It was 1964, and a young, loud-mouthed kid from Louisville had just done the unthinkable. He’d beaten Sonny Liston. While the rest of the press corps stood around with their jaws on the floor, one man—a balding, nasal-voiced former lawyer from Brooklyn—was right there in the middle of the ring.
"Let go of the mic," Howard Cosell said.
That was the start. It wasn't just a sports interview. It was the birth of a double act that would redefine how we watch TV. Honestly, if you look at them on paper, it makes zero sense. You had Muhammad Ali, the most beautiful and polarizing athlete on the planet, paired with Howard Cosell, a man who looked like he’d been assembled from spare parts in a radio studio.
But they worked. They worked because they were both outsiders who refused to play the game by the old rules.
The Night Everything Changed for Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell
When Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali, the white establishment lost its collective mind. Most journalists flat-out refused to use his new name. They called it a "gimmick" or an insult to the sport. They kept calling him "Clay" like they were trying to erase his identity.
Not Howard.
Cosell was one of the first major media figures to say, "If your name is Muhammad Ali, I will call you Muhammad Ali." That wasn't just professional courtesy. In the 1960s, that was a political statement. It signaled to Ali that Cosell wasn't just another guy looking for a soundbite. He was a guy who respected a man's right to define himself.
The Draft and the Defense
Things got real in 1967. When Ali refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army, the world turned on him. He was stripped of his title, his license, and his livelihood. People were calling him a traitor and a coward.
Cosell, the lawyer, saw it differently. He didn't just report on the controversy; he defended Ali’s legal right to due process. While other announcers were busy acting like judges and juries, Howard was on Wide World of Sports explaining the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.
He’d get hate mail—nasty, ugly stuff—calling him a "nigger-loving Jew." He didn't care. Or maybe he did, but he never let it show on camera. He kept Ali in the public eye during those three "exile" years, giving him a platform when no one else would.
The Banter: A Masterclass in Chemistry
If the politics were the foundation, the banter was the skyscraper. You've probably seen the clips. Ali threatening to "peel that rug" off Howard’s head. Cosell calling Ali "truculent" or telling him he was "not the man he was ten years ago."
It was a performance, sure, but it was built on genuine affection.
They were like a vaudeville team. Howard played the "straight man," the self-important intellectual who used big words to sound sophisticated. Ali was the trickster, the guy who used humor and speed to poke holes in Howard’s ego.
💡 You might also like: UFC Champion: Who Actually Holds the Gold Right Now?
- The "Rug" Jokes: Ali was obsessed with Howard's hairpiece. He’d reach for it during interviews, and Howard would duck with this mock-outraged expression.
- The Big Words: Howard would drop words like "internecine" or "vicissitudes," and Ali would just blink and tell him he was "too small and too ugly" to be talking that way.
- The Mutual Respect: Beneath the insults, there was a deep level of trust. Ali knew Howard wouldn't throw him a curveball he couldn't handle, and Howard knew Ali would always give him the best "copy" in the business.
Why Their Bond Still Matters Today
Kinda makes you wonder if we’ll ever see anything like it again. Today, everything is so managed. Athletes have their own social media teams and "personal brands." Every interview is scrubbed clean by three different PR agents before it hits the air.
Ali and Cosell were raw. They were unpredictable. They’d argue about the Vietnam War one minute and joke about Howard's "stuttering" the next.
Lessons in Integrity
What people often miss is that both men were incredibly lonely in their positions. Ali was the most hated man in America for a long time. Cosell was arguably the most hated man in sports broadcasting because he refused to be a "homer" for the leagues.
They found a safe harbor in each other.
👉 See also: Who is Really on the Cast of ESPN College Football This Season?
When Ali turned 50, a very sick Howard Cosell sent him a video message. It wasn't the usual "happy birthday" fluff. He told him, "You are exactly who you said you are. You never wavered." That's the ultimate compliment from one "original" to another.
What You Can Take Away from the Ali-Cosell Dynamic
Looking back at the relationship between Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell, it’s not just about boxing or TV ratings. It’s about how we treat people who are different from us.
- Respect the Name: When someone tells you who they are, believe them. Using Ali's name was Howard's way of acknowledging Ali's humanity.
- Stand Your Ground: Both men faced massive career risks for their beliefs. History eventually vindicated them both, but it was a long, cold walk to get there.
- Find the Humor: Even in the middle of a legal battle for his life, Ali found ways to laugh. Humor isn't just a distraction; it’s a survival mechanism.
If you want to dive deeper into this, don't just watch the fight highlights. Go find the "Wide World of Sports" interviews from 1968 or 1969. Watch the body language. Watch the way they look at each other when the other one is talking.
You'll see two men who realized that even if they didn't agree on everything, they were both playing for the same team: the team of people who refused to be told what to think.
To truly understand this era, start by watching the 1974 "Studio Brawl" footage with Joe Frazier, where Cosell somehow managed to keep narrating while two heavyweights rolled around on the floor. It perfectly captures the chaos and the brilliance of that time. Next, look up Cosell's final tribute to Ali—it’s a reminder that at the end of the day, loyalty is the only thing that actually sticks.