ALI "The Greatest" Turns Sixty-Five

"I saw the punch coming: a piece of red cinnamon candy exactly the size of a gloved fist. I tried to slip it and couldn't — it was that fast. The back of my head bounced off my shoulders. A chorus of white light went off behind my eyes. A metal taste clouded my mouth, then there was a second, heavier thump as he caught me with a left hook I didn't see. The spectators sounded way, way off. I tried to regain control of my body and couldn't; my legs went to soup beneath me." -Davis Miller in today's LA Times on getting punched by Ali in his prime.


Today is the Greatest. The man who fought inside the ring (and out), who floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee, Muhammad Ali turned 65 today. Happy Birthday, Champ!

Here are some random quotes of Ali's throughout the years:

"To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are."

"If you even dreamed of beating me, you'd better wake up and apologize."

(Prior to a boxing match with Floyd Patterson): "I'll beat him so bad he'll need a shoehorn to put his hat on."

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

...and then there is this one that says just as much about today's world as it did when he originally said it:

"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 in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights? No I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality. If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people they wouldn’t have to draft me, I’d join tomorrow. I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs. So I’ll go to jail, so what? We’ve been in jail for 400 years."


For Your Consideration:
The Hours - Ali In The Jungle Mp3
Muhammad Ali - I'm So Mean Mp3