Late in life, Muhammad Ali dropped the mask, reflecting on the fighters who shaped him. Some he admired. Some he respected. And some, surprisingly, scared him. For a man who built his legend on fearlessness, that alone tells you something mattered deeply.
When Ali talked about admiration, his choices weren’t random. He often called Jack Johnson his favorite fighter for his defiance as he survived in an era designed to break him, and Ali knew exactly what that meant.
Archie Moore came next: mentor, strategist, survivor. Ali leaned on Moore for advice before big fights and later called him one of the bravest men he’d ever known.
Then there were the technicians and kings: Sugar Ray Robinson, boxing perfection in motion, and Joe Louis, admired for carrying the heavyweight crown with dignity Ali himself would later redefine.
No relationship, though, cut deeper than the one with Joe Frazier. For years Ali was insulting him, but later, Ali admitted the truth: Frazier broke him down and rebuilt him.
He said Frazier made him champion three times by forcing him to go places he didn’t think he could survive. And when Frazier was hospitalized in 2011, Ali showed up quietly, telling the family how much he loved him...
Then there’s the other side - fear. Real fear.
Before facing George Foreman in Zaire, Ali reportedly told his corner, “George is going to kill me.” Against Sonny Liston, Ali admitted he was terrified, describing Liston as a destroyer who didn’t fight to win rounds, only to erase men. Ken Norton may have scared him most in the ring itself - breaking Ali’s jaw and fighting in a style Ali never fully solved. Ali even later admitted that it was exactly Norton who shortened his career.
But the most painful fear came with Larry Holmes. Ali explained it wasn’t Holmes’ talent alone - it was the timing. He knew he was no longer Ali. Holmes knew him too well, having learned directly from him. And money pressures pushed Ali into a fight he already understood would end badly.
That fear wasn’t about losing. It was about knowing the end had arrived.
Ali also mentioned Earnie Shavers, Leon Spinks, and Jimmy Young as fighters who unsettled him in different ways. So was Ali telling the full truth? Probably not. But was he telling a truth? Absolutely. And maybe that’s what makes these reflections so powerful.
For all the bravado, Ali never denied fear. He faced it, talked about it, and fought anyway. And that honesty might be just as important to his legacy as the belts, the wins, and the words.
Watch Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman full fight on YouTube.
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