Ali v berbick Scorecards

Horrible fight. Only good thing about it was that it was n't QUITE as horrible as Frazier-Cummings,or Holmes-Ali. Especially the latter. Ali gave Berbick a competitive go,but lost fairly clearly.

 

There was talk of a challenge for Mike Weaver's WBA title.

 

I did n't want to watch it,really. Only did it out of respect for Muhammad,as I knew that this would be his last time in the ring.

 

I saw the fight live on TV, and found it difficult to score. I leaned toward Ali after ten rounds. I didn't quite see how the media had Berbick winning easily. Does anyone have the punchstats for this fight?

 

As this was in 1981, any punchstats would probably have to be reconstructed from the footage. (Even then, does Berbick's flailing toward Ali's body count or not? Was it, or was it not, "effective aggression?")

You actually watched it, unlike most, and judged for yourself, rather than let biased published second hand accounts substitute for your own opinion.

The media simply did not want to see Ali in the ring. They did not view it as a self contained event with an open mind, but might as well have called in the result even before the opening bell. Nothing short of an upset stoppage would have given Ali a shot at winning.

Regarding Ali saying he "lost," he made a similar comment on camera after Norton II, a match I felt he won by sweeping the first several rounds before closing strong in the final three minutes. (What he actually said about Berbick was, "It was close, but I have to go along with the judges.")

 

if you are referring to the quote I provided, it comes from Hugh McIlvanney's book.I haven't watched the fight for a few years ,I have it on video.

 

I was independently quoting from memory according to newspaper accounts of what Ali said in the days immediately following their match, so it was definitely not from any book. McIlvanney may well have been the source of at least some of it, in his capacity as an on-sight reporter. I don't recall any byline name in connection with the coverage I read in mid December 1981, and would need to delve into library microfilm to rediscover the specifics. Typically though, my paper used UPI, and coverage might simply have started as, "NASSAU, BAHAMAS, Dec. 12 (UPI)" without crediting an individual writer.

 

Thanks for the info :good

 

When asked post-fight, Ali said "I dunno, it could have gone either way" -it's on Youtube. Ali in the Bahamas, part 1, or something like that.

 

it got took down because the user's channel got closed. copy right problems most likely

 

I haven't managed to bring myself to watch the whole fight, but if Ali did manage to make it competitive then that's quite impressive considering Ali's state at the time. Physically he had just nothing left.

 

Just watched this fight there for the firs time i scored it a draw 5 rounds each i had Ali winning the first 3 rounds Berbick winning the 4th and 5th rounds Ali winning round 6 Berbick winning round 7 Ali winning round 8 then Berbick winning the last 2 rounds.

Was a sad fight Ali being a shadow of the boxer he once was i thought Berbick would have done a lot better against a aged Ali.

 

First of all Berbck was no grade C fighter .. he KO'ed Joh Tate, defeated a prime Greg Page, Defeated Pinklon Thomas and went a tough 15 w Holmes .. he was very strong, had a good chin, was well conditioned and punched in bunches in an awkward manner that made him tough to fight .. a Bonavena type of guy .. as far as the Ali fight Berbick won but many rounds were competitive .. Ali was not as medicated as he was against Holmes but was obviously not close to the guy that just defeated Shavers three years earlier ..

 

It was a pathetic mismatch. Berbick beat up a sick, fat, old Ali.