I was watching the video of the fight between Ali and the wrestler Antonio Inoki of 1976 in which it is clearly seen that Ali is hit many times by Inoki with tremendous kicks. So I wanted to learn more by reading some articles of the press of the time and many of them report the fight was not a farce as many thought at the beginning and also that Inoki wore ankle boots with steel strings to hurt Ali...besides they report Ali even risked amputation of one leg for the injuries suffered. At this point I ask you considering the not quite satisfactory results of Ali in boxing after 1976 if that bout has conditioned Ali's athleticism or his footwork.
I think it hurt Muhammad Ali physically, if you remember Ali was hospitalized with Contusions, to his legs and there was a lot of bruising around the shins. The doctors were worried about clots forming. This match with Antonio Inoki on June 25 1976, it was during training for his Sept 28 1976 title defense against Ken Norton in Yankee Stadium. I remember many in the media saying what a joke match that this was. Norton's camp was afraid that the match against Ali would be postponed because of the injuries.. I think as I said, it hurt Ali physically as well as tarnished his reputation at that time.
How much greater could Ali have been 75-80 if he did not let sparring partners beat him in training to practice his rope a dope?....or if he didnt womanise,eat wrong, take bad thyroid stuff...or do foolish things like fight inoki...if he'd had rest,modern day nutrition ....who knows if itd make any difference
Outta curiosity, who took the blame (rightfully or not) for the negotiating of the rules for that fight on Ali's side?
Alis management agreed with Inoki's people on a set of restrictions for the match: no kicks made while standing up, no throws, no locking holds, no elbow strikes. And definitely no drop kicks. Then seems something went wrong and Inoki during the fight didnt respect the rules
Apparently Ali believed the fight would be a 'work' up until the time he arrived in Japan. He kept asking when he and Inoki would coreograph the fight, but Inoki insisted it was a real fight. During that same time people in Ali's circle watched Inoki during his training and they realized what a dangerous guy he was. Don't let Inoki's reputation as a pro (translation: scripted) wrestler fool you. He was an outstanding grappler and he was as strong as a gorilla. Check out his conditioning routines on youtube sometime, he was an animal. Inoki had a reputation for seriously injuring both opponents and training partners so Ali's people insisted on a ruleset that strongly favor Ali.
Incidently Inoki is a really interesting guy. Apparently he converted to Shia Islam during a trip to the city of Karbala on a diplomatic mission to Iraq to negotiate with Sadam Hussein. Karbala is a holy city for Shia because it is the cite of the martyrdom of Hussein, the grandson of Muhammad. Hussein ibn Ali is one of the most revered figures for Shia. Anyhow, apparently Inoki had some kind of intensely spiritual experience while he was in Karbala.
He deserved all the money he earned. He never pretended in all his fights, he has always worked hard and suffered to win.
Technically this was one of the first legal mixed martial arts matches since it wasn't scripted. Boxer vs very limited wrestler. Would have been interesting if Inoki could have done some basic grapples or submissions.
IF you want to learn more, I would recommend the book "Ali vs. Inoki: The Forgotten Fight that Inspired Mixed Martial Arts and Launched Sports Entertainment" It came out a few years ago. It's a quick read. I borrowed it from the library. The only thing I found annoying about it was the writer actually tried to go back and score the fight, like it was a real MMA fight or something. A couple of things, Inoki wore regular professional wrestling shoes, which all go over the ankle, same as boxing shoes. There were no deadly "steel strings." Ali never "risked" amputation. I have no idea how that started. Ali immediately flew, after the fight, to a nearby U.S. military base and sparred with some of the soldiers. Here's a clip from that. He doesn't exactly look like a guy whose legs need to be cut off. This content is protected And it WAS considered a farce after it was over, well, actually as soon as a couple rounds in when it became clear Inoki wasn't planning on standing up the whole fight. Ali and his team got out of there as quickly as they could afterward. Bruce Lee movies were very popular at the time. Muhammad Ali was very popular at the time. The closest gimmick they could find to Ali fighting someone like Bruce Lee was Ali fighting the WWF wrestler Inoki. But Inoki wasn't all that great of an "actual" fighter. About a year after Ali-Inoki, Chuck Wepner (who "fought" Andre the Giant the same night as Ali-Inoki) went to Japan to face Inoki in another boxer-wrestler "extravaganza" that was better staged. Unfortunately, Chuck accidentally punched Inoki for real and had to hold Inoki up because he'd nearly knocked him unconscious, and Inoki was supposed to win. Ali was in no danger against Inoki. He kept both his legs his whole life. It was about as dangerous as any fight can be where one guy is crawling around the ground and one guy isn't.