Muhammad Ali at Australian TV Awards show. (1978-ish)

The compare (legendary Bert Newton) says "I like the boy". In America 'boy' was a racist term directed at black people...however in Australia this context did not exist. Ali takes it all in stride AND is very witty in 'playing' along with Bert. Anyone who can keep up with Bert is gifted!

[@vdeferens]

Ali knew that Bert had no idea that in the US that would be offensive. Its Australia after all, not South Central. He was a true gentleman, just pulled Bert's leg for a bit. No one was offended, there was no racism here. Just two great entertainers the likes of which we will never see again.

[@poeterritory]

Watching this after hearing the news of his passing. R.I.P. Legend.

[@narutobaben]

Same

[@dingdingding2190]

Muhammad passed in 2016.

[@shxtgigs4662]

Mate it’s the most wholesome thing you will ever watch 😂😂😂 to legends touching shoulders

[@peterosmond5742]

@@dingdingding2190 yeh but the other guy died around November- December when the OP comment was written

[@ozwunder69]

​@@dingdingding2190 www.9news.com.au/national/bert-newton-to-be-given-state-funeral-in-melbourne-as-country-farewells-beloved-tv-icon/9d5da197-dca1-42b9-94b1-488b1a15405e#:~:text=Bert%20had%20been%20battling%20complications,attitude%2C%22%20Mrs%20Newton%20said.

[@doinitagherman6]

Greetings from Moldova, thank you for keeping Ali's memory alive.😊🌸💪👏👍

[@cherryonfire81]

Rest In Peace to both legends each in his own field 😢

[@lightspeed388]

Much respect Muhammad Ali. Bert Newton's "I like the boy" was said many, many times before the famous encounter with Muhammad Ali. He meant absolutely NOTHING!! by it.

[@IanTester]

Wasn't it from an ad?

[@Trance503]

True

[@lightspeed388]

@@IanTester I think so, but Burt Newton used to say it all the time. It was one of his famous phrases.

[@ReturnOfTheJ.D.]

@@lightspeed388 Unfortunately, Australia and the USA have operated under the false premise that they understand each other implicity for far too long, and this is one of the outcomes of it. The histories are extremely different, and this proves it.

[@samueldearnaley101]

RIP to two of the greatest entertainers

[@combivan4346]

RIP Bert. The Logies weren't the same when you left! I was a kid and looked forward to it!

[@scubajunkie6591]

Rip Bert , you were the greatest for Australian TV ! 😪. We've lost a legend !

[@NadeemHayek]

In the old clips of Joe Frazier, Ali used to call him “boy” and when Frazier said “excuse me” Ali would answer him that he said “Roy”.. This is an old pun joke Ali used to practice so when the man here said “boy” Ali found it a chance to practice this joke again.. Ali heard him well but just wanted to play as usual 👻

[@IJones-yz6qm]

NadeemHayek.... Ur absolutely correct my brother... Anytime anyone said boy Ali would use that Roy line..

[@Will-nb8qk]

Spot on! Both rest in peace now. 🙏🏿

[@Sento35]

R.I.P To the Greatest!

[@boriskarloff9992]

John Smith the greatest is Pele and then Bradman. They dominated their sports to a greater degree. Laver, Gretzky and Charlesworth can also make their claims to be better than Ali

[@iamtman1]

Boris you're wrong! And what does boxing have to do with soccer, tennis ,hockey , etc in their sport. Clearly JC Typo is talking about boxing when referring to Ali as the GOAT! And he was. Who the hell is Bradman anyway?? And by the way Federer not Laver is the tennis goat .

[@user-gg1ud3ie5p]

Bert died?

[@jerusalem5646]

@@user-gg1ud3ie5p yes 👍🏼 just now 🤣✡️

[@shehannanayakkara4162]

@@user-gg1ud3ie5p Lol looks like you jinxed it

[@PrimeAliProductions]

Damn man. Muhammad Ali already showing signs of Parkinson's in this clip. Great Champ, GOAT!!!!

[@jackez89]

I agree, you know what sometimes accidents happen, it is true that different cultures around the world have varied and different sensitiveness to certain words and phrases but it's simple to see if someone is using a word in a jovial and friendly manner or if it's being used for hatred and hurt.

[@jimchang8907]

RIP to both

[@andrewherbert8125]

He is The Greatest, have followed his career for years, best ever. Muhammad Ali was not too bad either.

[@icurhuman2]

It made the newspapers when it happened and most Australians discovered "boy"was a racist expression when directed at an African-American. It was a learning thing...

[@blindtoby8967]

I was in Dallas Texas & the porter was called Roy ....He took offence to me calling him Roy...

[@PushyPawn]

RIP BERT NEWTON

[@suica78]

RIP Bert.

[@mobius3001]

for a moment bert was terrified, but all in all a classic television moment. fly high, mr newton.

[@TheSimMan]

RIP, Bert ❤️

[@50jun]

Bert met many famous people,who would of ever thought now of Bert's passing We would be here watching him receive a Logi from none other then Mohamed Ali... while haming it up cracking jokes!

[@rogermouton2273]

Bert meant nothing by it, and Ali was an intelligent man. I've no doubt he quickly realised that the word doesn't have the same connotation in Australia, and there was no malice whatsoever. A man like Ali takes no shit, and had he thought it was intended as a racist slur, I expect he would have left the stage rather than continue to kid around.

[@ozwunder69]

Karmal got no such quarter.. why are people so unkind

[@Trance503]

The best by Bert ever, "I like the boy" is so evergreen it will never ever be forgotten RIP Bert Newton

[@vbvbvb088]

No worries! - Fortunately was all on one DVD but scattered throughout so I had to disect the dvd and re-assemble. Easy to do but fiddly and time consuming.but well worth it for this powerful piece of OZ TV history.

[@phillipnorton8661]

In Australia this is still not a racist term if sport broadcasts are anything to go by. Announcers still refer to players of each football code as 'boys', no matter what their ethnicity including aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Sudanese, Fijian whatever. It's not an issue.

[@benh9935]

@@krystal5887 He did realise that which is why he's playing around with him.

[@benh9935]

@@krystal5887 Yeah he was. You can see him smiling. Ali did a lot of tongue and cheek where it wasn't clear if he was serious or playing.

[@serkankoldere]

@@krystal5887 By the looks of it you clearly aren't the sharpest tool in the shed you daft dipshit. Muhammad Ali was smiling and joking around. Did it look like he was offended?

[@maxanderson3733]

I like how Krystal deleted his comments like that made it go away. What a clone

[@dunkjohnson6890]

love this video R.I.P. champ

[@blingstababe]

I was looking for this ... Thank you.

[@marilynstevenson865]

Damn..this is good... I remember this so well...

[@halimkadir4289]

I really Luv u champ...! Loveliest man in e planet.!

[@basedbattledroid3507]

Rest in peace Muhammad and Burt

[@gdmclean]

you learn something new every day. Never knew that calling an african american boy had racist connotations.

[@hirdy6]

The host Bert Newton travelled throughout the world, plenty of us have.

[@chriswilson6494]

I wonder what's going through Bert's mind watching this @ this passing of this great sportsman.

[@blindtoby8967]

He might be getting the shit bashed out of him right now.

[@Electricshrock]

Whatever the connotations of the word, I can assure anyone that Bert used the term for people of all races. It was his catchphrase. He had absolutely no ill intention.

[@gregoryhoward2349]

Rip Bert Newton and Muhammad Ali

[@libertyordeaf]

Obviously "boy" not used in any racist or derogatory way but Ali was intelligent and knew that. Most of the furore of this came from other people getting offended on his behalf, as is often the case.

[@irishgodfatherchris]

@hakaboy6924 I was under the impression that "I like the boy" referred to Daryl Somers when him and Bert did adverts on Graham Kennedy's show when Bert played The Colonel.

[@WilliamKing-hf8lc]

What a Man!!!

[@TheKnobCalledTone.]

For those not old enough to remember (such as myself), there are older clips on YT where Bert uses "I like the boy!" as a catchphrase in various sketches and live ad reads. If that doesn't make the context clearer to those not born back then, I'm not sure what will.

[@yortko1]

No "I like the boy" was a kind of catch-phrase of Berts that he used during interviews where he had a rapport with the interviewed celebrity. Look up some other videos which show this.

[@onlyjoetee]

See,most boxers can't talk like this,can't entertain,don't have fluid speech and personality like this

[@ChannelEgoiste]

Classic aussie TV moment

[@DeadlyPants123]

RIP Ali

[@FromThe3021]

& DMX

[@yvngomari5334]

REST IN PEACE

[@downunderrob]

Bert seriously had no idea it was offensive. And Ali quickly worked it out as well. But if this happened now? He would have been crucified!

[@ReturnOfTheJ.D.]

If it's totally unintentionally offensive, as this was, and is not racist in the context of the country and people it's said in, which it wasn't, and was a standard phrase used by the host many times earlier in this kind of situation, as it was, then it's just an unfortunate event. Regrettable, but not racist in any way. I was only eight when the 70s ended and even I definitely remember Bert using that phrase in interviews, so he must have used it prolifically and this is just a bad coincidence.

[@kieranRRPP]

this is really interesting because i did not realise boy was a racist term. its used just as a word in england. or atleast to the best of my knowledge

[@TimChuma]

RIP Bert

[@tedcruz8myson]

That "oh shit" moment

[@TheCunningStunt]

@hawaiianrobot so this occurred in Australia, where it isn't blatantly racist. So therefore your point is moot. THis is why Bert was confused by the response, somethings are in the eye of the beholder, it's not what we say it is how we say it, the context in which we address it. If Bert wasn't addressing it in a racist context, then it can't be considered racist. But of course the Overly PC like to force their ways on everybody these days.

[@rodc2678]

About 2:22 you can see a primal snarl spring to Muhammad Ali's face. Bert should consider himself very lucky as I expect most people who have seen this close up would be unconscious in the seconds that followed.

[@PaddyIrishman]

Ali The greatest

[@celeste7391]

I understand why Ali reacted thanks way but at the same time in Australia it's not exactly known that "boy" was a racist term

[@dansharov6828]

Yeah but he was being a prick the whole time. He would of been knocked out in the first 30 seconds of this video if he wasn't on stage. The arrogance of Australians is unbelievable.

[@willo9372]

@UCf5ZfZI9KYcsnkSWaQuRshA haha shut the hell up you plum. They were having fun. Get a sense of humour.

[@YortOK]

You're an idiot. Ali was photographed kidding Bert on the cheek later that night after presenting him with his gold award.

[@gloriouswar9116]

@@dansharov6828 that’s one way to generalise a whole race

[@wufongtanwufong5579]

@@dansharov6828 Fancy calling others arrogant when you of the belief all cultures are the same

[@brontewcat]

Thankfully Ali was well travelled enough to realise that not everyone English speaker uses American English and when you visit another country you learn not to take offense when none is intended. BTW - travelling O/S from Australia was and still is very expensive. It cost then nearly the same as what it costs now to go to Europe - about $1500 - $2000 return - but in 1970s dollars. I don't think you can implicitly criticise anyone from Australia in the 1970s for not doing much travelling.

[@wufongtanwufong5579]

Australians were the ones who started the whole "backpacking" thing off. It wasn't unusual to meet Australians overseas. Like one British celeb said. That back in the 70's/80's you could be in the middle of nowhere in some remote 3rd world country and when you're signing in at the hotel, you would always see some Australians name who had already been there. But you're sort of right. NY, etc was to expensive for most Australians, so they would go visit some place more remote and less travelled, yrs before it became popular in other countries.

[@brontewcat]

@@wufongtanwufong5579 Yes there were a lot of Australians travelling then, but a lot more didn’t because it was just too expensive. The cost of return flights to Europe was about $1500 to $2000 in the 1970s. This is pretty much the same cost of a fare to Europe pre COVID. The average weekly wage in Australia the mid 1970s was about $150/week. It’s now about $1,400 per week, so in relative terms it is much cheaper today. So a lot of Australians did not travel overseas in the 1970s. I think a lot of Australians also did more land travel through Asia. So they would get a cheaper flight to an Asian destination and then travel overland to Europe or other places.

[@monkeynogo]

Penny Wong, Anthony Albanese, steve Georganus, Yvette D'Ath, Petro Georgiou, Luke Hartsuyker, Sophie Mirabella, Tanya Plibersek, Alex Somlyay, Maria Vamvakinou, Tony Zappia. Senators - Mark Arbib,Cory Bernardi,Catryna Bilyk, Eric Abetz, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Joe Ludwig, Nick Xenophon 3 of the 7 high court judges are women. I wonder how many black congressmen were voted in predominately white electorates?

[@SauronsEye]

The use of the word, "boy", does not have negative connotations in Australia as it does the US. I'm in my 40's and if I'm going to an event with only male friends, It wouldn't be unusual to say, "I'm going out with the boys tonight". The same can be said of an all female event, "They're going out with the girls tonight".

[@IJones-yz6qm]

SauronsEye. Exactly. He meant nothing by it.. It’s just here in America; it’s frowned upon by black Americans when a white man calls a black man boy..

[@oceanbreeze3928]

Ask aboriginals, aussies use the term boy to be disrespectful. It was racist

[@SauronsEye]

@@oceanbreeze3928Following on from my comment 8 years before this one. I've never heard anyone call anyone, "boy", in Australia in an attempt to be disrespectful. What Bert Newton said was actually complimentary, from an Australian cultural point of view. This is proven by Bert's clear confusion as to Muhammad Ali's reaction. To claim Bert was being racist or even insulting at that moment is deliberately ignoring the Australia context of Bert's statement. Your comment @OceanBreeze is an attempt to inject racism into a statement that was never there. That's laziness. It's lazy because you are projecting US culture onto Australia. The event took place in Australia. Directed at an Australian audience. The position you're taking @OceanBreeze is not, in anyway a sophisticated view of the world.

[@oceanbreeze3928]

@@SauronsEye Australia is influenced by the US. It is also a European colony based upon racial supremacy like the US. If it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck and looks like a duck, then it's a duck. No one is creating division, the division has always been there, and that was created from greed and ensuing racial construct to justify that greed and crimes committed. If you want to be sophisticated then use your intellect and research the facts.

[@bongoman9578]

@@oceanbreeze3928 *A british prison colony where more or less no black people were banished to

[@Mob01971]

What a champion!

[@EnglishKeenan]

After years of seeing this on television I never understood what it ment, I originally thought it was Bert offending Muham Mad Ali by calling him a boy rather than a man but I learnt on a radio show today it was a racist term!

[@bongoman9578]

not in Australia at the time

[@ryanomahony2060]

MR BERT V RUDE TO THE GREATEST !!

[@Dougs90]

good effort getting the whole thing.. hard to find

[@kayanclarke5216]

If Ali was younger he would have been an underground rapper.

[@kateotoole6690]

2:09 I Like The Boy

[@noorhany8090]

انا أحبك يا محمد علي

[@themindminder]

2:09 Mattew Newton is born.

[@brontewcat]

Don't be stupid. Australians do not and at the time did not use "boy" as a perjoritive racial term and at the time (1979) many (including Bert) Australians did not know other countries used it this way. Bert truly did not know the tern was racist in the US. Don't forget Ali was a guest in Australia at the time and I think he was a true gentleman because he realised his host did not know of its other use and did not make a point.

[@ozgday]

Thank you so much for posting... and the explanation! I've seen the footage many times and had no idea 'boy' was racist.

[@rezuldazzle]

thanks for posting it up

[@tc88888888]

it's an australian thing, more specifically it's a burt newton thing, he calls everyone that.

[@jitterstheclown]

It was a pretty tense moment though

[@monkeynogo]

don't have one ... it was taught regularly in school that those two were the most mulitcultural along woth Canada. The other info is under mulitculturalism in Wikipedia. Not entirely sure what it was based on I think it was that Australia had people people from more countries (over 200) then anyone else. Also don't assume that because Australia is predominately white it is british. In HS my friends were predominately white but they were lithuanian, dutch, german, Italian, ukranian.

[@Donal111]

anyone have his previous interview when he was on a giant screen, was being interviwed in Australia just before this.

[@hakaboy6924]

@angelzpoo it doesn't but Bert the host was in a skit show and that was a popular punchline to one. You can tell by his face that he has no idea what it meant to Ali

[@quizmaster85]

It's from 1979.

[@m0cha.]

@Outrajess I don't think we need to start labeling words as offensive to our country when they aren't. Calling someone "boy", no matter which race, should not be offensive. It's a statement of gender or general identity, just like "Hey, man" as a greeting. It isn't offensive here. Maybe overseas, but not here.

[@srinivaspillai4622]

Even if it was racial term, Mohammed Ali could it, but it was not racial, it was all in good light, Mohammed Ali was a sportsman, a true sportsman with a heart of love to one and all, mean to all section of class, great, we will never see a sportsman like him, rest in peace sir, God bless your family.

[@kateotoole6690]

This Is From 1979

[@mitch19636]

Men in Australia Still get called BOYS or BLOKES. Same as Women in Australia still get called GIRLS or SHEILAS.

[@DouglasZwick]

He sure was a class act.

[@jhqw7u676yfw143t]

it was the slogan of a kfc ad at the time. kfc ads often have racist undertones.

[@brontewcat]

I think it derives from countries where whites hire black people as servants. The male servants were called houseboys or boys. I used to be very puzzled by girls with whom I attended school in the 1970s, who lived in Papua New Guinea before Independence, because they would refer toi their "boys" meaning servants. I used to puzzle because I thought it odd all their servants were under 21 (acutally 18 by that time)..

[@jespersorensen4462]

Ali - The Greatest - Human Being. (made most interviewers look contrived)

[@mikedemike5393]

Bert Newton used the phrase when he would parady colonel sanders of KFC fame....So he would speak in a southern drawl....

[@TheCunningStunt]

yeah as it says this is an insult in America, but hey this is Australia and our slang is different, reminds me of Harry Connick Jnr making a fuss out of nothing. This is why Ali was cool with Bert after it was explained that it was a catch phrase Bert used in his show with Graham Kennedy. Sometimes people see racism where it doesn't exist because they want to see it.

[@roseadams8003]

Sweetheart

[@fuckdefed]

It’s obvious from context and tone of voice that no offence was intended, this is a storm in a teacup. Using the word ‘boy’ like this is or was a fairly unremarkable event in Britain or Australia and I’m fairly sure the same is true in the rest of the Commonwealth (excluding Canada?) and Ireland. People would be more likely to say ‘lad’ these days though, at least in Britain and Ireland. I am slightly surprised by the claims here that ‘boy’ was never used to describe black servants or black people generally outside of the US though - I’m sure I’ve heard British expats in the days of the Empire in British films use the word that way and I’ve heard white South Africans use it more recently than that.

[@MrLargeForce]

to save sometime 2:30

[@_4800]

Мухаммад Али был гением !!!Этот короткий ролик , тому доказательство)

[@genericgeorge]

Pretty awkward interview from the start

[@chrisr5786]

It was all staged people. He knew he was going to say it

[@richardwilliamjohnson8566]

Had to read the comments to see why it was offensive hahaha

[@rachidbenali1026]

Allah yarhamek y'a Mohamed Ali grand champion et grand monsieur au paradis inchaallah.

[@denissssss8579]

What the heck are they talking about? Why is everyone laughing?

[@Nahasapasa]

Lol at the lying women in the audience shouting "he said Roy!"

[@StreetKxd]

We like roy

[@vhfanjack]

Where was Harry Conick Jr. this time? :P

[@NicBunnymen]

Personally I feel that Newton intentionally said 'I like the Boy'.

[@RoasterMcdougalify]

nah it was garden variety ignorance. Australia was (and still is) pretty isolated from the outside word back in those days. Although it was a racist term in Ali's world, it was nothing in Bert's, that is why he didnt know what he had said wrong when he saw ali was upset.

[@YortOK]

Being isolated geographically is not ignorance. Australia is the third Anglo realm after Britain itself and America. We have our own slang terms, cultural idiosyncrasies, everything that others do. But why should we keep up with the racial OBSCENITIES of other countries. In my opinion Ali was smart enough to know this, he just didn't let it go in passing. I get the feeling his reaction would have been very different if he genuinely thought he was being vilified racially.

[@boriskarloff9992]

He had no idea offended. He had to apologize even though he had done nothing wrong. The person here at fault is Ali. He goes to another country and he is offended. When in Rome!!!. American English terms, slang and idiom are different to Australian English ones. Even English English is different.

[@erickarwel6711]

Of course because you personally 'feel' he intentionally meant it in a racial way it must be true because that is 'your truth' right? That's how things work these days with social justice warrior types who need safe spaces.

[@Chris-vi9nh]

@@boriskarloff9992 Ali was a guest of honour. They were poor hosts.

[@MartintheMetalhead]

That's like asking for a Black Coffee in America

[@TheCunningStunt]

@onedoomedspacemarine or it might of been on Don Lane's show....

[@BigJAG2004]

He did have a right to be offended by it, but Bert just didn't know better. You're only racist if you actually know better and still do it.

[@BigJAG2004]

He wasn't racist, he just didn't know or forgot that Boy is racist.

[@Warlock786]

Ali would seem normal here for most people. But for people who already have seen him speak they would notice his Parkinsons is kicking in.

[@monkeynogo]

Of the Australian population 20% were born overseas and 50% have at least one parent born overseas. Taking in migrants means nothing by way of multiculturalism, unless it's based per capita. Australia is ranked 18th by way of migrant intake, and it's certainly not the 18thth most populated country in the world at 22 million. Most multicultural country - Israel 2nd - Australia