Joe Elsby Martin Sr., (February 1, 1916 – September 14, 1996) was an American

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

coach who trained two world

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

champions,

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

and Jimmy Ellis, as well as several national

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...

champions.

Early life

Joe Martin was born February 1, 1916, in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, the son of Joe and Minerva "Sancia" (Shaw) Martin. Both of his parents died before he reached his first birthday, so he was raised by his mother's sister, his Aunt Emma and his uncle Clarence Neal who moved to

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The ...

and later moved to

Alhambra, Phoenix Alhambra is an urban village of Phoenix, Arizona. Location Alhambra encompasses an area south of Northern Avenue, west of 7th Street, east of 43rd Avenue, and north of Grand Avenue or the Grand Canal. History The community's name was cho ...

, Arizona. On March 4, 1941, he married Christine Fentress, and they had one child, Joe Jr., who himself became a national Golden Gloves champion.

Boxing coach and police officer

He came to

, in 1937 and joined the

Louisville Police Department The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) began operations on January 6, 2003, as part of the creation of the consolidated city-county government in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It was formed by the merger of the Jefferson County P ...

, serving until his retirement in 1974. In 1938, he became a boxing coach at the

Columbia Gym Columbia most often refers to: * Columbia (personification), the historical personification of the United States * Columbia University, a private university in New York City * Columbia Pictures, an American film studio owned by Sony Pictures * Co ...

in Louisville (now the student center of

Spalding University Spalding University is a private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. History Spalding University traces its origins to "Nazareth Academy", one of the oldest educational institu ...

), where, in 1954, he began coaching Cassius Clay, who later became a three-time world heavyweight champion under the name of

. Several news stories quote Ali crediting Martin with having shown him how to "fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee." While coaching at the Columbia Gym, Martin also trained world heavyweight champion Jimmy Ellis as well as eleven National Golden Gloves champions. Martin, himself a white man, was an early leader in Louisville's civil rights movement. At the time the future Muhammad Ali began training there, Columbia Gym was racially integrated, unlike other Louisville boxing gyms of that period.

Muhammad Ali's first coach

In 1954, a twelve-year-old then known as Cassius Clay approached Martin to report that his bicycle had been stolen and told Martin that he wanted to "whup" the thief. Martin offered to teach him how to box and guided his career for the next six years. As a 1960 Olympic coach, Martin accompanied the champion to the Olympic Games in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, when Ali won a gold medal. In the 1950s and 1960s, Martin helped produce a weekly television show on WAVE-TV called ''

Tomorrow's Champions ''Tomorrow's Champions'' was a local television program in Louisville, Kentucky, which featured bouts between local amateur boxers. It aired on NBC affiliate WAVE from 1954 to 1966. It was produced by Louisville police officer and boxing trainer J ...

'', which was broadcast for twelve years. After winning the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

, Ali began his professional career but maintained contact with Martin until his death. In the 1970s, Martin appeared on a nationally televised episode of " This Is Your Life," when Ali was the featured guest.

Retirement and death

After retirement, Martin started a business as an

auctioneer An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ...

and twice ran unsuccessfully for

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

Jefferson County, Kentucky Jefferson County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 782,969. It is the most populous county in the commonwealth (with more than twice the population of sec ...

. He fell ill in the late summer of 1996 and died in Louisville on September 14, aged 80. He was buried in Memorial Gardens Cemetery in

Leitchfield, Kentucky Leitchfield is the county seat of Grayson County, Kentucky, United States. Leitchfield is a home rule-class city with a population of 6,404 as of the 2020 census. History The town was named for Major David Leitch, an aide to Gen. George Washi ...

References

External links