Many great boxers in the last century captivated people with their fists, footwork and ferocity — and Muhammad Ali is certainly one of the best to ever compete in the sport — but what separated Ali from nearly all of them was the way in which he could captivate audiences with his words. One of his nicknames was even the “The Louisville Lip,” which refers to both his birthplace and loquaciousness.
Ali’s legacy transcends generations. Whether it was winning an Olympic gold medal for the United States in 1960, upsetting Sonny Liston to become the heavyweight champion in 1964, converting to Islam and changing his name, denouncing the Vietnam War, or his legendary battles with George Foreman and the late Joe Frazier, Ali had the ability to move a nation not only with his actions, but with what he said and how he said it.
Funny or moving, about boxing or about life, wordy or succinct, Ali’s gift of gab will live on forever.
Here are some more of his most memorable quotes and sound bites.
“I shook up the world! I shook up the world!”
Ali truly became a superstar in the lead-up to his first fight with Liston in 1964. Of course then he was still known as Cassius Clay — an unbeaten, brash contender — but the charm and wit he displayed would go on to become synonymous with the name Muhammad Ali.
Liston was Ali’s first legitimate rival and because of this he was on the receiving end of some Ali insults.
“Sonny Liston is nothing. The man can’t talk. The man can’t fight. The man needs talking lessons. The man needs boxing lessons. And since he’s gonna fight me, he needs falling lessons.”
“I’ve seen George Foreman shadowboxing and the shadow won.”
Although they only fought once, Ali’s rivalry with George Foreman was perhaps the most talked about during his career. Friction between the two ramped up ahead of their 1974 heavyweight title fight. The preamble to “The Rumble in the Jungle” led to some of Ali’s best lines.
Ali was the underdog and many doubted him. One of those doubters was legendary sports broadcaster Howard Cosell, who was also Ali’s friend. Ali and Cosell had dozens of memorable encounters but this one is the best. Here is a rebuttal from Ali in reply to a Cosell prediction that Ali would lose to Foreman. Ali’s response was a precursor to one of boxing’s greatest moments.
“You told everybody I don’t have a chance. You told ’em I don’t have nothing but a prayer. Chump, all I need is a prayer because if that prayer reaches the right man, not only will George Foreman fall, mountains will fall!”
Ali was a poet and another one of his most memorable quotes occurred during pre-fight promotion for the Foreman bout.
“I have wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale, I done handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail. That’s bad. Only last week I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick, I’m so mean I make medicine sick.”
“If you think the world was surprised when Nixon resigned, wait till I whoop Foreman’s behind.”
In his win over Foreman, Ali stung big George with his sharp-witted tongue before he did so with his fists. In this interview with Michael Parkinson, Ali talks about how he used his words to get his opponents off their game.
“It’s gonna be a thrilla, and a chilla, and a killa, when I get the Gorilla in Manila.”
Ali’s biggest rival was Joe Frazier. The two had a complicated relationship. Ali was often insulting towards Frazier but at times the two joked around with one another. Ultimately there was mutual respect.
Here are a few memorable Ali quotes on Frazier that illustrates the scope of their relationship:
“I always bring out the best in men I fight, but Joe Frazier, I’ll tell the world right now, brings out the best in me. I’m gonna tell ya, that’s one hell of a man, and God bless him.”
“Frazier is so ugly that when he cries, the tears turn around and go down the back of his head.”
“Frazier is so ugly he should donate his face to the U.S. Bureau of Wildlife.”
Below is an assortment of Ali gems.
ON BOXING
“There’s not a man alive who can whoop me. I’m too fast. I’m too smart. I’m too pretty. I should be a postage stamp. That’s the only way I’ll ever get licked.”
“I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark.”
“I am the astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and [Jack] Dempsey were just jet pilots. I’m in a world of my own.”
“I’ll beat [Floyd Patterson] so bad, he’ll need a shoehorn to put his hat on.”
“If you dream of beating me, you’d better wake up and apologize.”
“There are two things that are hard to hit and see. That’s a spooky ghost and Muhammad Ali.”
“I’m not the greatest, I’m the double greatest. Not only do I knock them out, I pick the round.”
“People don’t realize what they had till it’s gone. Like President Kennedy – nobody like him. Like The Beatles, there will never be anything like them. Like my man, Elvis Presley – I was the Elvis of boxing.’
“It’s hard to be humble, when you’re as great as I am.”
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, his hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see.”
(Jess Tan/AP)
ON LIFE AND POLITICS
“Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn’t choose it and I don’t want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name – it means beloved of God – and I insist people use it when people speak to me and of me.”
“Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people while so-called negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs?”
“A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”
“Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer.”
Muhammad Ali’s recipe for life
This last one sums up why Ali was so revered. He didn’t want his legacy to be solely about what he accomplished as an athlete. Here’s what he said when asked what he would like people to think of him when he’s gone…