BoxRec

-Apri.16.1977l-
ABC Wide World of Sports
originally suppose to air was Larry Holmes vrs Stan Ward
but it was cancelled at last moment because of the tournament scandal


( Dokes also sparred with Ali in November 1977 when Ali was preparing to fight Leon Spinks)

-May-

Monday April.16.1977
ABC-TV Boxing Special
PARADE OF CHAMPIONS

-July-

I find it incredible that in the trailer for "The Greatest" (at 0:55 seconds), the narrator references Cassius Clay's gold medal at the "1962" Olympics. How was this egregious error not corrected in post-production?

I AM THE GREATEST
( featuring the real voice of Muhammad Ali )only ran for only 13 episodes.
NBC-TV Saturday morning
from September.10.1977 to December.3.1977
(in January it was replaced by Pink Panther cartoon reruns)
here is the first episode.
BTW check out Muhammad Ali's actual cameo appearance at 23;10.

Thursday Evening-September.29.1977

U'K broadcast of the fight ( with different camera angles ).

see how it all went in decline fast in 1977 ?

Ali in 1977 was like Elvis in 1977 to a large extent.

Should have retired in 1977.

goose 5 wrote: ↑08 Jun 2023, 19:00 Ali in 1977 was like Elvis in 1977 to a large extent.

Nice one Goose. Nice comp.

writehooks wrote: ↑14 Sep 2022, 23:08 I find it incredible that in the trailer for "The Greatest" (at 0:55 seconds), the narrator references Cassius Clay's gold medal at the "1962" Olympics. How was this egregious error not corrected in post-production?

1962 wasn't even an Olympic year :doh:

aired Fall 1977

Caractacus wrote: ↑08 Jun 2023, 14:30 see how it all went in decline fast in 1977 ?

Tbh the decline is visible from 1975 onwards.

Following the Wepner fight, Ali seldom ever danced again in the ring. He was often flat footed, relying more and more on the rope a dope. But he fought enough fringe contenders like Dunn, Evangelista, Coopman, Inoki, etc to give the impression he still had it.

yeah, the decline began around after the Wepner fight,
but Ali still seemed okay in 1977.
1978, it all seem to go down really fast.
( check out the Ali in 1978 thread)

1111519 wrote: ↑08 Jun 2023, 20:05 Should have retired in 1977.

Definitely.

That's the year Ferdie Pacheco left Ali's team because he could see the neurological decline in Muhammad.

Watched some of Holmes-Ali last night. Ali is clearly not right before the fight. His decline is so obvious before a punch has even been thrown.

Ezzard wrote: ↑14 Jun 2023, 03:23 Watched some of Holmes-Ali last night. Ali is clearly not right before the fight. His decline is so obvious before a punch has even been thrown.

It's interesting to see how fast the decline was because he still had "something" going into his exhibition with Lyle Alzado in 1979. There was something off about him even then, don't get me wrong, but you start noticing his voice especially changing.

Ezzard wrote: ↑14 Jun 2023, 03:23 Watched some of Holmes-Ali last night. Ali is clearly not right before the fight. His decline is so obvious before a punch has even been thrown.

I believe it's known that, prior to the fight, Ali couldn't lose weight quickly enough. For this reason, they gave him dexedrine, which is speed used suppress appetite and boost energy. Back then dexedrine was popular for use in near-starvation diets, to lose a lot of weight quickly.

By the time Ali got in front of the TV cameras, he was mentally and physically burned out, and possibly not fit to enter the ring. Dexedrine may be part of the explanation.