Some believe that Muhammad Ali lost to Jimmy Young.

[psychod1986]

After the fight,when Ali was interviewed he admit that he didn't fight his best and he was out of shape & it was a close fight.Also seeing the crowd booing him and the judges on there decision.I thought Ali fought much better in the Shavers fight at least he was throwing punches letting his hands go.

[BoxBuzz]

The ONLY thing that saved Ali from losing that fight was the nonsensical behavior that Young demonstrated that evidently confused or mislead the judges. Unless Jimmy was poking his head out of the ring, because there was something about the incoming that he didn't like.

[Boxing Writer]

After the fight,when Ali was interviewed he admit that he didn't fight his best and he was out of shape & it was a close fight.Also seeing the crowd booing him and the judges on there decision.I thought Ali fought much better in the Shavers fight at least he was throwing punches letting his hands go.

I scored this fight for Ali by 2 points

[BoxBuzz]

Were you influenced by Jimmy's behavior at all? Seems plausible. If a guy is perhaps winning a round, and starts sticking his head out of the ring, I might look at that as a retreating move and it could easily nullify a lead if interpreted in that way. It surely did Jimmy no good, and he could not have possibly gained anything by it.

And should it have been read as clowning? Not sure I got the drift if that's what it was. So maybe the judges at ringside didn't see it that way either?

If you are there to claim the championship, you might want to make your clowning rather unambiguous. Many folks didn't know what to make of it.

Making people responsible for their own behavior is out of fashion I know....but there ya are.

[Tuan_Jim]

Ali was obviously out of shape. In spite of him being below par what he was throwing was still menacing enough to make Young want to half leap out of the ring.

[elmersalsa]

Jimmy Young gave The Greatest a boxing lesson

[Ezzard]

Young probably did win enough rounds and was a remarkable talent in his own right. But who wanted to see the championship won like that?

If there was a way to say Jimmy won but Ali keeps the title I’d be happy with that. But it’s just not one of those decisions I lose sleep over.

[Tony1244]

I watched it as a kid and thought Jimmy was robbed. I think that's when I learned the term "robbed" in a boxing sense. I think I saw it for Young going away because my expectations of Ali were so high.

As an adult I watched it some years ago and thought Ali won. Young was a great defensive fighter but probably deserved the losses to Ali and Norton. Young also toyed with Ron Lyle twice, I think one of those fights is still "out there."

Foreman could have beaten Young if he had continued to jab. GF forgot about his jab in the Ali and Young fights and it cost him dearly. Every shot GF threw in those fights was for a KO, and that just gets too predictable for defensive wizards like Ali and Young.

[hhaehre]

Young probably did win enough rounds and was a remarkable talent in his own right. But who wanted to see the championship won like that?

If there was a way to say Jimmy won but Ali keeps the title I’d be happy with that. But it’s just not one of those decisions I lose sleep over.

Ali fanboys are obsessed with Young sticking his head out of the ring a few times. If you're gonna take points off for something like that then surely other destructive tactics should also be penalized? Who would have won Ali-Frazier II if the judges had deducted points for excessive holding?

As for scoring of the Ali-Young fight, I thought Young won it easily. It's one of two fights in Ali's career where he was awarded a truly bad decision, the other one being the third fight vs Norton.

[Tony1244]

Jimmy Young was great but only for 2 years or so.

He had a knack for looking similar against mediocrity and great fighters like Foreman and Ali and good fighters like Ron Lyle.

He could have fought a guy 6-6, the nights he beat Foreman and almost beat Ali, and the fight still would have been a relatively close decision.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I believe he lost, but the fight was far too horrible to care about the decision with any sort of passion.

[BoxBuzz]

Young probably did win enough rounds and was a remarkable talent in his own right. But who wanted to see the championship won like that?

If there was a way to say Jimmy won but Ali keeps the title I’d be happy with that. But it’s just not one of those decisions I lose sleep over.

Ali fanboys are obsessed with Young sticking his head out of the ring a few times. If you're gonna take points off for something like that then surely other destructive tactics should also be penalized? Who would have won Ali-Frazier II if the judges had deducted points for excessive holding?

As for scoring of the Ali-Young fight, I thought Young won it easily. It's one of two fights in Ali's career where he was awarded a truly bad decision, the other one being the third fight vs Norton.

Nah, might as well pay attention to all aspects and attempt some neutral assessment. It was odd enough to get noticed by anyone watching....and the judges probably were negatively influenced by it. So you could make these two guys anonymous, and still get that judgment outcome. I'm not sayin' that it wasn't some sort of mercy vote, but I'm sayin it's just as possible that Young buried himself. He has only himself to congratulate.