Muhammad Ali's greatest quotes: 'I'm so mean I make medicine sick'
Compiled by the Press Association
Before first Sonny Liston fight, 1964
“...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.”
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.”
Announcing his conversion to Islam after his first Liston fight
“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.”
During second Liston fight, 1965
“Get up sucker and fight. Get up and fight.”
During Ernie Terrell fight, 1967 (Terrell had refused to recognise his name change)
“What’s my name, fool? What’s my name?”
On refusing induction into the US armed services in 1967 during the Vietnam war
“I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong.”
Before George Foreman fight, 1974
“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.”
“Float 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.”
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.”
During Foreman fight, 1974
“That all you got, George? That all you got?”
Before third Joe Frazier fight, 1975
“It will be a killer and a chiller and a thriller when I get the gorilla in Manila.”
Rumble in the Jungle: the war of words
The pre-fight quotes and allusions to all-time greatness in its aftermath have become almost as well known a part of the famous 1974 fight with George Foreman as the eight rounds themselves. Here are some of the most memorable utterances from those present:
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee – his hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see” – Ali in the pre-fight build-up.
“I done something new for this fight. I wrestled with an alligator. I tussled with a whale. I handcuffed lightning, I 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” – Ali in the pre-fight build-up.
“I won’t kid you. When he went to the ropes, I felt sick. Going into the fight, I thought Muhammad would win, but not that way” – trainer Angelo Dundee.
“Ali, booma ye” – chant from spectators (meaning “Ali, kill him”).
“That all you got, George? That all you got?” – Ali to Foreman during the fight.
“He (Foreman) went over like a six-foot 60-year-old butler who has just heard tragic news” – Norman Mailer, ‘The Fight’.
“This is the most joyous scene … ever seen in the history of boxing” – commentator David Frost.
“Muhammad amazed me, I’ll admit it. He out-thought me, he outfought me. That night, he was just the better man in the ring” – Foreman.
“Now we know what happened which is why he was the greatest. It was beautiful” – Dundee.
Credit-The Press Association
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