Muhammad Ali: The Top 5 Boxers Who Came in the Way of His Boxing Career
Muhammad Ali could have attained a perfect winning record before retiring in 1981 if not for the five challengers that got in the way of his boxing career.
In 1971, Muhammad Ali was on his 32nd winning streak when he fought and lost to Joe Frasier in New York City via a unanimous decision.
Since then, Muhammad Ali lost to five more equally great boxers before finally retiring.
After retiring from boxing, Ali was diagnosed in 1983 and found to be suffering from Parkinson's disease. Despite his disability he remains a public figure and was instrumental in setting up a foundation that helps people suffering from Parkinson's disease.
Here are five of the great boxers that prevented Muhammad Ali from attaining an unblemished record in his professional career.
1st Loss to Joe Frasier
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Muhammad Ali's first loss happened at the hands of Joe Frasier in 1971 via a unanimous decision. It was Ali's first loss in 32 fights.
Joe Frasier is an American boxer and a former Olympic champion. Frasier, who is from Beaufort, North Carolina, is a former world heavyweight champion whose professional career lasted from 1965 to 1976 with a brief comeback in 1981.
In their fight at Madison Square Garden in 1971, Frazier lost a number of early rounds but took Ali's combinations without backing down. As Ali started to slow in the middle rounds, Frazier came on strong, landing hard shots to the body as well as the powerful left hooks to the head by virtue of Futch's instructions.
Consequently, Frazier won a clear, 15-round, unanimous decision. Ali was taken to the hospital immediately after the fight to have his badly swollen jaw x-rayed, and Frazier spent time in the hospital during the ensuing month, the exertions of the fight having been exacerbated by his existing health problems, such as hypertension and a kidney infection.
At the time of the fight, Frasier was 27 years old while Ali was 29.
The Ali-Norton Trilogy
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Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton first faced each other in Mar. 1973 in San Diego, California. In their first encounter, Ali lost to Norton via a 12-round split decision. Norton broke Ali's jaw in the 12-round duel.
Ali won the rematch, also by split decision, on Sept. 10, 1973, which set up Ali-Frazier II, a non-title rematch with Joe Frazier, who had already lost his title to George Foreman. The bout was held on Jan. 28, 1974, with Ali winning a unanimous 12-round decision.
In 1976 or three years after Norton broke Ali's jaw, they fought again in Inglewood, California. Ali won via a 12-round split decision, paving the way for a third and final fight.
Their last fight was a 15-rounder which was held in Bronx, New York in Sept. 1976.
Ali won the last of their three-part series and retained his WBA/WBC heavyweight titles, which he took from George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire via eighth-round KO.
Ali vs. Leon Spinks
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The third man that came in the way of Muhammad Ali's boxing career was Leon Spinks, a fellow American who was born in St. Louis, Missouri.
Spinks made history in 1978 when he beat Muhammad Ali in a 15-round split decision in Las Vegas, Nevada and snatched Ali's WBA/WBC heavyweight titles. He won the titles only in his eighth fight, the fastest ascent in history.
Ali, who had not been the same since his last fight with Joe Frazier, expected an easy fight, but he was out-hustled by Spinks, who did not seem to tire throughout the bout.
The victory over Ali was the peak of Spinks' career. With this victory, Spinks became the only man to ever take a title belt from Muhammad Ali in the ring, since Ali's other losses were contests in which no official world title belt that he was in possession of was on the line.
Spinks' iconic gap-toothed grin was featured on the cover of the Feb. 19, 1978 issue of Sports Illustrated. He never again fought as efficiently.
In Sept. 1978, Ali and Spinks faced each other again in New Orleans. Ali won via a unanimous decision and took the WBA heavyweight title.
Duel with Larry Holmes
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In 1980, Muhammad Ali fought Larry Holmes, a fellow American boxer from Pennsylvania, who was the reigning Ring Magazine heavyweight champion from 1980-85.
The fight took place in Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Muhammad Ali was well past his prime and coming out of retirement when he faced Larry Holmes, who was at his absolute best for this fight. It was Ali's last attempt to become a four-time world heavyweight champion.
Holmes actually held back after the middle rounds because he could also see that Ali was definitely not the same man who had taught him to box when he served as Ali's sparring partner.
At the end of the 10th round, Ali's trainer, Angelo Dundee stopped the fight.
Ali blamed his poor performance on thyroid medication that he had been taking, claiming that it helped him lose weight (he weighed 217.5 lbs., his lowest weight since he fought George Foreman in 1974), but it also left him drained for the fight.
Muhammad Ali vs. Trevor Berbick (Ali's Last Fight before Retirement)
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Muhammad Ali's last professional fight before retiring was against Trevor Berbick, a Jamaican-Canadian heavyweight boxer who briefly held the WBC heavyweight title in 1986.
Ali lost to Berbick via a unanimous decision in Nassau, Bahamas in 1981.
At the height of his boxing career, Berbick had trouble with the law despite his religious background.
Berbick had been arrested a number of times and was sentenced to five years in prison for sexually assaulting his children's baby sitter in 1992. He was subsequently deported from the US.
Berbick, who was once a preacher at the Moments of Miracles Pentecostal Church in Las Vegas, was murdered by his nephew over a land dispute in his native Jamaica in 2006.
Berbick has three sons who live in Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada.
