Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Bugner II

The Fight of a Lifetime

Date	1 July 1975
Venue	Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Title(s) on the line	WBA, WBC and The Ring undisputed heavyweight championship
Tale of the tape
Boxer Muhammad Ali Joe Bugner Nickname "The Greatest" Hometown Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. Szőreg, Southern Great Plain, Hungary Purse $2,000,000 $500,000 Pre-fight record 47–2 (34 KO) 51–6–1 (30 KO) Age 33 years, 5 months 25 years, 3 months Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) Weight 224+1⁄2 lb (102 kg) 230 lb (104 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBA, WBC and The Ring undisputed Heavyweight Champion WBC No. 2 Ranked Heavyweight European Heavyweight Champion
Result
Ali defeated Bugner by 15th round Unanimous Decision

Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Bugner II, billed as The Fight of a Lifetime, was a professional boxing match contested on 1 July 1975, for the undisputed heavyweight championship. ^[1]

Background

The 1975 title fight with Bugner was Ali's third title defense since 1974, and was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and remains the only world heavyweight championship fight hosted in the nation's history. Being held in June, the location of the fight was very hot, creating difficulties for both men. ^[2] The two had fought two years earlier with Ali winning a competitive 12 round Unanimous Decision.

The fight

Despite the heat, Ali performed very well, fighting aggressively against the bigger challenger, forcing Joe against the ropes and clinching to prevent counters and also used his now famous rope-a-dope tactic minimally. Bugner lasted the 15 round distance, and once again neither man was knocked down, but Ali won the fight on points by a comfortable margin. ^[3]

Aftermath

This was Ali's last fight before the famous Thrilla in Manila, a third fight with Ali's arch-rival Joe Frazier. ^{[4] [5]}

Undercard

Confirmed bouts: ^[6]

Winner	Loser	Weight division/title belt(s) disputed	Result
Lionel Rose	Bomber Uchida	Super Feather (10 rounds)	Unanimous decision.
Bjorn Rudi	Levi Forte	Heavyweight (6 rounds)	3rd round KO.

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
Mexico	Televisa
Philippines	KBS 9
United Kingdom	BBC [7]

References

1. "Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Bugner (2nd meeting)". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
2. Felix Dennis; Don Atyeo (2003). Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years. miramax books. p. 238.
3. "On This Day: Muhammad Ali outclassed Joe Bugner to set up third fight with Joe Frazier". Boxing News. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
4. "How I gave Ali a white eye". Sydney Morning Herald. 27 January 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
5. Stephen Brunt (2002). Facing Ali. The Lyons Press. pp. 149–56.
6. "BoxRec - event".
7. "Ali v Bugner". bbc.co.uk/. BBC Programme Index. 1 July 1975. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.

Preceded by vs. Ron Lyle	Muhammad Ali's bouts 1 July 1975	Succeeded by vs. Joe Frazier III
Preceded by vs. Dante Cane	Joe Bugner's bouts 1 July 1975	Succeeded by vs. Richard Dunn