“Float like a butterfly
Sting like a bee
Your hands can’t hit
What your eyes can’t see.”
(Said to George Foreman before their fight in 1974.)
The man wasn’t just the greatest boxer that ever lived; he was also a rap pioneer. “Without Muhammad Ali, there would be no ‘Mama Said Knock You Out, and the term G.O.A.T. would have never been coined,” LL Cool J once said.
Source: Getty Images
Ali was a master at delivering witty brags and trash talk. He provided the world with endless quotables back in the 1960s when he was busy knocking out each and every one of his competitors. Along the way, he managed to become a foundational force in the early development of rap and hip-hop music.