Editing Willie Dixon (section)

===Adulthood===
Dixon left Mississippi for Chicago in 1936.{{sfn|Palmer|1982|p=166}} A man of considerable stature, standing 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighing over 250 pounds, he took up boxing, at which he was successful, winning the Illinois State [[Golden Gloves]] [[Championship (professional wrestling)|Heavyweight Championship]] (Novice Division) in 1937.{{sfn|Snowden|1997|loc=Box set booklet}} Around 1939, he became a professional boxer and worked briefly as [[Joe Louis]]'s sparring partner, but after four fights he left boxing in a dispute with his manager over money.

Dixon met [[Leonard Caston]] at a boxing gym, where they would harmonize at times. Dixon performed in several vocal groups in Chicago, but it was Caston that persuaded him to pursue music seriously.<ref name="Castonbio1">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p63195|pure_url=yes}}|title=Leonard Caston|last=Eder|first=Bruce|year=2010 |work=Biography of Leonard Caston|publisher=Rovi Corporation|access-date=May 2, 2010}}</ref> Caston built him his first bass, made of a tin-can and one string. Dixon's experience singing bass made the instrument familiar.<ref name="Willie Dixon pp. 207"/> He also learned to play the guitar.

In 1939, Dixon was a founding member of the Five Breezes, with Caston, Joe Bell, Gene Gilmore and Willie Hawthorne.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> The group blended blues, [[jazz]], and vocal harmonies, in the mode of the [[Ink Spots]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Dixon's progress on the [[upright bass]] came to an abrupt halt with the advent of World War II, when he refused induction into military service as a [[conscientious objector]] and was imprisoned for ten months.<ref name="amg" /> He refused to go to war because he would not fight for a nation in which institutionalized racism and racist laws were prevalent.<ref>Baird, Jim (2014). "Book Review: ''Willie Dixon: Preacher of the Blues''." ''Journal of American Folklore'' 127: 100–101. ProQuest.Web. October 3, 2015.</ref> After the war, he formed a group named the Four Jumps of Jive.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He then reunited with Caston, forming the Big Three Trio,{{sfn|Palmer|1982|p=166}} which went on to record for [[Columbia Records]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/>