You must be outta your God-damned mind! Joe Louis the greatest boxer who ever lived. I’ll be with you boys in a minute. He was badder than Cassius Clay, he was better than Sugar Ray, he was badder than – who’s that new boy? Mike Tyson! Look like a bull dog! He was badder than him too! He’d whip Mike Tyson’s ass, he’d whip all their asses!
Oh, there they go! There they go! Every time I start talking about boxing, a white man gotta pull Rocky Marciano outta their ass! That’s they one! That’s they one! Rocky Marciano! Rocky Marciano! Lemme tell you something once and for all! Rocky Marciano was good, but compared to Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano ain’t shit!
Joe Louis was seventy-five years old when he fought!
Joe Louis had come out of retirement to fight Rocky Marciano! The man was seventy-six years old! Joe Louis always lied about his age! He lied about his age all the time! One time, Frank Sinatra came in here, and sat in this chair. I say, “Frank, you hang out with Joe Louis. Just between me and you, how old is Joe Louis?” Know what Frank told me? He said “Hey, Joe Louis is a hundred thirty-seven years old.” A hundred and thirty-seven years old!
FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! AND FUCK YOU! Who’s next?
I met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. one time.
You know, Sweets, I met Dr. Martin Luther King once.
Yeah, I met Dr. Martin Luther King in 1962 in Memphis, Tennessee. I walkin’ down the street minding my own business, just walking on. Feelin’ good. I walk around the corner, a man walk up, hit me in my chest, right. I fall on the ground, right. And I look up and it’s Dr. Martin Luther King. I said ‘Dr. King?’ and he said ‘Ooops, I thought you were some body else.’
Knocked the wind out of me, yes he did.
Yes, he did.
Oh there they go. There they go, every time I start talkin ’bout boxing, a white man got to pull Rocky Marciano out their ass. That’s their one, that’s their one. Rocky Marciano. Rocky Marciano. Let me tell you something once and for all. Rocky Marciano was good, but compared to Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano ain’t shit.
Heyyy, it’s the boys from Africa, how y’all doin this evenin’?
You gotta get out and look, they ain’t just gonna fall on your lap.
Well, that’s where you messed up, son, you can’t go to no bar to find a nice woman. You gotta go to a nice place, a quiet place like a library, there’s good women there and ‘erm, church, they’re good girls.
Aw, come on, man! What about Joe Louis?
I ain’t saying Clay ain’t bad. I’m just saying I stopped liking Cassius Clay once he changed his name to Moh-hammad Ali! What kinda shit is that?
Mmm-hmm! That’s right!
Ha-ha-ha! That’s right! That’s right! He gonna always be Clay to me. I don’t give a fuck what he change his name to. He is Clay! He Clay to me. I say Clay.
Oh, man, what do you want your hair to look like that for? Why, I like the way you wear your hair. You wear it natural. That’s good, man. You know, I wish more of the young children today would wear their hair natual like Dr. Martin Luther King did. That’s right. You ain’t never seen Dr. Martin Luther King with no messy jeri curl on this head. Ain’t that right?
