Is this true what Bruce Lee said?

PhotonGuy

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I heard that Bruce Lee once said he would lose in a fight against Mohammad Ali. He said, "Look at my hand, its a small Chinese hand, he'd kill me!" It doesn't sound like something Bruce Lee would say.
 

Tony Dismukes

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I heard that Bruce Lee once said he would lose in a fight against Mohammad Ali. He said, "Look at my hand, its a small Chinese hand, he'd kill me!" It doesn't sound like something Bruce Lee would say.

if you don't read it in a book authored by Lee, or in an interview with a reputable journalist, or reported by a close friend or family member, I would be very skeptical of any supposed Bruce Lee quotes you come across.

Bruce Lee was a big fan of Ali and studied his footwork, but I've never read the quote you mention.
 

jks9199

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I don't know... I can see it as a joke or off the cuff comment somewhere. I'd suspect, though, that it would have been followed up by something like "so I'd have to kick him in the knee."

Can you point out the source, PhotonGuy?
 

drop bear

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Makes sense though.Ali was a top heavyweight fighter.
 
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PhotonGuy

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Just because you're bigger than the other guy or because you've got bigger hands than the other guy doesn't mean you will beat them in a fight.
 

Dirty Dog

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Just because you're bigger than the other guy or because you've got bigger hands than the other guy doesn't mean you will beat them in a fight.

Perhaps not in the generic sense.
However. When the heavyweight champion of the world hits someone who (although a gifted martial artist) is half his size and not even a professional fighter, you're not going to find many people foolish enough to bet on the little guy.
You do know that there are very good reasons why fights are divided by the size of the fighter, right?


Sent from an old fashioned 300 baud acoustic modem by whistling into the handset. Really.
 

Xue Sheng

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Never heard this before and not trying to say either way, but have you ever watched Ali throw punches when he was fighting, he has a heck of a reach and he is fast.

Watch the first part of this


First time I noticed it was, when I was a kid, and he was on Candid Camera, also after he retired and was diagnosed with Parkinson's he stood up and threw a few on the old Arsenio Hall show and got Arsenio to jump backwards over the couch and duck for cover, He was still fast and you could see the power still.

He was an impressive fighter.
 
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Drose427

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It could be possible. I can't remember where I read it, but I read somewhere that when asked if he really could beat Chuck Norris in a fight his response was something along the lines of, " Well I'm an actor and he's a professional fighter.."
 

Buka

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Ali was one of a kind. I've been a huge fan since I was a kid. My guess about what Bruce Lee said probably had to do with good manners.

Also, I don't remember which fight of Ali's this was, but at one of them Joe Lewis was sitting ringside. They had met before, but I don't know if it was a brief meeting or what. Anyway, as Ale was leaving the ring he joked at Lewis. Lewis promptly took him down and mounted him. Everyone freaked. It was broken up quickly. Lewis wasn't trying to hurt him, he just didn't take to being teased in public.
I would have loved to have seen that.
 
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PhotonGuy

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My source of this rumor about what Bruce Lee said was on a discussion board about Bruce Lee in IMDB.com As for Lewis taking down and mounting Ali, that sounds more like a Gracie thing. Joe Lewis was a kickboxer.
 

Buka

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My source of this rumor about what Bruce Lee said was on a discussion board about Bruce Lee in IMDB.com As for Lewis taking down and mounting Ali, that sounds more like a Gracie thing. Joe Lewis was a kickboxer.

Joe Lewis was a wee bit more than a kick boxer. :)
 

Buka

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I'm sure no disrespect was intended towards Lewis or anyone else. We just all be talkin'. :)
 

Reedone816

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I read about bruce lee have high respect for ali that he watched ali fight video many-many times.
But no mention about his small hand though.
If I'm not mistaken it is in a bruce lee biography written by his karateka friend with the approval from lee wive.
I used to have the book years ago but one of my friend borrowed it and never return it.
And what unique about the book is that it tried to be as close to the fact, like the blurry wong jack man episode, the book told several angles and gives his most likely true scenario and saying that event as the transformation from a wc bruce to a legendary bruce.
And another one is the book try to potray bruce as a human with plus and minuses, especially about bruce emotional state when teaching and how bad he was when he was near his death.
Sent from my RM-943_apac_indonesia_207 using Tapatalk
 

Buka

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I read about bruce lee have high respect for ali that he watched ali fight video many-many times.
But no mention about his small hand though.
If I'm not mistaken it is in a bruce lee biography written by his karateka friend with the approval from lee wive.
I used to have the book years ago but one of my friend borrowed it and never return it.
And what unique about the book is that it tried to be as close to the fact, like the blurry wong jack man episode, the book told several angles and gives his most likely true scenario and saying that event as the transformation from a wc bruce to a legendary bruce.
And another one is the book try to potray bruce as a human with plus and minuses, especially about bruce emotional state when teaching and how bad he was when he was near his death.
Sent from my RM-943_apac_indonesia_207 using Tapatalk

And Lee watched Ali's tapes inverted. Lee reportedly had a huge collection of fight films. This was long ago before computers and the VCR. Lee would set up the projector, sit the opposite way and watch it on a full length mirror so he could study Ali as a southpaw. He was way ahead of his time.
 

punisher73

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I have read that statement before between Ali and Lee. It wasn't Lee that said it though. It was in an interview with someone else asking who would have won the fight. The person was a fighter who had trained with or knew Bruce Lee. Right now, my memory escapes me who the interview was with though.
 

Marnetmar

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Bruce was a fan of Ali but just going off of his personality type, I seriously doubt he said that.
 
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