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Ali and poetry: In August 1963, six months before he won the world heavyweight championship, announced his conversion to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali, Ali released the album I Am The Greatest a spoken word album when he was still Cassius Clay. The album was released by CBS Columbia and helped establish Ali's reputation as the wrestler poet. The poetry below are from a wide collection online.
You think the world was shocked when Nixon resigned?
Wait ’til I whup George Foreman’s behind.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
His hand can’t hit what his eyes can’t see.
Now you see me, now you don’t.
George thinks he will, but I know he won’t.
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,
hospitalized a brick; I'm so mean
I make medicine sick.
_______
TPB's notes: Spoken before regaining the title by upsetting George Foreman Oct. 30, 1974.
Everyone knew when I stepped in town,
I was the greatest fighter around.
A lot of people called me a clown,
But I am the one who called the round.
The people came to see a great fight,
But all I did was put out the light.
Never put your money against Cassius Clay,
For you will never have a lucky day.
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TPB's notes: Spoken in 1962, when Ali was still Cassius Clay.
Now Clay swings with a right, what a beautiful swing.
And the punch raises the Bear clear out of the ring.
Liston is still rising, and the ref wears a frown.
For he can’t start counting ’til Sonny comes down.
Now Liston disappears from view.
The crowd is getting frantic,
But our radar stations have picked him up. He’s 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 lay down their money
That they would see a total eclipse of the Sonny.
I am the greatest.
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TPB's notes: Part of a poem before his upset title victory over Sonny Liston Feb. 25, 1964.
Joe’s gonna come out smokin’,
But I ain’t gonna be jokin’.
This might shock and amaze ya,
But I’m going to destroy Joe Frazier.“
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TPB's notes: Before losing to Joe Frazier in their first fight March 8, 1971.
"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."
- Muhammed Ali, The Greatest
Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, regarded as the most significant heavyweight in the history of the sport and simply The Greatest. Rest in peace beautiful one. The world mourns your departure.
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