Muhammad Ali vs. Brian London was a professional boxing match contested on 6 August 1966, for the WBC, NYSAC, and The Ring heavyweight championship.[1] The match took place at Earls Court Arena, London, England on 6 August 1966. It was scheduled for fifteen rounds. The match ended in the third round with Ali defeating London by KO.[2][3][4][5][6]
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| Date | 6 August 1966 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Earls Court Arena, Hammersmith and Fulham, London, UK | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBC, NYSAC, and The Ring heavyweight titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ali won via 3rd round KO | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Background
editSpeaking before the bout London appeared unfazed by Ali's typical taunts, saying "Clay insult me …. no way. I’m too ignorant." He would conceded that the champion would be the superior boxer but warned that: "Clay may cut me, out-box me, or even beat me. But I’ll be there at the end, thumping."[7][8]
The fight
edit
Ali at 24 years old put on a masterful performance against a clearly out-classed 32 year old opponent, with Ali having the advantages of height, weight, reach and youth on his side, almost hitting London at will as the fight went on. As London put it in an interview with the BBC: "he was just getting through all the time".
Ali bouncingly circled continually, whilst London tracked doggedly after him for the first two rounds seemingly with a strategy of trying to land a single knock-out punch to the American champion. London succeeded in landing only one blow in the match, a left jab to Ali's jaw midway through the 1st Round which caught Ali by surprise and left him for a moment stunned (and wide-open for a follow through right cross, which London failed to take advantage of), but the blow lacked weight and Ali was able to quickly recover.
On coming out for the 3rd Round London displayed a patent degree of hesitation to come forward to engage, and Ali sensing this advanced to the attack flashly, penning him back into a corner and throwing a 12-punch combination in 3 seconds in a showboating display of speed and athleticism, but with a suspicion of Ali holding back, with few of the blows actually connecting or possessing weight behind them, and the one blow that did (the 10th) being just enough to knock London down and end the fight.[9]
Aftermath
editIn a post-career media interview London described his contest with Ali in stark terms, describing Ali as being:-
"Big, fast and he could punch, whereas I was smaller, fatter and couldn't punch. He stopped me in three rounds and that was it, I don't think I hit him. It was good money and I got well paid for it - that's all I fought for. Every fight I ever had I always had a go, but with Muhammad Ali I thought don't get hurt Brian, and I therefore didn't try, which was wrong, totally wrong."[10]
Undercard
editConfirmed bouts:[11]
Broadcasting
edit| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 Philippines |
CBN 9 |
 United Kingdom |
ITV |
 United States |
ABC |
References
edit- ^ "Muhammad Ali vs. Brian London". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ "If Cassius Can't Punch, Then London Isn't Down". Sports Illustrated. 15 August 1966. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
- ^ Stephen Brunt (2002). Facing Ali. The Lyons Press. pp. 75–9.
- ^ "Brit boxer battered by Muhammad Ali says it was an 'honour' to have fought him". Mirror. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
- ^ "On This Day: Muhammad Ali annihilated Brian London". Boxing News. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
- ^ "Muhammad Ali's ring record". ESPN. 19 November 2003. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
- ^ Rawling, John (24 June 2021). "Brian London obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
- ^ "Brian London, boxer known as 'the Blackpool Rock' who fought Muhammad Ali for the world heavyweight title – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021. (subscription required)
- ^ 'Muhammad Ali vs Brian London full fight', published on Youtube 18 January 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWnt4Z2Z9N0
- ^ Interview with Brian London, 'When Ali Came to Britain' (2012), television documentary made by ITV Sport. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2256051/
- ^ "BoxRec - event".