised fight.
Round 6, Poem 91 Summary: “Cassius Clay vs. Ronnie O’Keefe”
On November 12, 1954, Cassius squares off in his first fight to be aired on TV. The two boys come out hard, jabbing at one another. Cassius uses his speed to dodge, and a mix of punches and dodges marks the first and second rounds. At the end of the third round, Cassius gets a series of hits in, sending Ronnie into the ropes. His father, uncles, and brother yell for a knockout, but the final bell rings before Cassius can knock the other boy out.
However, he still wins his debut fight.
Round 6, Poem 92 Summary: “Promotional Tour”
Cassius’s father tells Cassius that he’ll drive him around the city to promote his next fight, but he doesn’t come home the night before he promised to go. The truck also has two flat tires.
Instead, Cassius goes off himself with Rudy and Riney in tow, bragging to those they meet that Cassius will win his next fight.
Round 6, Poem 93 Summary: “Introducing Me”
The poem lets Cassius boast, and he announces the ways that he’ll defeat his opponent. For those who come in cocky, he’ll box the smile off them in one round. For those who stay close, Cassius will use jabs to defeat them in two rounds. He emphasizes that everyone should bet on him because “ain’t no way / he’s lasting for three” rounds (201).
Round 6 Analysis
Cassius starts boxing in earnest with Joe Martin in this section, and he finds that he must work hard to succeed. Despite thinking right away that he is ready to get in the ring, his fight with Caden Wilkinson shows him that he really will have to “put in the work,” as Martin tells him (175). Cassius believes that he can accomplish his dreams, and he wants to prove that he can be the greatest, as he emphasizes to Lucky, saying that “[t]hese fists of fury will be my claim to fame. / Kings and queens will know my name” (172). It is reminiscent of the feeling of invincibility Cassius experienced when he first got on his bike. Boxing has essentially replaced Cassius’s bike; the bicycle has served its purpose.
Beginning his boxing career puts Cassius on a path to Become the Greatest and Overcome Oppression because it becomes his primary tool of doing so. Cassius sees himself as the hero of his story, one who wants to be the “winner against all odds, no matter what” (169). Because of his race, the odds really are stacked against Cassius. Black boxers like Jack Johnson frequently fought against those deemed the “Great White Hope,” a title given to any white boxer of skill when he went up against a Black competitor. Society roots against the person of color, making it even more difficult for Cassius to succeed in comparison with his white peers. Perhaps remembering Granddaddy Herman’s advice that Cassius will have to “work twice as hard to get half as far / as the rest of these folks out here,” Cassius knows that he will always be the underdog, especially when facing white opponents (67).
Odessa wants Cassius to know whose he is, speaking to the theme of Remembering Who You Are and Where You Came From, and she requires that her sons go to church each Sunday. Faith is an important part of her life, and while Cassius does not seem to take it seriously as a young man, his faith proves an important of his adult life. The importance of faith ultimately manifests in Cassius’s decision to join the Nation of Islam and change his name to Muhammad Ali.
The theme of Public and Private Personas also appears in Cassius’s struggles to keep his fists up. He confides to Lucky that he worries he wouldn’t be able to keep the heavy boxing gloves up by his face, and Joe Martin frequently has to remind Cassius to hold his hands up. This flaw in Cassius’s boxing is especially evident in his first fight against Wilkinson, in which he is nearly knocked out.
This section also emphasizes the motif of rhythm and music. Despite Cassius’s struggles keeping his fists up, he dances around the ring, saying that “I got music in / my soul, and rhythm in my sole” (188). He asks for two Black musicians, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry, to be played in the gym, wanting to see African American representation in the music played around him. Furthermore, the rhythm of his boxing echoes the importance of rhythm in a novel in verse, and so it makes sense that Cassius would tell his own story rhythmically.
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