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Analysis of Muhammad Ali's Speech

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Analysis of Muhammad Ali's Speech
"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." - Muhammad Ali, 1974.
They call him The Greatest, The Louisville Lip, or even The People’s Champion. Surely this man should be recognized with such high-valued nicknames; if not, then this man is the one and only Muhammad Ali. This man is not only known as a revolutionary boxer, but also one of the greatest entertainers of all time. Muhammad Ali has proven his position as an entertainer by many of his sayings; his quotes influenced the public all over the world, giving him an unparalleled popularity level. His quips even became more famous than many presidential quotes. The famous quote above was one of many Muhammad Ali made in 1974 before the bout against another great fighter, George Foreman, in a conference hall.

Muhammad Ali was not his original full name; this name was given when he converted his religion from Christianity to Islam. A man named Elijah Muhammad gave Muhammad Ali’s name as he stated that his former name, being Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. was a slave’s name. Muhammad meant "One worthy of phrase," and Ali was the name of a great general, the cousin of Elijah Muhammad.

Muhammad Ali developed his natural talent for boxing at the age twelve, discovered due to an unexpected event. He was casually riding his bicycle on a paved path, when out of the blue a young boy of similar age comes up from behind and knocked Muhammad off his bicycle and rode away. A man named Joe Martin and a Louisville officer arrived and asked what happened. Muhammad simply replied, “I’m going to ‘whup’ the thief!” Joe Martin responded, “Well you better start boxing.”

Joe Martin was a local boxing instructor to young boxers, so Ali learnt how to box with the instructor for four years. Muhammad won his first fight by split decision in an amateur

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