On December 11, 1981, Muhammad Ali entered the ring for the last time as a heavyweight boxer…..he was 39 years 328 days old….having fought 60 battles against the entire array of heavyweight boxers…from the golden age of boxing….for the better part of 18 years. I guess if you consider the 3 years he was stripped of his title…..it was only 15 years….however, Ali fought the all. Just look at the guys he went the distance against….Leon Spinks (2 times), Earnie Shavers, Alfredo Evangelista, Ken Norton (3 times), Jimmy Young, Joe Bugner, Smokin’ Joe Frazier (2)…and all of these fighters were hard hitters…..and to go 15 rounds eleven times with these boxers is insane.
Now consider the men Ali beat by knockout or technical knockout..Richard Dunn, Jean-Pierre Coopman, Smokin’ Joe Frazier, Ron Lyle, Chuck Wepner, George Foreman, Bob Foster, Alvin Lewis, Jerry Quarry, Floyd Patterrson, Jurgem Blin, Jimmy Ellis, Oscar Bonavena, Cleveland Williams, Karl Mildenberger, Brian London, Henry Cooper, Sonny Liston, Charlie Moore, Archie Moore, Alejandro Lavorante and many more in his early days as a professional. But, look at that list of heavyweight boxers…..heck, there’s two or three legends on that list…with at least five more that were great heavyweights….and a whole bunch of really good hard-hitting boxers.
When you consider what Ali’s body had endured by the time he entered the ring after all of that punching on his body……cuz here was a fighter in the KNOCKOUT division of boxing…..who went the distance with Ken Norton for 10 rounds with a broken jaw…..who literally went to “body war” with all the men I named above….so, now when you consider what condition that Muhammad Ali’s body was in when he went the distance with former world heavyweight champ Trevor Berbick…..in his last hurrah.
For this lil ole Chiweenie Sportsphile……it hurts me to watch this video…..cuz the man in the ring that night in December 1981….wasn’t the man who is my favorite athlete of all time….but, I have to give credit where credit is due….Muhammad Ali went the distance in his farewell to the “four corners he had graced so well”…..which even though the physical skills were diminished greatly…..the mental toughness to still be determined to win…..when you know all is lost.
This too provides we the followers of Muhammad Ali another example of his greatness….for here was a man who was never beaten in his mind….to Muhammad Ali, he believed he could give Trevor Berbick a WHUPPIN’….as the fact remains about Ali’s career….that during his career he had been knocked down on multiple occasions…..but he had not been beaten by KO or TKO until his next to last fight against another legendary heavyweight champion, Larry “The Easton Assassin” Holmes in the prime of his career…..as the referee in that fight stopped the fight because Ali could not defend himself…something he had always been able to do.The only Drama in the Bahama…..was that which surrounded Ali’s last dance.
Actually when you look closely at this fight…..Ali was in this fight all the way.(OH….fast forward thru the part of the video that isn’t clear….cuz it clears up)….actually doing an “old man rendition” of the Ali shuffle….for he was still throwing punches with 30 seconds left in the fight….this was an amazing fight….and take a look at Ali at the 50:49 point of the video….he looks tired….but what 40 year old would be after going 10 rounds with a future heavyweight champion at age 25….cuz outside of that, Ali looks pretty darn good after the fight.
Any way you cut the pie….fresh or many days old….Muhammad Ali was amazing…..first and foremost, in the ring…..and second with more significance outside the ring…..as his philosophy of life and how he conducted his….will stand the test of time…..and hopefully influence generations to come…..as I hope imasportsphile.com helps leave a small piece of legacy of this awesome athlete and amazing man.
