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After his win over Earnie Shavers in September of 1977, Ali was told by the WBC that he would have to face Ken Norton for the fourth time, or lose his belt. Ali agreed to give it up, but still held the WBA version of the title, and was recognized by the public as the […]

After the narrow win over Ken Norton on September 30, 1976, Ali took a long break from the ring. You could not help but notice how much the champion had slowed, and when he turned 35 on January 17, 1977, you had to wonder how much he had left in the tank. On May 16,

After his easy defeat of Jean Pierre Coopman in February of 1976, Ali returned to action two months later. This time his opponent was slick boxer Jimmy Young at the Capitol Center in Landover, Maryland on April 30. I watched it live on ABC television that Friday night with Howard Cosell doing the play by

After defeating Ron Lyle on May 16, 1975 in Las Vegas, Muhammad Ali traveled to Malaysia for a rematch with Joe Bugner. The June 30th bout in Kuala Lumpur went the distance, with Ali winning a unanimous decision. It set up the third fight with Joe Frazier in the fall, signed for September 30 in

Following his colossal upset of George Foreman on October 30, 1974, Muhammad Ali was a hero worldwide, and came home to national acclaim. The win over Foreman was not shown on live TV for months, unlike today’s world, where you can watch a fight on YouTube a few hours after it’s over. Ali was the

Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier had their long-awaited rematch on January 28, 1974, at Madison Square Garden in New York. A week before the bout, both men met at the ABC studios in New York to discuss their upcoming fight. Howard Cosell hosted the show, which featured both fighters watching a replay of their historic

Before his bout with Joe Bugner in Las Vegas on February 14, 1973, Muhammad Ali met with Elvis Presley in his suite at the International Hilton Hotel. Elvis presented him with a boxing robe with the words “PEOPLE’S CHOICE” embroidered on the back. The $10,000 robe was supposed to say “PEOPLE’S CHAMP”, but the designer

Muhammad Ali traveled to Tokyo, Japan on April 1, 1972 to fight Mac Foster in his first bout of the new year. Ali weighed in at 226 lbs., and went the full 15 round distance with Foster. A month later, he was in Vancouver, Canada for a rematch with George Chuvalo. Ali was almost 9

 The “Fight of the Century”, between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier was signed for March 8, 1971 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It would be the first time that two undefeated heavyweight champions would meet in the ring, and was historical in many regards. Both men received $2,500,000 a piece, an incredible

After his knockout of Zora Folley in the seventh round on March 22, 1967, Muhammad Ali could do nothing but wait for his induction into the United States Army on April 28 in Houston, Texas. His intention was to refuse induction based on his religious beliefs, and face whatever legal ramifications followed. He had a