Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
Happy 70th Birthday to the G.O.A.T. Muhammad Ali! Â Check out some of Ali’s most memorable quotes after the jump…
As Muhammad Ali celebrates his 70th birthday on Tuesday, Sportsmail recalls some of the Louisville Lip’s more memorable quotes.
I am the greatest! Ali was never shy in front of the cameras, in or out of the ring
‘…now Clay swings with a right, what a beautiful swing
And raises the bear straight out of the ring;
Liston is rising and the ref wears a frown
For he can’t start counting ’til Liston comes down;
Now Liston disappears from view, the crowd is getting frantic
But our radar stations have picked him up somewhere over the Atlantic;
Who would have thought when they came to the fight
That they’d witness the launching of a human satellite?
Yes the crowd did not dream when they laid down their money
That they would see a total eclipse of the Sonny.’
(before first Sonny Liston fight, 1964)
‘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.’
(announcing his conversion to the Muslim faith after first Liston fight)
‘Get up sucker and fight. Get up and fight.’
(during second Liston fight, 1965)
‘What’s my name, fool? What’s my name?’
(during Ernie Terrell fight, 1967 – Terrell had refused to recognise his name change)
‘I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong.’
(on refusing induction into the US armed services in 1967 during the Vietnam war)
‘I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and got into bed before the room was dark.’
(before George Foreman fight, 1974)
‘Float like a butterfly sting like a bee – his hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see.’
(before Foreman fight, 1974)
‘I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale;
and cuffed 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.’
(before Foreman fight, 1974)
‘That all you got, George? That all you got?’
(during Foreman fight, 1974)
‘It will be a killer and a chiller and a thriller when I get the gorilla in Manila.’
(before third Joe Frazier fight, 1975)
WRITTEN BY SPORTSMAIL REPORTERÂ & FULL STORY HERE
