“Wilt Chamberlain, cut off that beard because I ain’t fighting no Billy Goat!”: When Muhammad Ali was ANIMATED during plans of fight between him and NBA legend

Wilt Chamberlain is known for his incredible feats of strength and athleticism – Muhammad Ali was not scared of him one bit.

From palming two basketballs at 18 to dunking on people without breaking a sweat, Wilt Chamberlain’s stories have been mythicized. The man played in an era where video technology was just about getting better, so there is little proof to authenticate those claims, which is what provides that mystery to his claims.

But just by looking at his sheer frame, there should be little to no doubt that everything said about him should be true. He could throw 300 pounds around like they were a couple of grapes, but that did not scare Muhammad Ali. The greatest boxer there ever was, Ali was on every kid’s wall, mind and heart.

The man floated about in the ring, and nobody could touch him. It was as if he was in “ultra instinct” mode. So when the producers and ABC tried to set up a fight between these two heavy hitters in 1967, Ali took offense. He was at the peak of his powers, just about to defend his heavyweight title against Zora Folley.

Also Read: “Wilt Chamberlain wouldn’t block your shot, he’d catch your shot!”: 17 year old ‘Wilt the Stilt’ reached the back of the backboard to deny opponents

Wilt Chamberlain was a brash man with a cocky attitude – even he had to stay subdued in from of the Champ

Wilt the Stilt may have battled Bill Russell, Jerry West, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but none posed a greater threat to him physically than the Greatest. Despite having a foot over him both in height and reach, one look into Ali’s eyes and he knew he would face some sweet chin music if he let his guard down.

“Reach doesn’t mean nothing if he doesn’t find no one to hit”. Ali was such a badass and could easily knock down an Ox if he had to. It’s no wonder that Netflix has an anime “Baki” that deifies him. This was a MA before the cerebral palsy – a man who looked like he floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee.

Wilt was not one to back down, because he knew what he was worth. This fight was pushed for a lot, but Ali had a lot of controversies right after this clip aired. He was stripped of his titles because he refused to enroll in National Service, and when he came back in 1970, Joe Frazier whooped his ass. That ended all hopes of watching an Ali-Wilt fight, although it was touted to be one of the best exhibition fights ever.

Also Read: ‘Wilt Chamberlain wanted nothing but to sleep and party before a game’ – Pat Riley recalls how Wilt reacted to Bill Sharman’s modern-day shoot around