Muhammad Ali in His Own Words

By: Muhammad Ali

Narrated by: Muhammad Ali

This fascinating collection of archive interviews with Muhammad Ali begins in 1965 with an interview with Harry Carpenter and culminates with a TV interview with Joanna Lumley in 1989. Along the way Ali makes several famous appearances on Parkinson in the 1970s and talks to David Frost in The Frost Interview. The 1980s find him answering questions about his impending retirement and rumours that he is suffering from Parkinson's disease. In the course of these appearances he also discusses his fighting career, his frank views on religion and society, his vision of a separate Black-only American state and his lack of formal education.

The interviews included in this collection are I, Cassius, BBC Radio (first broadcast 11th May 1965), Sports View, BBC radio (first broadcast 15th August 1967), The Richest Prize in Sport, BBC television (first broadcast 14th March 1968), Parkinson, BBC One (first broadcast 17th October 1971), The Frost Interview (recorded 1974), Muhammad Ali: Most Boxers Can't Even Talk, BBC television (first broadcast 5th August 1975), archive interview, BBC radio (first broadcast 17th July 1977), Tonight, BBC television (first broadcast 15th January 1979), archive interview, BBC television (first broadcast 19th September 1984) and Wogan, BBC television (first broadcast 1989, hosted by Joanna Lumley).

Please note: due to the age and nature of this archive material, the sound quality may vary.

©2016 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2016 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Hearing The Champ’s voice.

I loved everything about this audiobook! Very inspiring. Mr. Ali and everything he stood for has always been important to me. I wanted to listen to this book first, before any of his others. This is by far the best audiobook I’ve listened to all year and I listen to about 3 a month. Added to favorites, easy.

Re-established my respect for those who respected this man

I grew up watching my dad and uncles respect Muhammad Ali and got to see snippets of him fighting in the ring during nostalgic sports reruns on tv that my family stopped to watch whenever they could. I knew of his famous quote about floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee. But I never listened to his interviews like this. And never got to see his progression over the years nor his constancy in his strong stances and anti-racist, anti-Islamophobic points of view. He really did hold it down for a generation. I can see why he was the greatest boxer (by Allah’s will). Hope there’s more compilations like this from other sports channels and radio stations… thanks for providing at least these sound bytes. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, you can’t hit what you can’t see! (P. S. Muhammad Ali later became Orthodox Sunni Muslim, so wherever you hear him say Elijah Mohamed just substitute it with Muhammad (peace be upon him), and you’ll see how truly guided this man was from the beginning, save only slight modifications in his world view. MashaAllah (God does what He wills).

the greatest... for what it is

For anyone who's learned about Ali from a biography, news reports, or sports channel, hearing him in his own words reveals a depth and complexity that secondary sources could never provide. A humble and deeply intellectual man arises from his spoken word. Brief, but well worth the listen.

Inspiring, Insightful, Refreshing

See the side of Ali that you're not familiar with.. It's captivating and brilliantly funny.