Ali Quotes

In fifty years of covering the sport, of course Muhammad Ali is by far the dominant figure.

Many a treasure besides Ali Baba's is unlocked with a verbal key.

Muhammad Ali - he was a magnificent fighter and he was an icon... Every head must bow, every knee must bend, every tongue must confess, thou art the greatest, the greatest of all time, Muhammad, Muhammad Ali.

Except for Ali, fighters had never been marketable.

Ali always said I would be nothing without him. But what would he have been without me?

Sugar Ray Leonard was as close as anyone came after Ali to being Ali, but he wasn't Ali.

I'm hungry for knowledge. The whole thing is to learn every day, to get brighter and brighter. That's what this world is about. You look at someone like Gandhi, and he glowed. Martin Luther King glowed. Muhammad Ali glows. I think that's from being bright all the time, and trying to be brighter.

Do you remember a scene with Ryan and Ali playing in the snow? Well, that was improvised.

Then you get into it, especially if you start talking about football, fighting and Muhammad Ali. Then the ladies get very bored and start delivering ultimatums.

Hitting Ali in the body or on the arms was like hitting a piece of cement.

Mike Tyson would have been a good sparring partner for me and Muhammad Ali because Tyson was a fast fighter and he could punch and throw good combinations.

We all ended up jumping up and down, hugging each other when Ali won;cause Ali is the greatest.

And I remember leaving my place in L.A. and - my father is a big fight fan - and I said, 'Dad, I got a couple of days off and I'm getting ready to go to Houston to sign to fight Muhammad Ali.

I love my mother Ali so much. I'm a momma's boy. I just have a very cool mom. It's not as though I had any say in the matter. I'm just really fortunate. She's the most kind, loving, giving woman.

I think on balance, Don King has been bad for boxing. I think he's done some very good things and I think he did a heck of a job of promoting Ali but I think I could have promoted Ali.

It's obvious that they're going to want Ali's daughter and Frazier's daughter to fight it out.

That was always the difference between Muhammad Ali and the rest of us. He came, he saw, and if he didn't entirely conquer - he came as close as anybody we are likely to see in the lifetime of this doomed generation.

I was right to back Muhammad Ali, but it caused me major enmity in many areas of this nation.

Ali's belief in himself was something I picked up on, and it's become my own philosophy.

Ali had a break that was an inch and a half long, and you keep getting hit as hard and as much as I hit Ali, the pain would take over and you would pass out.

I think Ali was a fan of mine, even though he never said it. A lot of fighters thought I was pretty good. Nobody every really spoke different on that. But a lot of fighters thought I was good so.

I'm the Ali of today. I'm the Marvin Gaye of today. I'm the Bob Marley of today. I'm the Martin Luther King, or all the other greats that have come before us. And a lot of people are starting to realise that now.

But if you cover the World Series on the news or do a feature on an Ali boxing match then all of a sudden ears go up all over the place and people say what the hell are you doing. The reason for that is that we're doing something that people are really interested in.

Muhammad Ali was the kind of guy you either loved or hated, but you wanted to see him. I happen to really love him. He brought boxing to another level and always made you laugh.

I did not choose necessarily on the basis of significance. If you have a vote for the most significant athlete, then you have Ali, then you have Babe Ruth, then you have Michael Jordan.

My other Main Man is Muhamed Ali, for the obvious reasons.

Ali's daughter is fighting and Joe Frazier's daughter is fighting as well.

Ali... we should have gone to see that movie. Malcolm X was another one.

Muhammad Ali is a combination of personality and athlete who is probably better known around the world than any other. He became a great hero.

When I turned pro, Muhammad Ali was laying back, and I was able to fill up an area that was empty.