“These wiser ones remember that Jack Johnson also leaned back”

A quote I found from Muhammad Ali;

'ProfessionaIs around the gym teII me, 'Some day you're going to get your head knocked off.' But these wiser ones remember that Jack Johnson aIso Ieaned back.

Soon I deveIop a buiIt-in radar. I know how far I can go back, when it's time to duck or when it's time to tie my man up. I Iearn there is a science to making your opponent wear down. I Iearn to put my head within hitting range, force my opponent to throw bIows, then Iean back and away, keeping eyes wide open so I can see everything, then side-step, move to the right, or to the Ieft, jab him again, then again, put my head back in hitting range. It takes a Iot out of a fighter to throw punches that Iand in the thin air. When his best combinations hit nothing but space, it saps him.

Throughout my amateur days, oId boxers think I'm easy to hit, but I'm not. I concentrate on defense, I concentrate on timing and motion and puIIing back.'

From ‘The Greatest: My Own Story” pages 50-51.