I've seen several Joe Louis interviews where he displays his quick wit and "dry" humour. One example is him sarcastically apologizing to Jersey Joe Walcott who claimed that he had been hit while talking to the referee. Another when he was asked about whether he likes his new job as a promoter and the possibility of a comeback to which Louis responded that he would rather just promote fights as you didn't get hit while promoting. I believe Louis also told Ali that he would better wake up and apologize if he dreamed of beating him. Ali later used the line several times. The "he can run but he can't hide" line was also Joe Louis's as described by many news reporters who asked him about the second Billy Conn fight.
I didnt say they did not .I would hardly put Louis in the same class as either of those mentioned though would you?
Another line attributed to Louis:While waiting in line outside a nightclub,a friend said to Louis,"Champ you are Joe Louis,don't they kknow who you are?"Louis responded by saying If you have to tell them who you are -you ain't."
Johnson was a man with a genius IQ trapped in an era where he was expected to take a lowly role in society based on the colour of his skin. That was always going to be an explosive combination. His interigence was always going to find an outlet, and it was probably going to be a confrontational one under these circumstances.
Much of Ali's most famous lines were given to him in advance too. Was Ali smart? He should have retired much sooner, was the puppet of the Nation of Islam, and according to Larry Holmes was in with some real ugly women. Ali was a gifted showman, but not smart.
Joe was not an educated man but had a natural common sense that the educated idiots can not learn....Joe was a smart and decent man and he was the greatest Heavyweight of all time. when you see Joe in interviews and see his spontaneous answers you can see he is highly intelligent...if you are intellegent enough to see