After struggling in his third fight with Ken Norton on September 28, 1976, Ali was forced to deal with a critical press and much of the public who felt he lost. His next fight in May with Alfredo Evangelista didn’t do anything to restore his fading image, since he didn’t show much in a distance, decision victory. At 35 and with a string of tough fights behind him, many were calling for him to hang up the gloves, but he loved the limelight too much to do it.
On September 29, 1977 Ali agreed to face the slugger Earnie Shavers at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The fight was broadcast live on NBC TV, but I wasn’t even aware of it until my mom told me about it. I then proceeded to wheel the 19-inch color TV from her bedroom into mine to watch the action for myself. As a senior in high school, I wasn’t a huge boxing fan, but anytime Ali fought, I certainly tuned in.
NBC decided to broadcast the judge’s scores live to the television audience between rounds, something I had never seen before. Ali decided to have one of his people watch the bout on tv in his dressing room, then tell him what the score was as the fight progressed. That seemed pretty smart to a 17 year old kid like me and was a sure way to know where you stood all through the fight.
Earnie Shavers was one of boxing’s biggest punchers at the time, and proved it throughout the fight, tagging and hurting Ali numerous times. Ali would feign as if the stinging punches didn’t hurt, but it was obvious they did. As the rounds progressed, it was obvious Shavers was there to win, forcing Muhammad to go to whatever reserve he had in his tank.
Ali finished the last five rounds well, peppering Shavers with combinations in a rally that would be the last great one of his career. When the judges scores were read, he had won a well deserved unanimous decision against one of boxing’s all time great punchers
‘The Greatest’ would lose his next fight in February of 1978 against Leon Spinks, then win the rematch six months later. He retired in 1979, only to foolishly return in October of 1980 to get pummeled by Larry Holmes. On December 11, 1981, Ali lost to Trevor Berbick in the Bahamas to end the career of the most influential heavyweight in history.
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