REAL Joe Louis quotes on Muhammad Ali

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Joe Louis once described how he would have fought Ali, The Ring, Feb. 1967:

“The kid has speed and there’s no one around to outbox him, and the opponent who tries is in his grave. Especially in the middle of the ring. I’d see to it that Clay didn’t stay in ring center. No. He’d be hit into those ropes as near a corner as I could get him. If he stayed on the ropes he would get hurt. Sooner or later he’d try to bounce off, when he did he would get hurt more. I’d press him, cut down his speed, and bang him around the ribs. I’d punish the body. “Kill the body and the head will die”, Chappie use to tell me. It figures. Sooner or later he’d forget about that face of his and he would start dropping that left hand like he did against Mildenberger and Chuvalo. Those fellows got their openings by accident, and fouled it up. I would work for it and wouldn’t reckon to miss when it arrived. Cassius Clay is a nice boy and a smart fighter. But I am sure Joe Louis would have licked him.”

--Joe Louis
The Ring, Feb. 1967

References

Ali, M. with Durham, R. 1975. The Greatest My Own Story. Random House.

Anderson, Dave. 1991. In The Corner. NY. William Morrow and Co.

Boxing Scene. 1995 Spring. Tiger Press Inc. Palisades, NY. “Rocky Marciano vs. Joe Louis. Who Would Have Won In Their Primes?” by Murray Goodman.

Ring Magazine. 1966 July. “How would Clay Have Done Against Stars of the Past.” by Ted Carroll.

Ring Magazine. 1967 Feb. “How I Would Have Clobbered Clay” by Joe Louis.

Ring Magazine. 1992 Mar. Battle of the Legends: Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Louis

Louis, J. with Rust Jr., A. and Rust, E. 1978. Joe Louis: My Life. Hopewell, NJ. Ecco Press.