Muhammad Ali's best post Manila performance

It wasn't yet apparent just what impact Manila had on him. He looked all right for Coopman, on live network television, and Young was dismissed as a matter of poor conditioning, especially after he rebounded so well with Dunn. Inoki was a humongous six million dollar payday, big money in 1976, and seemingly lower risk and easy money, especially as Ali's boxing title wasn't on the line.

 

Yeah? Six mil? Well, that answers that question then.

 

I looked at the Dunn fight again, and Ali looked quite alright. Dunn wasn't the stiffest of test, of course, but Ali's right sure did look sharp. And 220 was a good weight for him at that time, so that may very well have been the best version of him after Manilla.

 

He only wound up getting 1.8 million from the Inoki match.

 

Muhammad would up throwing a grand total of six punches. One million per punch. I wonder what the hospital bill was for having his legs drained. (In a classy gesture, Norton sent him flowers, and expressed genuine concern for his welfare at a time when it wasn't certain that Ali would fight again. Remember that Ali openly rooted for Ken against Foreman from ringside. Acrimony and contrived antagonism was never really part of the public image in their rivalry, just mutual respect. Norton's personality wouldn't permit otherwise.)

 

He tried to sue for the remaining 4.2 but lost.

 

Still not a bad payday. That spectacle was a dud, but considering what happened to his legs, it seems he sacrificed a great deal to get gypped out of that 4.2. (Did he try suing for it in Japan, or the US, and on what grounds was he denied?)