Muhammad Ali vs. Jimmy Ellis

Last updated

Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Ellis fought each other in a boxing match at the Astrodome in Houston on July 26, 1971. Ali won the bout through a technical knockout when the referee stopped the fight in the twelfth round. This was Ali's first boxing match after Fight of the Century, [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] and had originally been scheduled as a bout between Wilt Chamberlain, who had challenged him, then trained for the bout with Cus D'Amato, but later withdrew from the fight. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammad Ali</span> American boxer and activist (1942–2016)

Muhammad Ali was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "the Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century and is often regarded as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. He held the Ring magazine heavyweight title from 1964 to 1970. He was the undisputed champion from 1974 to 1978 and the WBA and Ring heavyweight champion from 1978 to 1979. In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Foreman</span> American boxer, minister, and entrepreneur (born 1949)

George Edward Foreman is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he competed between 1967 and 1997 and was nicknamed "Big George". He is a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. As an entrepreneur, he is known for the George Foreman Grill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck Wepner</span> American boxer (born 1939)

Charles "Chuck" Wepner is an American former professional boxer. He fell just nineteen seconds short of a full fifteen rounds against world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in a 1975 championship fight. Wepner also scored notable wins over Randy Neumann and former world heavyweight champion Ernie Terrell. He was also the last man to fight former undisputed world heavyweight champion Sonny Liston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fight of the Century</span> 1971 boxing match

Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali, billed as The Fight Of The Century or simply The Fight, was a heavyweight championship boxing match between WBA, WBC, and The Ring heavyweight champion Joe Frazier and former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world Muhammad Ali, on Monday, March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Ellis (boxer)</span> American boxer

James Albert Ellis was an American professional boxer. He won the vacant WBA heavyweight title in 1968 by defeating Jerry Quarry, making one successful title defense in the same year against Floyd Patterson, before losing to Joe Frazier in 1970.

Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks was a professional boxing match contested on February 15, 1978, in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the WBA, WBC, and The Ring heavyweight championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton</span> Boxing competitions

Muhammad Ali fought three professional boxing matches against Ken Norton between 1973 and 1976. Ali won the series 2–1, though the final fight was highly controversial.

Muhammad Ali fought two boxing matches with George Chuvalo. The first bout took place on March 29, 1966; and the second on May 1, 1972. Ali won both fights through unanimous decisions on points.

Cassius Clay and Archie Moore fought a boxing match on November 15, 1962, in Los Angeles. The fight is notable for being Clay's first professional fight in the modern heavyweight division, and featured two iconic fighters at different ends of their careers.

Muhammad Ali and Joe Bugner fought two boxing matches with each other. Their first bout took place on 14 February 1973; and the second on 1 July 1975. Ali won both matches through unanimous decisions on points. The 1975 fight with Bugner was for the undisputed world Heavyweight title owned by Ali, it was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, making it the first and, as of 2021, only world Heavyweight title boxing fight held in that Asian country, and it was the last bout Ali fought before Ali's Thrilla in Manila, his third fight with arch-rival Joe Frazier.

Heavyweight boxers Muhammad Ali and Oscar Bonavena fought at Madison Square Garden in New York City on December 7, 1970. Ali won the bout, his first at the current Madison Square Garden, through a technical knockout in the 15th round.

Muhammad Ali vs. Ernie Terrell was a professional boxing match contested on February 6, 1967, for the WBA, WBC, NYSAC, and The Ring heavyweight championships. The fight went 15 rounds, with Ali winning through a unanimous decision.

Muhammad Ali and Zora Folley fought at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 22, 1967. Ali won the bout by knocking out Folley in the seventh round. This would be Ali's last boxing match before his suspension from boxing.

Muhammad Ali and Cleveland Williams fought each other in a boxing match at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas on November 14, 1966. Ali won the bout through a technical knockout in the third round. Many experts and boxers, including Mike Tyson, regard Ali's performance in this fight to be the finest of his boxing career. This was also the fight in which Ali made famous the move he called the "Ali shuffle".

Muhammad Ali and Buster Mathis fought each other in a twelve-round boxing match at the Astrodome in Houston on November 17, 1971. Ali dominated the fight throughout and won easily on points. Ali knocked Mathis down twice in the eleventh round and twice again in the final round but refused to move in for a knockout out of compassion for Mathis. Ali had joked before the fight that "I'm going to do to Buster what the Indians did to Custer". One of the fight posters promoting the match said "Be there when the Mountain comes to Muhammad".

Muhammad Ali and Mac Foster fought each other in a fifteen-round boxing match in Tokyo on April 1, 1972. Ali won the fight on points through a unanimous decision.

Cassius Clay fought Argentine Alex Miteff in a ten-round boxing match in Louisville on October 7, 1961. Clay won the fight through a technical knockout when the referee stopped the fight in the sixth round. Miteff and Clay would feature in the 1962 film Requiem for a Heavyweight.

The Cassius Clay vs. Alonzo Johnson ten-round boxing match between Cassius Clay and Alonzo Johnson was held in Louisville, Kentucky on July 22, 1961. Cassius Clay won the bout on points with a unanimous decision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boxing career of Muhammad Ali</span> Overview of Muhammad Alis boxing career

Muhammad Ali is widely regarded by many boxing commentators and historians as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. Boxing magazine The Ring named him number 1 in a 1998 ranking of greatest heavyweights from all eras. In 1999, The Associated Press voted Ali the number one heavyweight of the 20th century. In 1999, Ali was named the second greatest boxer in history, pound for pound, by ESPN; behind only welterweight and middleweight legend Sugar Ray Robinson. In December 2007, ESPN listed Ali second in its choice of the greatest heavyweights of all time, behind Joe Louis. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1990.

Boxing on ABC refers to a series of boxing events that have been televised on the American Broadcasting Company. Many of these events aired under the Wide World of Sports banner which began on April 11, 1964 when challenger Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, defeated champion Sonny Liston in the seventh round. ABC's final boxing card occurred on June 17, 2000.

References

  1. Thomas Hauser (1991). Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times . Simon & Schuster. pp.  240–1.
  2. Felix Dennis; Don Atyeo (2003). Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years. miramax books. pp. 190–2.
  3. "He Has Heavy Things On His Mind". Sports Illustrated. 26 July 1971. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  4. "END OF A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP". Sports Illustrated. 2 August 1971. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  5. "Victor, at 220½, in Command of Houston Bout". The New York Times. 27 July 1971. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  6. O'Reilly, Terry (August 30, 2018). "Achilles Heel Advertising: Repositioning the Competition". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved March 27, 2016.