The unauthorized copy... Dedicated to The Greatest {I am the king of the world!} {Never talk about who's gonna stop me 'Cause NOBODY gonna stop me!} {I must be the greatest!} My name Shaun Boothe {I'm a BAD man! I SHOOK UP THE WORLD!}
[Chapter 3:] Born Cassius, Clay Jr. January 17th in '42 Louisville, Kentucky he grew up A little boy doing what a little boy do 'Til somebody stole his bike Swearing up and down they would pay the price A police officer overheard Laughed at the child and gave advice Told him to take that rage to fight "Come to my gym and train to fight" Little did he know that would change his life Make him a star, put his name in lights As an amateur, he would bandage up, anyone he faced Due to his, tutelage, even then, you knew the kid Was destined to be great Golden child - 8 Golden Gloves On the road to Olympic gold, in Rome Everything he dreamed Got his ticket then his feet got cold Praying in the aisles on the way to the fight, he made it! And in that 1960 Olympics' victory He declared himself The Greatest Critics watched and frowned, at his boxing style Said he couldn't keep his guard up He wasn't pro and they still couldn't knock him down, uh! Hands low, damn he can dance though! Made em look too stiff to box A punch too quick to clock You get hit before you get from tick to tock Uh, and by '64 he was giving knockout predictions What round they would hit the floor, ridiculing his opposition Dismissed as the Louisville Lip, outspoken but never out-boxed Liston finally gave in, and Clay got his first title shot He even put out an album Threw a few Sonny poems together And called it "I Am the Greatest" Some say the first battle raps ever He said he'd knock him out in eight But nobody believed, nobody listened ... 'Til the headlines came, "Cassius Clay beats Sonny Liston" And after that, huge upset he upset the world When he announced he was a member of the Nation of Islam He lashed back like, "What was it I did wrong, huh? " And in the fashion of Malcolm X, for whom he had profound respect From his slave name he said, "I'm free" And he became young Muhammad Ali Then the love for him got outweighed by outrage And fear of his new devout faith To an organization perceived as only being about hate Years later, he refused the draft, denounced the war [ From: http://www.elyrics.net ] On the grounds of religious beliefs, then they hated him more They told him go to jail or go to Vietnam Then they took his title, and his boxing license So he took it to court and fought three years long Now somewhere in that time America realized the war was wrong And he went from, traitor to hero And in a year or so he was coming back strong Uh, moving with such grace and ease Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee Hand can't hit what your eyes can't see Then came the fight of the century [two bell dings] Ali, Joe Frasier As far as match-ups there were no greater First professional loss, but he would beat him in a rematch later But by then Frasier lost the belt To a man by the name of George Foreman Much stronger and younger than Ali Still he said, "I'm in. if you're in" Then came the "Rumble. in the Jungle", promoted by Don King In '74 they went to Zaire He got out the plane like What do I hear? They were saying {ALI, BOMA YE! ALI, BOMA YE! ALI, BOMA YE!} It was much more than some ego stroke He knew he gave the poor people hope Against the odds, toe to toe Swarming crowds, overflow But no matter how hard he fought They said Foreman would never be stopped But instead of going blow for blow He let him go for broke, punched himself out Later they would call it the Rope-a-dop