The rebuilding of his career following the time when he was barred from the ring for draft evasion was completed in 1974.
The Louisville Lip's 1971 loss to Joe Frazier when both were undefeated stuck with him. The rematch at Madison Square Garden January 28 could be seen only on closed-circuit television, but anyone with an antenna could see the buildup on ABC, culminating in a bit of a scuffle on Wide World of Sports. Smokin' Joe tried to prevent Ali from getting into his head, and it seemed to be working before their encounter in the studio.
The full tale of the tape can be found in newspapers of January 27, and the full results in papers of the 29th. BoxRec shows that the twelve-round fight was closer in referee Tony Perez's mind than in those of the judges. He saw Ali as the winner of six rounds and Frazier as the winner of five, the other one being a draw. Tony Castellano had Ali down as the 7-4-1 winner, and Jack Gordon's score was 8-4.
Later that year, Ali had his match with unbeaten champion George Foreman, victor over both men who'd beaten Ali. The bout was a big break for Don King, who coined the famous name for it. The combatants trained in what was then known as Zaire, and Ali charmed the locals into supporting him for the bout that began October 30, 4 a.m. local time.
It was thought to be a cinch for the younger and stronger of the two men, so the guys in Big George's corner figured what he had was going to be enough for a quick win. After eight rounds of fast punches, Ali won the fight of his life and the world championship.
Those fights were important to an outstanding career that for years had a place in the ESPN Sports Almanac. What's more, they cemented Ali's place in popular culture and sports history.
EDIT 2/4/2023 9:22 a.m. EST: Link to BoxRec changed
No comments:
Post a Comment