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Wednesday, August 06, 2014

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Muhammad Ali vs Brian London (Aug 6, 1966)


48 years ago on this date of Aug 6, 1966, Muhammad Ali faced challenger Brian London for the Heavyweight Championship of the World. Posting a video of the full fight as well as some animated GIFs I've made from this fight.


Some trivia about this fight and Muhammad Ali in 1966:

  • Muhammad was 24 years, 201 days old on Aug 6
  • Coming into this fight, Ali was a perfect 24-0
  • This fight vs Brian London was The Greatest's 3rd of 5 fights in 1966
  • Brian London was Europe's Heavyweight Champion
  • This was Ali's 5th Title Defense after taking the Championship from Sonny Liston on February 25, 1964
  • London was KOd at 1:40 in the 3rd round after Ali landed 11 or 12 punches in 3 seconds
  • Ali retained The Ring & WBC World Heavyweight titles

Enjoy the grace and speed of Ali pretty close to his peak in the video and the 11 GIFs!



Muhammad Ali vs Brian London
Aug 6, 1966
London, England


 


3 weeks prior to the fight - footage of The Greatest training

Skipping rope - Full GIF + 2 sliced up GIFs




Heavybag work - Full GIF + 2 sliced up GIFs





Round 1
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee ... 

(opening seconds)



(later in the round)



Round 3

Knockout:  Full-speed, isolated full-speed, and SloMo
Was it 11 or 12 punches?







UPDATE ADDED 8/8/14

My friend StretchPlum had this to say about Brian London and this fight:

London was somewhat over the hill at the time but, as he said, he was never a really good boxer, just really fit. He's 80 now, and owns several night clubs. He runs 10 or more miles a day. He lost a challenge to Patterson's title 7 or 8 years before this. One of the guys he beat leading up to Patterson was Gold Medalist Pete Rademacher, who was the only guy to fight for the heavyweight title (against Patterson) in his first fight. Rademacher is famous for, at 85, riding a gas powered unicycle in parades.


My friend Buka had this to say about Brian London and this fight:

I remember that fight. They asked London if he'd fight him in a rematch. He said, "Sure. If you tie a fifty pound weight to each of his legs."


END UPDATE



For more info on The Greatest, please check out: 


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