Fifteen referees. I want fifteen referees to be at this fight because there ain't no one man who can keep up with the pace I'm gonna set except me. There's not a man alive who can whup me. I'm too fast. I'm too smart. I'm too pretty. I should be a postage stamp. That's the only way I'll ever get licked.
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Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his read more
Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even
Service to others is the rent which you pay for your room here on earth.
Service to others is the rent which you pay for your room here on earth.
I'm gonna have to be killed before I lose, and I ain't going to die easy.
I'm gonna have to be killed before I lose, and I ain't going to die easy.
If my fans think I can do everything I say I can do, then they're crazier than I am. After read more
If my fans think I can do everything I say I can do, then they're crazier than I am. After one of his fight predictions turned out to be wrong.
I say get an education. Become an electrician, a mechanic, a doctor, a lawyer — anything but a fighter. In read more
I say get an education. Become an electrician, a mechanic, a doctor, a lawyer — anything but a fighter. In this trade, it's the managers that make the money and last the longest.
The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses — behind the lines, in the gym and out there read more
The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses — behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.
Pleasure is not happiness. It has no more importance than a shadow following a man.
Pleasure is not happiness. It has no more importance than a shadow following a man.
Statement after losing his first fight to Ken Norton, March 31, 1973: I never thought of losing, but now that read more
Statement after losing his first fight to Ken Norton, March 31, 1973: I never thought of losing, but now that it's happened, the only thing is to do it right. That's my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
