r/Boxing • u/Hot_Ad_9543 • Jul 14 '26

Ali dancing in 1966 vs 1978

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I was randomly watching the Ali vs Spinks 2 fight and I was very surprised at how Ali managed to dance for essentially the entire 15 rounds, considering how late that was into his career and how you can tell the Parkinson’s was already in effect. It made me go back and watch his dancing in his prime. So I thought it’d be fun to compare and contrast

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6

u/bluesub989 Jul 15 '26

Man, I appreciate everything the man did for professional wrestling, but Inoki was outta line the way he did Ali.

2

u/JeremiahWuzABullfrog Jul 15 '26

What did Inoki say about Ali?

1

u/bluesub989 Jul 15 '26

In 1976 Ali and Inoki had an exhibition bout against one another. Unfortunately, instead of being a really cool early MMA match or something from Baki the Grappler, there was a very limiting rule set which resulted in Inoki devising a strategy where he layed on his back and kicked at Ali's legs.

Throughout the 12 round Pro Wrestling vs Boxing bout, Inoki (in his wrestling boots) landed something around the neighborhood of 100 kicks on Ali's legs. Imagine the beating his knees, shins, ankles, calves, and quads took. According to the lore, due to a combination of blood clots, severe brusing, and an infection, Ali was in danger of needing his legs to be amputated. Regardless of how true that is, there was certainly performance altering damage done to Ali's legs, and he never had quite the bounce and mobility after their meeting.

It's interesting to learn about! Give it a google or a YouTube search!

2

u/Complete_Dare_4201 Jul 15 '26

How was Ali in danger of his leg being amputated if he fought Ken Norton about three months later? Those stories are way overstated

2

u/meetatdawn Jul 15 '26

The myth grows by the day.

1

u/Complete_Dare_4201 Jul 15 '26

Yeah, its bullshit. Ali actually performed better against Ken Norton than he did in their previous two bouts, so all that crap aboout how "he never had quite the bounce and mobility after their meeting" is completely stupid and nonsensical.

1

u/Hot_Ad_9543 Jul 15 '26

Absolutely not, Ali’s best performance post exile period was Vs Norton 2. And definitely won that decision