Muhammad Ali vs. Karl Mildenberger

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Challenger rankings
Org. Pos. As of Published
1+ Mth. Old
WBA 5 30.04.1966 02.05.1966
Ring 4 ~30.05.1966 31.05.1966
2+ Mth. Old
WBA 6 29.02.1966 03.03.1966
Ring 4 20.04.1966 19.04.1966
3+ Mth. Old
WBA 6 29.02.1966 03.03.1966
Ring 4 20.03.1966 16.03.1966

Muhammad Ali 204 lbs beat Karl Mildenberger 195 lbs by TKO at 1:30 in round 12 of 15

Ali lands a right against Mildenberger

Notes

Timeline

  • On April 12, Ali's trainer Angelo Dundee stated that Mildenberger was in Ali's plans for the title defense: "Mildenberger is a good fight, a big, strong boy. He definitely rates in the plans for Clay. He has been mentioned several times".[1]
  • On April 16, shortly after signing to fight Henry Cooper, Ali publicly claimed "I'd like to go from London to Germany and make this title of mine a real world championship", hinting at Mildenberger who was by far the highest-ranked German contender at the time.[2]
  • On May 21, former heavyweight champion Ingemar Johansson flew to London to negotiate terms with Ali's and Mildenberger's teams, hoping to stage the fight in Sweden.[3]
  • On May 24, Ali said that he could return to the ring "within two months" and that Mildenberger would be his opponent and that he would like to stage the fight in the United Kingdom, citing the financial success of his title defense against Henry Cooper the week prior. Harry Levene, promoter of the Ali-Cooper fight, confirmed that the fight between Ali and Mildenberger in the UK was under discussion.[4]
  • Early June, former heavyweight contender Eddie Machen endorsed the fight: "Mildenberger is fast. Very fast, both his hands and his feet. And Mildenberger is a southpaw and no one - and that probably includes Clay - wants to fight a southpaw".[5]
  • On June 14, Bruno Mueller, son of Mildenberger's manager, stated that the plans were now for the fight to take place in Frankfurt in September, given that Mildenberger successfully defends his European title against Yvan Prebeg.[6]
  • Contracts signed on July 5.[7][8]

Ranking Movements

  • Mildenberger ranked fourth by Ring Magazine since March, was promoted to third in the rankings released June 30.
  • Mildenberger moved from sixth to fifth in the WBA rankings in May after Floyd Patterson was dropped from fourth to eighth. He moved back to sixth in July 1 after Thad Spencer was promoted to fourth.

The Fight

  • This was the first world heavyweight title bout ever held in Germany.
  • Mildenberger was the first southpaw to fight for the World Heavyweight Title.
  • Ali was a 10-1 favorite.
  • There was a crowd of about 40,000.
  • Introduced in the ring prior to the bout were former World Heavyweight Champions Max Schmeling, Joe Louis, and Ingemar Johansson.
  • Ali and Mildenberger wore six-ounce British gloves.
  • Mildenberger's left eye was badly cut in the sixth round and almost completely closed by the eighth round.
  • Mildenberger was knocked down in rounds five, eight, and ten.
  • Referee Teddy Waltham of Great Britain stopped the bout at 1:28 of the 12th round to protect Mildenberger from further punishment.
  • The fight was scored by rounds. At the time of the stoppage, Referee Teddy Waltham had Ali ahead 7-2-2, and Judges Felix Ohlet and Nat Fleischer (editor of The Ring magazine) each had Ali leading 7-3-1. The Associated Press had Ali in front 9-1-1.
  • One of the promoters said Ali would collect a purse of about $300,000 and Mildenberger about $100,000 of the total gross of approximately $750,000 from the gate receipts and television.
  • Questioned in 1973, Ali said that Mildenberger, not Joe Frazier, was his most difficult opponent to date.

Article


Preceded by:
Ali vs. London 		WBC Heavyweight Title Fight
# 8 		Succeeded by:
Ali vs. Williams


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