Arnold Schwarzenegger recalled an encounter with Muhammad Ali, which summed up why the former heavyweight champion became one of the sport’s greatest icons.
Ali is arguably one of the greatest boxers to have ever lived for his feats both inside and outside of the ring. Ali held the Ring Magazine heavyweight title (1964-1970) and became the undisputed champion (1974-1978) in an illustrious career. At the same time, Schwarzenegger was making a name for himself in the world of body building. And after having started to gain some recognition, Schwarzenegger managed to break into Hollywood. Thereafter, further ventures into politics followed as the actor would go on to meet Ali. And in doing so, Schwarzenegger shared training sessions which is when the new-found respect for Ali emerged.
Muhammad Ali poses with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1970s. Legendary. pic.twitter.com/LMKtoSprKY
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“Do you remember the fight with George Foreman and how many times Foreman hit him in the waist? He flexed his abs and he could take the punishment, but how did he get there? I asked him ‘ how many reps do you do? In bodybuilding we do a thousand reps a day, so how many do you do?’ He said ‘I don’t start counting until it hurts’.To me, that said everything about his training,” Schwarzenegger said
Outside of the ring, Ali was equally full of conviction when it came to his beliefs. The former heavyweight champion was very outspoken in his opposition to the Vietnam War. Meanwhile, the boxer’s style has gone on to influence the very best with fighter’s such as Roy Jones Jr, Joe Calzaghe and Mike Tyson being very open about their admiration for Ali. And that influence continues to live on to this day.