The greatest fights of Muhammad Ali’s career

By Scott DargisJun 4, 2016, 1:44 AM EDT

Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest boxers to ever set foot in the ring. He entertained the masses with the ability to “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.” He also stung like a bee outside of the ring with the verbal jabs he would give to his opponents.

Thanks to his incredible athletic gifts, Ali created some of the most magical moments in the history of boxing, so let’s take a trip down memory lane and remember some of the best fights of his legendary career.

Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman (Oct. 30, 1974 in Zaire, Africa)

The infamous “Rumble in the Jungle” fight took place in Zaire, Africa, where the ring temperatures hovered around 85 degrees for the entire fight. Ali became the second man to reclaim the heavyweight title by putting down Foreman in the eighth round.

Ali took a lot of punishment in this fight as he used his “rope-a-dope” strategy to ultimately end Foreman’s reign as champ.

Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks (Feb. 15, 1978 in Las Vegas)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDQaZbRnxnM

The 1978 Fight of the Year by The Ring featured a massive upset as Leon Spinks won the WBC and WBA heavyweight title after a split decision victory over Ali.

After the fight Ali said, “Next time, I’ll have to get on my toes to beat him. My rope-a-dope didn’t work. He was too strong. It was more a mistake in strategy.”

Which is exactly what Ali would do when the two faced off later that year in New Orleans.

Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks II (Sept. 15, 1978 in New Orleans)

Spinks’ reign as the WBA heavyweight champion would be short lived as Ali dominated Spinks with an outburst of strikes and any time Spinks would try to mount any sort of defense, Ali would simply pull him in.

With the win, Ali became the first man to win the world heavyweight championship three times. This would also be the final win of Ali’s legendary career.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i_J2eZ7axE

Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton (March 31, 1973 in San Diego, Calif.)

Ali lost his NABF Heavyweight title as he dropped just the second fight of his career.

Despite the lack of knockdowns in the fight, Ali suffered a broken jaw, he also suffered a partially broken ego.

He wore a white robe with rhinestones and jewels that read “People’s Choice” written on the back. It was a gift from Elvis Presley. Ali never wore the robe again.

Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton III (Sept. 28, 1976 in Bronx, N.Y.)

Ali regained his NABF Heavyweight title in his next fight with Norton, but their third meeting would be the creme dela crème of their trilogy, but it wasn’t without a bit of controversy.

Norton said after the fight that he “won at least nine or ten rounds.

Ali wasn’t quite as confident but still believed that he was the winner, “I had just enough to win,” he said. “I know I’m the winner.”

A month later, Ali had a very interesting quote in an interview with Mark Cronin, “Kenny’s style is too difficult for me. I can’t beat him, and I sure don’t want to fight him again. I honestly thought he beat me in Yankee Stadium, but the judges gave it to me, and I’m grateful to them.”

Cassius Clay vs. Zbigniew Pietrzykowski (1960 Summer Olympics in Rome)

Before he was known as “The Greatest”, Muhammad Ali was known as Cassius Clay and in 1960, Clay became a gold medalist at the age of 18. Clay won all four of his fights in the light heavyweight division that summer including a win over three-time European champion Zbigniew Pietrzykowski.

Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier (March 8, 1971 in New York City)

Ali stepped into the ring at Madison Square Garden on March 8th, 1971 with a 31-0 record that included 25 knockouts.

He would leave MSG with the first loss of his career at the hands of Smokin’ Joe Frazier, who also entered The Garden with an undefeated record.

Even though Ali was undefeated heading into the fight, he wasn’t the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world because he was stripped by boxing authorities, in 1967, for forgoing his mandatory military service. Ali based his decision on religious reasons.

This fight was the only time that one of the two fighters hit the canvas in their trilogy of fights as Frazier knocked Ali down in the opening seconds of round 11. Frazier would go on to win the fight by unanimous decision.

Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier II (Jan. 28, 1974 in New York City)

This is remembered as the least interesting fight of the Ali-Frazier trilogy, because the other two fights are two of the greatest fights in the history of boxing, but it was still a highly entertaining bout.

Ali clearly learned that he needed to fight Frazier differently, so that’s exactly what he did in this fight. Muhammad punched in bunches and would then clinch with Frazier, which didn’t go over well with Smokin’ Joe’s camp.

Ali was awarded an unanimous decision victory.

Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier III (Oct. 1, 1975 in Philippines)

All that needs to be said is “Thrilla in Manila.”

This was the third and final meeting between the two heavyweights. It was contested in the Philippines at 10am local time and under ridiculous ring temperatures (rumored to be around 120 degrees).

Ali attempted to use his “rope-a-dope” strategy on Frazier, but “Smokin’ Joe” pounded Ali while the champ leaned on the ropes.

During the fight, Frazier’s face became very swollen due to the amount of head strikes he had endured, which was very bad for Frazier because he was almost blind in his left eye.

After the 11^th round, Frazier’s trainer, Eddie Futch, told him that he needed to stand more upright as opposed to bobbing and weaving, this ended up being very bad advice as Ali pounded Frazier in the final rounds. Futch decided to stop the fight after the 14^th round.

After the fight, Ali said “Frazier quit just before I did. I didn’t think I could fight any more.”

After fighting for Ukraine, Lomachenko fights again in ring

Associated PressOct 28, 2022, 10:06 AM EDT

Getty Images

NEW YORK – When Ukraine was invaded, the only fight Vasiliy Lomachenko would consider was the one for his home.

Boxing plans were put on hold, even though they appeared set to include a title match. Lomachenko calls being undisputed champion his dream, but his country’s war with Russia is real life.

“I couldn’t understand anything about what’s happening militarily,” Lomachenko said through an interpreter, “but inside you, you have a feeling of what you need to do.”

Now he’s resuming his career, starting Saturday night in the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden against unbeaten Jamaine Ortiz in a bout that will stream on ESPN+.

Win, and Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) could move on to another chance to fight for the lightweight titles he once owned. But either way, first he’s headed back to Ukraine, which he believes is secure enough now to allow his family to return home this week after staying with him in California while he trained.

Nobody was sure that would be the case when Russia launched the invasion in February. Lomachenko was in Greece at the time, with an expected fight against then-lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. being planned for later in the year.

He went back to Ukraine and joined a territorial defense battalion, telling his advisers he would be unavailable to take that fight.

“When this was happening, when this started, nobody really knew anything about anything,” Lomachenko said. “And when you really have no understanding about what’s going on, every normal person, every normal citizen would go and defend his country and that’s what the majority of men do in our country.”

For Lomachenko, that meant being part of a team that enforced a 10 p.m. curfew, patrolling the streets to make sure there were no cars in sight. After about a month of that, he was trained to take part in several other duties.

“No military operations, but certain tasks,” Lomachenko said. “For example, a suburban area in the outskirts of the city that we needed to go out and do some reconnaissance, make sure that no alien people, no one unknown is basically located in that area.”

Lomachenko is one of Ukraine’s greatest athletes, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who compiled a 396-1 record as an amateur. After turning pro, he won a title in his third fight and was a champion in three weight classes after his 12th.

He eventually owned three lightweight belts before losing them to Teofimo Lopez in October 2020. Two straight wins following shoulder surgery had him on the path back toward a title shot before the war.

Lomachenko was given breaks during his service to train, so he doesn’t believe his time away will affect the rhythm and footwork that are among boxing’s best. Ortiz (16-0-1, 8 KOs) doesn’t expect to see slippage from the fighter the Worcester, Massachusetts product has sparred against.

“I think the opponent in front of you brings out the type of fighter you are,” Ortiz said, “and I think Lomachenko is going to bring out the best Jamaine Ortiz, the fighter that everybody around me in the gym and in New England and where I come from knows.”

Lomachenko likely would have been favored to beat Kambosos, who had won the titles from Lopez. With Lomachenko unavailable, the Australian instead fought Devin Haney and dropped them in a lopsided decision, then lost the rematch two weeks ago by another wide margin.

Lomachenko doesn’t fret about the opportunity that was lost, just as he doesn’t wonder what if about the fight with Lopez. That was originally expected to take place in the spring of 2020, perhaps in what would have been a packed Madison Square Garden, where Lomachenko is 5-0. Instead, it was pushed back months because of the coronavirus and held in a mostly empty setting in Las Vegas after a nearly 14-month layoff for Lomachenko. Maybe things would have been different without the pandemic.

“I don’t have any regrets at all,” he said. “Everything happens the way they’re supposed to happen.”

Nor does he worry that the likelihood of regaining the belts will be tougher now that Haney has them. Lomachenko is small for the 135-pound weight class and would have to beat a skilled, naturally bigger man, similar to Lopez.

“The sweeter the victory shall be,” said Lomachenko, with a smile.

Tyson, 54, to return for exhibition match against Jones Jr.

Associated PressJul 23, 2020, 5:21 PM EDT

AP Photo

CARSON, Calif. — Mike Tyson is coming back to boxing at age 54.

The former heavyweight champion will meet four-division champion Roy Jones Jr. in an eight-round exhibition match on Sept. 12 at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history when he won the title in 1986 at age 20 and for a time was the most feared fighter in boxing. But his career became littered with distractions and he hasn’t boxed since 2005 after losing his second straight fight.

He has occasionally teased a return with workout videos and it’s finally scheduled to happen.

Jones, 51, won titles in the middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight before moving up to win the heavyweight title in 2003, becoming the first former middleweight champion to do so in 106 years.

The event will air on pay-per-view and the social media music platform Triller. Further matches on the card and musical entertainment will be announced in the coming weeks.