Ali's trash talk against Foreman.?

Question

Does anyone remember what Ali said to Big George during the referee's final instructions? I can recall that it was very cool, but can't find any source that has the specifics. Didn't a lip-reader translate it as something along the lines of "and now you meet your master"?

Answer 1

I remember a line he used "I'll beat you like I'm your daddy". Or" I'll beat you like a step child". But I think he said that to Sonny Listen not big George. I remember he told Forman

"is that all you got" when Ali did the roper dope. That was after George punched him self tired.

Answer 2

don't know exactly what he said but at some point he referred to him as an uncle tom which really pissed him off

Answer 3

Ali always ran his mouth, it was part of his gimmick and he taunted anyone he could get a rise out of.  Sometimes it worked against him, and when he it did it to Joe Frazier, Frazier got more focused instead of being distracted, actually got meaner.  I'm pretty sure he called Big George the "Mummy" prior to the fight during the pre-fight hype, but I don't know what he said to George during the final instructions.  During the fight he drove George nuts telling him how weak George's punches were while George pounded away.  George would land bombs and Ali would tell him stuff like "is that all you got George, they told me you hit hard".  George eventually punched himself out, and the taunts played a part in it.  I guess Ali started before the bell, must have been nervous energy.  Ali said a lot of stuff, according to Frazier, Ali told Joe during their first fight that he was in the ring with God.  Joe never bought into the B.S. and claims he told Ali that if God was gonna get whooped then, and proceeded to win their first fight in spite of Ali's ramblings.

Ali took trash talking to a new level, it almost became an art with him.  The only time a guy tried to turn it around on him, one of his opponents refused to use the Muslim name Muhammad Ali and kept calling him Clay, I forget if it was Ellis or Williams, one of those guys he fought just after announcing his conversion to Islam.  Ali humiliated himself during the fight and gave the guy a pretty bad beating in the process.  He kept asking the guy "what's my name" and pounding on him.  After the fight the guy called him Muhammad Ali.   The press was all over Ali for that one, but then back then they were critical and scared of the whole Black Muslim thing anyway so what did you expect.

Nobody talked trash like Ali, people who try to do it today, fail dismally, it just isn't the same.  I still laugh at the though of Ali asking Cosell what died on his head and making fun of Cosell's rug.  Howard was the perfect straight man to Ali's act, you couldn't have scripted it better.  He used humor and Howard Cosell to de-fuse the racial hatred that tainted the press of the times.  Howard Cosell was as much a part of the Ali legacy as Dundee or Brown.  Man what an era in boxing.

Answer 4

Here's two references for you that seem to agree fairly closely....

One reference....

While referee Zack Clayton was giving the instructions, Ali said to Foreman, "you've been hearing about me since you were a boy in diapers, and now you have to face me, you're in trouble".

Another, from the Michael Mann movie script:

"It's all over for you, man. You don't have a chance.

              

You don't have no chance.

              

The rumble in the jungle!

You don't have no chance, man.

              Okay, let's go.

              You guys know the rules. I want a good, clean fight.

              Ali, be quiet and listen to the instructions.

              

You been hearing about me ever since you was a boy.

              Ali, be quiet. Listen to the instructions.

              - Now you got to face me. - No hitting low.

              - When I tell you to break-- -

You got to face me now.

              Be quiet, or I'll disqualify you.

              When I tell you to break, I want a clean break. Understand?

              - You shoulda never came to Africa. - All right, shake hands.

              Take your corners.

              Okay. All right. No problem.

Answer 5

The fighter that called him Clay was Ernie Terrell of Chicago.  

I'd love to know exactly what Ali said to Foreman during the final instructions.  I seem to remember the "meet your master, Big Boy" was talked about for some time after the fight, but that died down a bit later.  No one talks about that line of dialogue. . .and I'd love to be sure.  

And by the way, for the misguided (but well-intentioned) poster on a similar topic. . . . .Ali didn't take clean shots from Foreman all night long, like you wrote.  Foreman's shots landed mostly on Ali's arms and elbows.  Even Ali couldn't have taken those body shots cleanly for eight rounds.  He knew that, and used his arms to deflect the shots a bit, as well as the rope a dope technique to let the ropes absorb much of the power from the shots.