"Drama in the Bahama" - a complete failure

I know people say Ali performed better than he did against Holmes but I didn’t like it.

The pre fight IV in Ali’s dressing room was awful. Muhammad was notably slurry and almost appeared as if he could’ve just easily taken a nap instead of fighting.

Thank goodness he wasn’t KO’d or stopped and no, I’m not sure why the fight was necessary in the first instance other than, as you say, Ali attempting to go out on a win.

 

He didn’t look as bad as he did vs Holmes. There was nothing good about it and the fight made no sense. Likely even after Holmes Ali still had a pile of self belief and an excuse based on the medication he was using before the Holmes fight. It sounds crazy but people can convince themselves of a lot of things. Likely high performing athletes even more so.
Slightly off topic, I like your posts but I find the font colouring you are using lately hard to read to the point that I have to highlight it to do so. Maybe it’s just me.

 

In the interview after the Holmes fight Ali said he needs 2-3 tune up bouts and wanted to challenge Holmes again. He was extremely delusional at this point.

 

Try pasting using ctrl+shift+v.

 

if Ali wanted to go out with a win he should have come to Europe and fought the likes of Paul Sykes, Bernd August......maybe rematched Richard Dunn

 

Ali showed that he still had a lot left in the tank. It would have been wonderful to see what he could have done moving further into the 80's. Dokes, Thomas, Coetzee, Holmes rematch without the weight loss drugs....

 

The Nation of Islam promoted that fight. When your manager, who is the son of your religious leader, tells you that you are still amazing, so the son can take half your money, you do it. But the fight didn't make anything. If it did, they'd have probably kept going until Ali couldn't climb through the ropes.

I remember it was supposed to be on closed circuit, but the night of the fight it was just on cable. (I live in Illinois.) I watched the whole thing. Other than the Shavers fight, it was pretty boring. Really low budget.

I think the only fighter who got paid was Shavers, because he locked himself in a room with a guy with the cash that night and wouldn't leave, or let anyone in the room, until he had his money.

 

Um ...

 

He tried to fight John L. Gardner first, but the British Boxing Board of Control wouldn't allow it and said they'd punish Gardner if he fought him. That's why the fight was held in the Bahamas. Ali didn't need a boxing license to fight there.

 

Nice. I see 4 losses waiting for him and probably at least 2 by KO.

 

He held his own, some say he won, against a guy destined to be world champ in a few short years, a physically robust, durable opponent. He had a lot more left in the gas tank at the elite level.

 

Not exactly true. The guy who promoted it was NoI but the organization didn’t make the fight. He used his connections in NoI to meet Ali and propose the fight. It was known that Ali was looking to fight again because he blamed the Holmes performance on taking thyroid medicine as if it was diet pills.

 

I will admit that Ali looked better than in his completely dismal showing against Holmes. But that could also be a function of Holmes being much better than Berbick. Holmes really ****ed Ali up and that was the sign that Ali needed to hang up his gloves imho. Berbick was basically big and strong without too many skills and he just battered Ali as well. What makes it even more sad is that the commentators are cheering literally anything Ali did and grasping at straws trying to paint a picture that Ali was competitive. He was not. Yeah, he landed some shots. But Berbick really went to town on him.