ALI V CLEVELAND WILLIAMS
HE may have had other fights that earned more column inches, provoked more dramatic promotional campaigns, awakened more conspiracy theories, or just generally thudded louder through generations to follow.
But many maintain the true boxing greatness of Ali was never better exemplified than the night in November 1966 when he took on the ageing but ferociously hard-hitting Williams at the Houston Astrodome.
The crowd - an indoor record of 35,460 - sensed an upset, and Williams certainly came equipped. A big puncher, he had made his name in two brutal bouts against Liston in 1960, both of which he lost.
Despite having been inactive in 1965 due to being shot by a policeman over a traffic violation, he pronounced himself ready to face Ali.
Williams’ plan was to stalk Ali and hope to land one of his big shots.
But Ali knew Williams would have to catch him first. Right from the first bell, at which he had been lustily booed, Ali bounced on the balls of his feet and proceeded to dart out of Williams’ reach.
Evading his opponent’s increasingly frustrated swings, Ali flicked in with scoring punches off the backfoot, pumping home his left jab with unerring accuracy while Williams barely managed to land a punch in the hour.
In the second round Ali stepped up a gear, flooring Williams three times in quick succession towards the end of the round with stunning countershots which once again went unchallenged.
Ali’s respect for Williams was obvious. He knew the longer the bout went on the more chance he stood of getting caught. In his next fight, Ali would deliberately extend Ernie Terrell the full 15 rounds to make him pay for a perceived slight. Not so Williams.
Only Williams’ tenacious fighting spirit forced him to return upright for more punishment. The bell delayed the inevitable, but early in the third round, Ali knocked Williams flat on his back once more, and the referee waved the contest off.
It was a near-perfect performance from Ali, who gained back some public support as a result, although he would only fight twice more until his refusal to enter the US draft saw him stripped of his title and banned from boxing for three years.
Although he rebounded with three successive first-round wins, his loss to Ali signalled the end of Williams’ top-level career. He eventually retired in 1972, and died in a traffic accident in 1999 at the age of 66.