NationStates Jolt Archive

Then:
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42452000/jpg/_42452281_ali12.jpg
And now:
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42452000/jpg/_42452993_ali19.jpg

The best heavyweight boxer ever. How I wish we had a few today with half his talent rather than the sad collection of journeymen and past-their-bests.

Here's a few quotes from the man himself:
"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."

"It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up."

"Floats like a butterfly, sting like a bee, his hands can't hit what his eyes can't see."

"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."

"Champions aren't made in gyms, champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill."

"A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life."

"Frazier is so ugly that he should donate his face to the US Bureau of Wildlife."

"It will be a killer, and a chiller, and a thriller, when I get the gorilla in Manila."

"Joe Frazier is so ugly that when he cries, the tears turn around and go down the back of his head."

And finally, what could easily be his epitaph:
"I shook up the world! I shook up the world!"

He may be the greatest arsehole in sports for his time but Boxer no way Jose.
Joe Louis!
He wasn't no PWN of the Whiteman.

Just so everyone knows Plenty of Viet Cong called Muhamed Ali a ****** he just never heard them say it.

Possibly the greatest athlete of the modern era. A great man. And selfproclaimed founder of modern rap.

"Champions aren't made in gyms, champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill."
Indeed.

"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."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5IKUKADtjs :)

Another favorite of mine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seF7noys9QQ&NR

Muhammad Ali: But if I ever was to get in the ring with Joe, here's what you might see. Ali comes out to meet Frazier, but Frazier starts to retreat. If Joe back up an inch farther, he'll wind up in a ringside seat. Ali swings with his left. Ali swings with his right. Just look at the kid carry the fight. Frazier keeps backin', but there's not enough room. It's only a matter of time before Ali lowers the boom. Ali swings with his right. What a beautiful swing. But the punch lifts Frazier clean out of the ring. Frazier still rising, and the referee wears a frown 'cause he can't start countin' till Frazier comes down. Frazier's disappeared from view. The crowd is getting frantic. But our radar stations done picked him up. He's somewheres over the Atlantic. Now, who would've thought, when they came to the fight, they was gonna witness the launching of a black satellite? But don't wait for that fight. It ain't never gonna happen. The onliest thing you can do is wonder and imagine.

Without question, the greatest heavyweight of all time.

Quite possibly the athlete of the century.

Without question, the greatest heavyweight of all time.

Quite possibly the athlete of the century.

Sans steroids? Yes.

Without question, the greatest heavyweight of all time.

Quite possibly the athlete of the century.
In terms of impact, yes

In terms of athleticism, nope. I would argue Steve Redgrave, Daley Thompson, Don Bradman, or Pele were better in their respective sports.

Nobody in history who has ever made as much of an impact on worldwide sports has been so willing and able to tell us about it. :)

A god amongst men, heroic in the true and ancient sense of the word. The "Prince of Heaven".