{"id":2090,"date":"2024-04-16T02:19:58","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T02:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/?p=2090"},"modified":"2024-04-16T02:19:58","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T02:19:58","slug":"inside-the-bizarre-fight-between-muhammad-ali-and-antonio-inoki-vu-thuy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/inside-the-bizarre-fight-between-muhammad-ali-and-antonio-inoki-vu-thuy\/","title":{"rendered":"In\u0455\u0456de the b\u0456z\u0430rre f\u0456ght between Muh\u0430mm\u0430d Al\u0456 \u0430nd Anton\u0456o Inok\u0456"},"content":{"rendered":"

The plan was for Muhammad Ali, the greatest boxer in the world, to take a dive.<\/p>\n

\"Muhammad<\/p>\n

At least, that\u2019s how wrestling patriarch Vince McMahon Sr. scripted it, according to \u201cAli vs. Inoki: The Forgotten Fight That Inspired Mixed Martial Arts and Launched Sports Entertainment<\/p>\n

\n
\n

While the match became one of the greatest disappointments in boxing and wrestling history, Ali would never go for a fix. Anti-Japanese slurs, however, were tossed around liberally in the run-up to the fight.<\/p>\n

In 1976, Muhammad Ali \u2014 who died on June 3 at age 74 \u2014 was one of the most admired men on the planet. While part of the public consciousness for almost a decade and a half at the time of the Inoki bout, his legend had been sealed eight months prior. The \u201cThrilla in Manila,\u201d as the fight came to be known, pitted Ali against Joe Frazier in a brutal match on Oct. 1, 1975, that Ali barely won on a technical knockout (TKO) after 14 rounds.<\/p>\n

The seed for the mixed-discipline match had been planted in April 1975, when Ali met Japanese wrestling champion and pioneer Ichiro Hatta.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe story,\u201d writes Gross, \u201cgoes that Ali nudged Hatta with a dare: \u2018Isn\u2019t there an Oriental fighter who will challenge me? I\u2019ll give him one million dollars if he wins.\u2019\u2009\u201d The wrestler who accepted Ali\u2019s taunt, Inoki, was one of Japan\u2019s most popular athletes.<\/p>\n

Inoki did his best to hype the event. Before the champ got to Japan, Inoki gave the media a tour of the seven-room \u201cimperial\u201d suite where Ali would be staying \u2014 and punched his bed.<\/p>\n

Ali was more polished in this area. At the press conference announcing the match, he mocked Inoki\u2019s \u201cprotruding jaw\u201d and dubbed his opponent \u201cThe Pelican.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inoki replied, \u201cWhen your fist hits my chin, I hope you do not hurt your fist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Muhammad Ali trying to evade kicks by wrestler Antonio Inoki during their 15-round World Martial Arts match in Tokyo.AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was widely believed in both sports that in a contest between a wrestler and a boxer, the former would have a marked advantage given his wider range of skills and techniques. Ali\u2019s people, including trainer Angelo Dundee and Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, thought his taking the match was \u201cstupid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ali talked about how he\u2019d been warned that the fight could lead to his death or other awful outcomes, saying he\u2019d been told Inoki \u201ccould possibly take his fingers and pull my eyes out of my sockets. Or he could take his hands and reach them inside my pants and pull my testicles out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe general consensus,\u201d writes Gross, \u201cwas that it was crazy for Ali to step away from boxing to tangle up with a wrestler.\u201d That was almost proven during a promotional exhibition for the match between Ali and US wrestler Gorilla Monsoon, in which Monsoon lifted the boxer up and slammed him to the ground with ease.<\/p>\n

Despite the international excitement \u2014 the promoters were selling closed-circuit viewing packages \u2014 there was much confusion over the bout.<\/p>\n

\u201cFight on the floor like sissy. Man stand up. Man stand up.\u201d<\/p>\n

–\u00a0Muhammad Ali to Antonio Inoki<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Given the nature of professional wrestling, so many people assumed the outcome would be predetermined that \u00adfamous handicapper Jimmy \u201cThe Greek\u201d Snyder wouldn\u2019t lay odds on the fight (although others did).<\/p>\n

There was also the basic question of what the battle would be, since wrestling and boxing were such different sports. The fighters\u2019 camps had many angry discussions \u2014 made worse by Ali\u2019s calling Inoki \u201cthat Jap wrestler\u201d in the press \u2014 in the days leading up to the fight about who was allowed to do what.<\/p>\n

Ali\u2019s camp got Inoki\u2019s to agree to rules that greatly handicapped the wrestler. Inoki\u2019s hands and feet were tied, almost literally, as he was barred from kicking unless he was kneeling, squatting or on the ground.<\/p>\n

Inoki was so annoyed that, facing the press with Ali, he proposed making the match winner-take-all for $9 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cIncluding wives?\u201d asked Ali.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t ask ridiculous questions, please,\u201d responded Inoki.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Muhammad Ali weighs-in for the match.Courtesy of Bob Goodman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Both fighters trained seriously. Inoki had people kick him in the face repeatedly to prepare him for Ali\u2019s punches. Ali got himself into prime shape and employed retired wrestler \u201cClassy\u201d Freddie Blassie as trainer.<\/p>\n

After the two men met in the center of the ring and shook hands, as per tradition \u2014 where Ali told Inoki, \u201cI\u2019m going to send you back to your ancestors\u201d \u2014 Inoki ignited the fight just after the opening bell with \u201ca swinging kick \u00adtoward the champ\u2019s left thigh.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Antonio Inoki weighs-in for the match.Courtesy of Bob Goodman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Inoki then assumed a crab-like martial-arts stance, and this set the tone for the match. Inoki decided on the effective but boring strategy of avoiding Ali\u2019s punches by crouching low and leveling continuous kicks to Ali\u2019s thighs in order to weaken his resolve.<\/p>\n

Ali knew he could win the match with one punch, but Inoki gave him no chance to land it. The crowd grew angrier by the round as Inoki slammed Ali\u2019s thighs again and again, causing rainbow-colored bruises, while Ali had no offensive target. While he couldn\u2019t land a punch, though, Ali used his other best weapon \u2014 his mouth \u2014 effectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou coward. Don\u2019t let the Japanese see you\u2019re a coward,\u201d he said after the first round.<\/p>\n

By round two, the crowd was booing, and Ali egged them on. \u201cHe\u2019s afraid. He\u2019s a coward. Coward in Tokyo. All your people see you, coward on the floor.\u201d And, soon after, \u201cInoki cannot wrestle! No wrestle! No wrestle!\u201d<\/p>\n

After the fourth round, Ali took to openly questioning his opponent\u2019s manhood. \u201cInoki girl. On the floor. Fight on floor like girl,\u201d he said, staring directly at Inoki. \u201cFight on floor like sissy. Man stand up. Man stand up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The match did have a few tense moments \u2014 Ali landed four punches the entire bout, and Inoki did manage to once send Ali to the canvas \u2014 but it basically progressed that way until the end, and consensus held that neither man came close to showing why he was the greatest at his sport.<\/p>\n

Making it worse, once the three judges\u2019 scores were added up, the fight was ruled a draw, leaving the angry crowd to scream, \u201cMoney back! Money back!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ali\u2019s left leg, which absorbed 107 kicks, was so swollen that it \u201clooked like he had dumped a motorcycle and slid along the pavement.\u201d His team was terrified that blood clots might travel from his leg to his heart or brain and begged Ali to stay in bed \u2014 Pacheco \u201cmade an impassioned plea,\u201d suggesting his legs were \u201cfilled with hand grenades\u201d \u2014 but Ali had committed to a promotional trip to South Korea and kept his word. Luckily, the swelling went down over time with no additional consequence.<\/p>\n

In the end, due to some funky accounting, Ali got only $1.8 million of his promised $6 million. But he was already a rich man and had chosen this fight to, he had hoped, show the world that boxing was a more noble endeavor than wrestling. Then again, some think other factors might have also been at play.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got the same blood,\u201d said Pacheco of Ali and Inoki. \u201cThey had the blood of a con artist. Wrestling is a con. And if they went and wrestled and did crazy things it\u2019s because they were doing stunts. So Ali liked that. He liked the idea of jumping off the top rope and landing on a guy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

,\u201d a new book by MMA journalist Josh Gross about a long-forgotten Japanese match on June 26, 1976, that pitted Ali, then heavyweight champion of the world, against Japanese professional wrestler Antonio Inoki.<\/p>\n

\"\"The idea McMahon hatched for the bout, which came with different rules for each participant based on the specific capabilities and strategies of boxers and wrestlers, was based on \u201cthe sneaky Japanese stereotype.\u201d (Welcome to the \u201970s.)<\/p>\n

McMahon\u2019s plan called for Ali to slam Inoki with a barrage of punches, and for Inoki to then cut himself with a razor during the match, as wrestlers sometimes do, so he would bleed. Ali would call for the fight to be stopped, Inoki would jump him when his back was turned and pin him, winning the match, and then Ali would angrily invoke Pearl Harbor before returning to America with his seven-figure check.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The plan was for Muhammad Ali, the greatest boxer in the world, to take a dive. At least, that\u2019s how wrestling patriarch Vince McMahon Sr. scripted it,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2090"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2092,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2090\/revisions\/2092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}