Ali inoki

It was quite a vivid description of his boxing style as well: at ali inoki best, Ali would combine his stinging jabs and long right hands with his superb footwork to create a style that had no parallels up to that day and remains unique even today. But right in the middle of one of his finest years in the boxing ring he made the unwise decision of attempting something completely unusual in exchange for a huge purse at that time. MMA bouts, ali inoki, with very murky rules. Ali left attempts ali inoki evade kicks from wrestler Antonio Inoki.

By Bruce Haring. Antonio Inoki, whose most famous moment on the world stage was an unorthodox exhibition match against boxing champion Muhammad Ali that aimed to settle which sport could beat the other, died Friday in Japan. He was 79 and no cause of death was released. In wrestling-mad Japan, Inoki was considered its most important star, selling out countless arenas and stadiums from the s and on. In addition to the sold-out crowd of more than 14, at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, the exhibition fight aired on closed-circuit across the world, including more than 32, people at Shea Stadium in New York. Ali took far more damage in the bout than Inoki did, and sustained serious injuries.

Ali inoki

Warning: this piece is 4, words long. If you don't think you can get away with pretending to work while you read for that long, you might want to print it out and read it on the train home later. Picture Muhammad Ali. Standing snarling over Sonny Liston? Shadow boxing on the bottom of a swimming pool? Leaning into the ropes as George Foreman pummels his kidneys? Stooping, shaking, to light the Olympic flame? How about Ali flapping about on the canvas while an 18 stone wrestler sits on his face? Who wants to remember Ali that way? There are some things a person should never have to see happen to a man like Ali. This is the story of one of them. It is eight months on from his third and final fight against Joe Frazier, the Thrilla in Manila and Ali has been busy boxing stooges.

As the advert says :. Spinks Spinks vs. But both fighters trained seriously.

Crossover boxing maybe commonplace in boxing's modern era, but it is something which also occured before the turn of the millennium. One example being in when Japanese wrestling star Antonio Inoki faced the undisputed world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in Japan. In a fight billed as 'The War of the Worlds', Inoki wanted to prove that wrestling was the premier combat discipline and a win against boxing's biggest name would go a long way in cementing that claim. Antonio Inoki came flying out the blocks in round one, sliding at the legs of Muhammad Ali who sidestepped the attack. This was allowed under the special rules created for the contest.

Muhammad Ali vs. At the time, Ali had come off a knockout victory over Richard Dunn in May and was the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion. Inoki, who had been taught catch wrestling by wrestler Karl Gotch , was staging exhibition fights against champions of various martial arts , in an attempt to show that pro wrestling was the dominant fighting discipline. The fight itself, which was fought under special rules , is seen as a precursor to modern mixed martial arts MMA. The result of the fight, a draw, has long been debated by the press and fans. The fight was refereed by Gene LeBell. Ali characteristically bragged to Hatta: "Isn't there any Oriental fighter who will challenge me?

Ali inoki

Ali, who died in at the age of 74 , is third inductee of this year's class, joining Paul Heyman and Bull Nakano. Even with all of his accolades in and out of the boxing ring, Ali also made notable impact in the professional wrestling world. In the very first WrestleMania in , Ali served as the special guest referee for the main event tag team match between Hulk Hogan and Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. By the time of the event, Ali had already retired as an accomplished boxer.

Grow lights lowes

It included a signing ceremony to officially declare a match between the world heavyweight boxing champion and the Japanese wrestling star, the latter also a world champion of the National Wrestling Federation. The fight stank, and made a huge financial loss, but Ali's camp had more serious concerns, as Bob Arum remembers:. Literary Express. The fight was watched by an estimated 1. Matt Astbury. Money back! The fight then followed a similar pattern to the start with Inoki trying to chop Ali down who was finding success with his own punches that he was throwing. After the match, Ali climbed into the ring and hugged Inoki. It was a 'thinking' fight. It was decided that Inoki would not be allowed to throw, grapple or tackle Ali, and no kicks could be landed unless one knee was on the canvas.

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BenBella Books. What a farce! I want one punch! There are kids in Japan who know how to do the Ari kikku without even knowing who 'Ari' is. Inoki landed several kicks more before Ali landed a counter jab, but nothing came from it, and when the final bell sound, both men shook hands again and embraced among a mix of cheers and jeers. In Inoki's own corner, Gotch advised Inoki to either tackle Ali down or capitalize on the next time Ali fell down, so he could pin him and finish him by submission. This is the story of one of them. As Ali circled him warily Inoki scooted around on his behind, like a hound trying to scratch its ass on the carpet. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. Whichever version is correct, in the days leading up to the fight the camps of Ali and Inoki began to renegotiate the rules. NBC Sports. The US had only relinquished administrative control of Okinawa to Japan in He has also written for HBO. They would have made the whole farrago seem like even more of a multi-million dollar mockery than it already was. Inoki knocked Ali down a second time in round eight with two more kicks, but the referee did have to warn the Japanese wrestler about a low blow.