I haven't been able to find anything that would tell me why this fight was a 15 rounder. If you want to watch it online, here's a link to my Daily Motion channel: This content is protected
I think it might have to do with the fact that they fought in Tokyo, Japan in 1972. The Japanese fans didn't really have any world class heavyweights, and here were two of the top fighters in the world in that division, so maybe to the Japanese it was like having a world title bout, therefore the 15 round distance.
I've always wondered about that. Same as Muhammad's bout with Oscar Bonavena which was 15 rounds too.
I think in the case of Bonavena it might’ve been a strategy to get ready for the 15 in the FOTC? Though that’s just me talking.
Also remember that Ali by then was also one of the most famous people in the world. In 1976 when he had that fight against Antonio Inoki the wrestler, I think the Japanese promoter paid Ali $6 million. That's $1 million more than Ali got for fighting Foreman for the title 2 years earlier. The Japanese back then had a thing for Western culture. Rock bands such as Deep Purple are huge over there. The legendary concert promoter Mr Udo just passed away about a month or 2 ago he was 92 I believe.
The first Jerry Quarry fight was scheduled for 15 as well. I don't think there is any real rule preventing a promoter from scheduling a bout as they see fit as long as all parties (the fighters, the management team, the commission) are onboard.
There was nothing stopping guys from having 15-round non-title fights at the time. You’ll find scattered throughout boxing history some oddly-scheduled fights as far as number of rounds. Long past the days of 20-round title fights, Joe Louis and Abe Simon were scheduled for 20 in 1941 (Joe won in 13) for no particular reason I’ve ever heard. Fifteen-round title fights were the norm by the time Dempsey and Tunney fought, but both of their title fights were set for 10. The last non-title 15-rounder as far as I’m aware was Buck Smith vs. Harold Brazier in 1990 or ‘91. They just wanted to do it. I think 15-round title fights had been banned or were being phased out and the Oklahoma commission stepped in at the last minute and refused to sanction it as anything but an exhibition so it was a no contest/no decision affair officially. I seem to recall some instances where some commission or other decided to experiment with ‘overtime’ extra rounds to settle draws and there were a few fights that ended up going 11 or 13 or something like that, but I can’t recall when or where exactly. I know California used to have five-round fights as undercard prelims instead of fours or sixes for a long time. Not sure when that stopped.
