When Muhammad Ali was contemplating his 1980 comeback, a whole host of fighters were mentioned for his 'first opponent'. One, was 'highly regarded' undefeated 26 year-old, Willie 'The Cannon' Shannon, a 6' 3" 185 lb. fast handed puncher, with a brittle right hand. Willie with a record of 17-0-0 (13 KO's), was based in Portland, Oregon - and Muhammad was thinking a 'Northwest Journey' might be nice in March 1980. Muhammad had seen Willie 'The Cannon' fight in Las Vegas, and was impressed with his hand speed, and power, despite being a 'thin-bean' at 6' 3" and 185 lbs. February 24, 1980 (Las Vegas, Nevada) Willie 'The Cannon' Shannon stopped (KO 3) Jim 'Beam' Ingram to win the USA Nevada State Cruiserweight Championship. Willie showed dazzling speed and quick right hand power, to flatten Jim Ingram. Muhammad had called Willie, 'another Bob Foster', and a 'future Cruiserweight Champion'.
And weren't there some very preliminary discussions of Ali in there with Stallone's guy, Lee Canalito? Seems like there were always plenty of Ali rumors and names but very few transpired.
Willie 'The Cannon' Shannon got ranked as the #3 Cruiserweight as of March 1, 1980 Willie was fighting at 182 lbs., and was a very quick fighter, but had a brittle right hand, which he broke numerous times. Willie was 'not' a Heavyweight, but could hit hard. When Muhmmad Ali wanted to come back, they offered the bout to CBS-TV for a Friday Night Broadcast. The proposal was for Muhammad Ali to receive a fight purse of $1,500,000 - and Willie Shannon to get $100,000 for a scheduled 12-Round Bout. But CBS-TV countered with $1,000,000 as a 'total fight purse bid' and a bout for 10-Rounds, with Muhammad Ali paying Willie Shannon his fight purse, out of Muhammad Ali's share. That offer 'stalled' the deal. But ABC-TV came in, and was willing to take the bout as a scheduled 10-Rounder, and was willing to give Muhammad Ali a fight purse of $1,150,000 - with Willie 'The Cannon' Shannon to get $75,000. It was almost a go, but...............
Stevie G,,, Willie 'The Cannon' Shannon was approved for a late-May/early-June 1980 bout with Muhammad Ali, set for a Friday Night ABC-TV bout. But first, in a test-bout, on Saturday ABC-TV on the undercard of the Marvin Hagler vs Bobby Watts II bout,,,,,,,on April 19, 1980 in Portland, Maine. Willie 'The Cannon' Shannon 17-0-0 (13 KO's) got a $25,000 fight purse to 'show-off' his talents on National Television versus Detroit Heavyweight - Dwain 'U.S.' Bonds. The 6' 3" 185 lb. Shannon was out-weighed by 20 pounds, versus the 6' 0" 205 lb. former 1974 National A.A.U Heavyweight Champion. Willie fought well for the first-half of the bout, but when his fast-hands and hard-punches couldn't dent the 'bigger' and more 'natural' heavyweight Dwain Bonds, 'The Cannon' started to fire 'blanks'. Dwain Bonds, a 'plodder' who had a record of 15-7-1 (7 KO's), just wore down the 'thin-bean' in the second-half of the bout, and finally caught up to 'The Cannon' in Round 8, when Willie's legs started to go. Dwain finished the exhausted 'Cannon' off in Round 9, by flooring him '3-times'. For Willie 'The Cannon' Shannon, there went the $75,000 pay-day versus Muhammad Ali.
Hulk,, Willie 'The Cannon' Shannon kind of disappeared after the loss to Dwain Bonds. He scored a couple of wins, and then fought Marvin Camel in a 1981 'Cruiserweight Elimination' bout, and got flattened by (L KO 3). He ended up in Las Vegas, and bounced around as a sparring partner for awhile, but never really fulfilled his earlier promise. He ended up getting arrested in Florida, for a related murder in Las Vegas. This content is protected
Double DD, CBS-TV decided not to go with the Muhammad Ali vs Willie 'The Cannon' Shannon bout because; A) Muhammad Ali was near 235 lbs., and still not in shape. B) On Televison, Muhammad would like a 'whale' at 235 lbs., versus a 'skinny' 182 lb. Willie Shannon. C) Nobody was sure, if Willie Shannon could handle a 'heavyweight punch', even one from a 'fat old man'. D) CBS-TV was getting 'called out' for prolonging Muhammad Ali's career by giving him an untested and undersized opponent.
Willie Shannon and myself trained a lot together over a 3 year period in Bradenton, Florida at our local gym. I was younger and still in the amateur ranks and he had just turned pro. Bobby Walker was a mentor of Willie, who was a former sparring partner for Muhammad Ali. Yes, Willie was a little light to be a torch bearer for the heavyweight crown at that time, and easily would have become a Cruiserweight champion, but I was around him at the time on a daily basis when he fractured his right hand twice, and before when he was virtually unstoppable. This became his achilles heel, because Willie and myself talked many times about whether or not his right hand could withstand the rigors of daily sparring and then the actual bouts themselves. He was a very gifted fighter prior to his injuries, fast and a hard hitter, and the comments above categorizing him as a "flash in the pan", or a bust, is just not true. He would have ascended to the top if his right hand would have held up. It affected his "psyche" in future bouts.
Just read aboutthe the scumbag who made many advances to underage girls then on May 1981, kidnapped and raped his teenage neighbor and threw her off a bridge and killed her. Already in jail for different murder charges. Scum
Unfortunately, it is tragic what has become of Willie Shannon's life. We all knew him as Will Shannon back then, and seemed to be on the straight and narrow road. Several years later I heard he got hooked on cocaine and was going downhill fast in his decision making. Everyone lost touch with him after 1982 and we were all shocked and appalled beyond belief what has transpired since then.
I'm not sure Willie could handle a heavy weight like Muhammad, even the Muhammad of the 80's the weight difference was quite big, honestly just for that reason old Muhammad would have crushed him
I saw his Marvin Camel fight, he couldn´t miss with his right hand. Camel look on his way out when he landed a perfect left cross which knocked Shannon spark out. Good fight. Wish there was more Camel footage out there, looked like a very interesting character.
