Remembering The War of the Worlds: When Wrestler Antonio Inoki Challenged Muhammad Ali The Boxer
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
The late great Antonio Inoki passed away on October 1, 2022. Anoki was part of the strangest boxer versus wrestler freak show ever staged on television with modified restrictive rules. To most, the idea of Muhammad Ali fighting a wrestler was, is, and will always be considered a ridiculous joke. The actual match was more complex than it appeared on the surface. Ali had called out any oriental fighter to fight him, offering a one million dollar purse to any oriental fighter who could beat him. When a boxer fighting as a boxer faces a wrestler who fights as a wrestler, two sports collide. Such was the case as when the then World Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali of the United States faced 12 times World Professional Wrestling champion and Mixed Martial Artist Antonio Inoki of Japan, in what remains perhaps the strangest boxer versus MMA exhibition ever staged. This in an era before MMA was what it has become today as a legitimate full contact sport and art. Ali accepted a six million dollar offer to fight Inoki.
Worthy of Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Ali versus Inoki was staged at Nippon Budokan Arena in Tokyo, Japan, on June 26, 1976, and the strange bout ended in a 15 round draw, fought under special rules. Seen by 1.5 billion people, the strange exhibition bout was an early predecessor to MMA, which evolved later not in a ring but more so in a cage.
Inoki spent the entire bout kicking at Ali’s legs while on the ring floor on his back, while Ali paced around the edge of the ring jab pawing at Inoki’s feet. At one point, Ali was on the canvas holding Inoki’s legs. At another point, Inoki got to his feet and tried to grapple with Ali, but the concept did not work as Inoki only offered Ali a punching target, so it was back to the floor for Inoki.
Ali versus Inoki, while a strange exhibition draw, was historically significant for one reason. Muhammad Ali inadvertently caused the birth of professional full contact MMA. While Ali versus Inoki was a public spectacle, it served as the catalyst for the development of an entirely new professional sport concept. Early boxing in the pioneer era shows boxing and wrestling were more closely related at an earlier time. Boxers used grappling concepts. Ali fought both Antonio Inoki and Lyle Alzado in televised exhibitions during his career. Ali’s bout with Inoki occurred while both were world champions in their prime. Because the pre agreed modified rules limited Inoki’s options, the bout seemed just an entertaining show. It was not. Inoki suffered a broken foot. Ali incurred two blood clots in his left leg, which he almost lost as a result, and the left leg affected him for the remainder of his boxing career.
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