no most of his talking came when he went professional and especially when he beat sunny liston. But his taunting is a great part of his strategy. Seems to me he not only knows how to work the ring and his techniques but also his opponent, meaning they are in his control. If he wants ot make them mad then they'll get mad, make them think they're winning? he can do that too. Make them drop to the ground, easy. He knew their stamina, their strength, and weaknesses. He combined everything in his knowledge into the fight.

Ali trashed talked the same reason all fighters still trash talk today : It sells tickets.

You know, I grew up watching him fight on TV. Even as a kid, I was impressed by him. Ali was a force, and I think that his actions and words contributed greatly to the times. He was especially interesting whenever that twerp Howard Cosell (sp?) was on his case.

I thought he was magnificent.

I always thought Ali was a tremendous fighter, and was overmatched by his mouth, and he let it get away from him on many occasions.

His greatest mistake was thinking that nobody was watching when Joe Frazier knocked him backward over his heels in one of their fights and he attributed it to "stumbling"... Frazier hit him so hard it made him straighten his legs until his knees locked, and then he fell backward over his heels, but he "stumbled"...

When he first started "snapping" his punches, he was training in TKD with Jhoon Rhee. The story was told, but unverified, that at one workout, Ali knocked Rhee out, and left for the dressing room. When he came to, Rhee followed him and called him back, and told him "Class not over", and proceeded to knock him out during the TKD class.

As for Ali's style of boxing, I think he pared it down to whoever his opponent was, and changed it accordingly. "Stand up" fighters that stayed in one place got the "dance"; those that were "bob and weave" type, got the straight in advance and retreat; those that moved around got hemmed up in the corners, so he took away whatever their strongest weapon was, and used his mouth to not only intimidate the fighters, but to make the public see something other than a fighter out there... it was either a hero or a pariah, depending on whether or not you liked him.

Here's a picture of Ali...

The footwork in that clip was amazing. Perfect to keep him out of range except when he wanted.

I remember an interview on BBC (I think) where an ordinary fan was out walking his little daughter when he met Ali on a training run. He introduced him to his daughter and told her, "This is the greatest boxer in the world". Ali got down next to the little girl and said, "I only say I'm the greatest because it sells tickets".

I always thought it was a sign of how Ali's trash-talking was not meant to be taken too seriously by the way he parodied himself in adverts on TV:

There was the burger one where he is ranting away "I'm so great I don't realise how great I am!" and his mother tells him to shut up and eat his burger "fills even the biggest mouths". Then there was the Unigate milk adverts with the Humphries (straws that drank your unigate milk)where he recited his poems... Brut aftershave etc.

Of course, his trash-talking didn't amuse Smoking Joe, who apparently still hasn't forgiven him.