Muhammad Ali and the 10 Most Quotable Boxers Ever

When boxers are trying to compete for attention, they need to use a third weapon to dethrone each other at the box office: The mouth.

The words that come from a boxer's mouth are the only thing that can help them outsell a better boxer at the box office.

The mouth can produce funny, inspiring or controversial statements that divide people into fans or critics of the boxer.

In modern times, boxers who remain completely silent rarely receive hefty box office receipts for their fights.

Here are the Ten Most Quotable Boxers Ever.

10. Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson was the first Black American to become heavyweight world champion of the world. His slick style of patience and evasiveness earned him criticism from early 20th Century America.
He was a publicly prideful Black man in a time where a Black man looking the wrong direction could cost him his life.

His love of expensive cars, clothes, and white women earned him an infamous and controversial reputation and his commentary on his lifestyle and fighting style are funny, honest, and instantly quotable.


Memorable Quotes

"I made a lot of mistakes out of the ring, but I never made any in it." -from Brainy Quotes

"The possession of muscular strength and the courage to use it in contests with other men for physical supremacy does not necessarily imply a lack of appreciation for the finer and better things of life." -from Born Today

9. Floyd Patterson

Floyd Patterson was a great boxer of the 1960's who beat the likes of Ingemar Johansson and suffered big losses to Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali.

His insight into boxing and all its highs and lows is very interesting and gives a unique perspective on the game.

Memorable Quotes

"There is so much hate among people, so much contempt inside people who'd like you to think they're moral, that they have to hire prizefighters to do their hating for them. And we do. We get into a ring and act out other people's hates.” -from Think Exist

"Fear was absolutely necessary. Without it, I would have been scared to death." -from Think Exist

“The fighter loses more than his pride in the fight; he loses part of his future. He's a step closer to the slum he came from.” -from Think Exist

8. Hector Camacho

"It's Macho Time!" was his catchphrase and he meant it. With his flashy ring attire and brazen attitude, Hector Camacho was the man to watch in the 1980's heading into the 1990's.

His lips moved and bravado came out. A true showman in every since of the word.

Memorable Quotes

"...I got a lot of lady fans. And I'm thinking wow, a lot of people compliment me about my body, my looks, my teeth, about the way I am. I think I want to do something different. I want to blow their minds. I want to show them what Macho Man is all about yo." -from YouTube.com

"I train harder so I won't have a tough fight. If that's what's keeping me from having a tough fight, I'll keep doing it." -from YouTube.com

"He put in a great effort. God bless him. I told him, 'man you gon fight me, get your ass down! Look like an athlete. Keep it a great fight even though I'm gon beat you and outpoint you.''" -from YouTube.com

7. Sugar Ray Leonard

Sugar Ray Leonard dominated the 1980's with superfights against many of the best fighters of the time: Roberto Duran, Thomas "Hitman" Hearns and Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

Because of his inside knowledge of such a great time in boxing, Leonard's sidenotes on history are highly valuable, making him easily quotable with every interesting tidbit that escapes his mouth.

Memorable Quotes

“I wanted to do in boxing what Bruce Lee was able to do in karate. Lee was an artist, and, like him, I try to get beyond the fundamentals of my sport. I want my fights to be seen as plays.” -from Think Exist

“I consider myself blessed. I consider you blessed. We've all been blessed with God-given talents. Mine just happens to be beating people up.” -from Think Exist

"I tried the gloves on, and it just felt so natural. From that moment I became so embedded in boxing. I found a friend in boxing." -from Wiki Quote

6. Roy Jones

Jones is a pound-for-pound great, whose skills speak loudly for himself but he doesn't mind telling you himself how great he is.

In a rap song recorded by Jones entitled "Ya'll Must've Forgot," Jones list his accomplishments that establish his greatness for those that have apparently forgotten them.

Memorable Quotes

"I don't care who got it. If my mama got it, I got to fight her to get it. I want it." -from YouTube.com

"I don't like trying to hurt people, not trying to kill that kid. If I had a chance to, I'd kill that kid by mistake." -from YouTube.com

"They try to say I ain't fight nobody. I just make them look like nobody." -from YouTube.com

5. Floyd Mayweather

Floyd Mayweather (42-0, 26 KOs) is undefeated and rarely gets touched in his bouts and he will be glad to tell you.

Mayweather loves to tout his undefeated record, his gigantic fight purses and most of all he loves to trash talk his opponents.

It's how he sells his fights. By trash talking the audience's favorite fighters, it makes the audience root for their fighters even harder and want to plunk down $60 or more to see the fight.

Mayweather has achieved a lucrative and special place near the top of boxing's totem pole with his trash-talking, self-congratulatory, money-praising persona.

Memorable Quotes:

"I’m not in this sport to see how hard I can get hit or to see how many big punches I can take. I am in this game to fight as long as I can. I am trying to dish a lot of punishment." -from Quote Star

"I think I’m the best fighter ever. I respect Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson. But as of now, I feel I’m the best." -from Quote Star

"To be honest with you, I normally beat guys with my C game and I don’t have to pull my A or B game out." -from Quote Star

4. George Foreman

George Foreman is a known salesman and minister with a big heart and big mouth that loves to tell his testimony and philosophies on life, but he wasn't always that way.

Back in the 1970's, Foreman was a menace who talked little with his mouth and more with his enormous fists and made quick work of legends such as Joe Frazier and Ken Norton.

After Foreman took his second loss to Jimmy Young in 1977, he experienced a great spiritual awakening that night.

He became a minister and was away from boxing for 10 years before he emerged as a philosophical, evangelical businessman with a big family-man smile.

Memorable Quotes

"I want to keep fighting because it is the only thing that keeps me out of the hamburger joints. If I don't fight, I'll eat this planet." -from The Guardian

"The question isn't at what age I want to retire, it`s at what income."-from Lucy Who

"I don`t even think about a retirement program because I`m working for the Lord, for the Almighty. And even thought the Lord`s pay isn't very high, his retirement program is, you might say, out of this world." -from Lucy Who

3. Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson has always been a source of enjoyment during his postfight interviews. During his more turbulent years in the spotlight in the first part of his career, Tyson's outburst could be both parts funny and terrifying.

Who could forget his declaration to "eat [Lennox's] children]?" Tyson was a troubled man, but he also had some beautiful quotes about the sport of boxing.

Here's an example during a 1990 interview with Charlie Rose. Tyson says, "A win is a win, but I fight for perfection." Rose asks Tyson, "Do you achieve it?" Tyson simply answers, "No one does but we aim for it."

Tyson could say and do just about anything and hold the attention of the listening public, easily making him one of the most quotable figures in boxing history.

Memorable Quotes

"I could feel his muscle tissues collapse under my force. It's ludicrous these mortals even attempt to enter my realm." -from Brainy Quote

"I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds." -from Ebony Magazine

"I'm just a dark guy from a den of iniquity. A dark shadowy figure from the bowels of iniquity. I wish I could be Mike who gets an endorsement deal. But you can't make a lie and a truth go together. This country wasn't built on moral fibre. This country was built on rape, slavery, murder, degradation and affiliation with crime." -from The Telegraph

2. Randall "Tex" Cobb

Randall Cobb is a decent boxer with two extraordinary traits, he was one of the greatest chins in boxing and one of the wittiest minds in boxing.

His one liners and rants on getting hit by the likes of Earnie Shavers and Larry Holmes are hilarious and can make one wonder if HBO or Showtime should find the guy and give him a commentator job.

Memorable Quotes

"If you screw up in tennis, it's 15-love. If you screw up in boxing, it's your ass, darling!" -from QuoteGarden

"Boxing writers are the only people out there who have less constructive jobs than what I do. I don't do nothing but hit people, and those mothers don't do nothing but write about what I do!"

"I wasn't talking to Holmes in there. Every time I felt like saying something to him I found it hard because he kept putting his left hand in my mouth."

1. Muhammad Ali

Ali has been quotable since day one. He came he saw, he told everybody he was going to rule, no one else believed it and then Ali did it.

He backed up his trash-talking with brilliant displays of boxing greatness that would come to define not just an era but boxing itself.

For this reason, Muhammad Ali is the most quotable boxer ever.

Memorable Quotes

"I'm young, I'm handsome, I'm fast, I'm pretty and can't possibly be beat." -from YouTube.com

"I have wrestled with an alligator, I've done tussled with a whale, I done handcuffed lightning, throw thunder in jail. That's bad" -from YouTube.com

"Can I dance? Is the pope a catholic?" -from YouTube.com