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January 17, 2007
"Floats like a Butterfly; Sting Like a Bee"
When I was growing up in Pakistan, the biggest sporting events of all were the boxing matches of Muhammad Ali. I think this was because of a combination of his dynamism and Islamic faith. It is hard to imagine boxing being such a world event these days, but when Ali fought it sure was.
The two similes in the title are what Muhammad Ali used to describe his fighting style, but might apply equally well to his tongue. Below are a sample of his words, cocky, confrontive, funny, eloquent words. Click here for more.
On being the Greatest
"I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalised a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick."
"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."
On Boxing
"Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beat each other up."
"I never thought of losing, but now that it's happened, the only thing is to do it right. That's my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life."
On Race, Religion, and Life
"I am America. I am the part you won't recognise. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me."
"I know I got it made while the masses of black people are catchin' hell, but as long as they ain't free, I ain't free."
"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?"
Ali vs. Frazier
"Frazier is so ugly that he should donate his face to the US Bureau of Wildlife."
"Joe Frazier is so ugly that when he cries, the tears turn around and go down the back of his head."
| By jackdas | 9:33 AM
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