Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Bugner (2nd meeting)

**Challenger rankings**
Org.	Pos.	As of	Published
1+ Mth. Old
WBA	N/A	N/A	N/A
WBC	3	28.02.1975	by 06.03.1975
Ring	3	~01.03.1975	by 15.03.1975
2+ Mth. Old
WBA	N/A	N/A	N/A
WBC	4	31.01.1975	by 25.02.1975
Ring	4	02.1974	by 25.02.1975
3+ Mth. Old
WBA	N/A	N/A	N/A
WBC	4	31.12.1974	21.01.1975
Ring	4	01.1975	by 17.01.1975

Notes

On February 28, Bugner and his manager Andy Smith said that they had a received a telegram from Ali's team with an offer of a fight at Madison Square Garden on June 2. Though both were excited about the telegram, Smith stated that no agreement would be finalized until Ali defeated Wepner and Bugner defeated Dante Cane.[1]
On March 20, Ali opened up about his plans to face Bugner if he successfully defended his title against Chuck Wepner in four days: the plan was to schedule it for June 2 at Soldier Field in Chicago, and his purse would be $2 million.[2]
The next day, Ali's manager Herbert Muhammad confirmed that a fight against Bugner in June was being considered, though a deal with CBS to televise the fight fell through. According to Muhammad, there was also an interest in staging the fight in New Orleans and Houston.[3]
After defending the title against Chuck Wepner on March 24, Ali again confirmed that he would like to face Bugner next.[4]
On April 3, Andy Smith announced that negotiations were off after Ali opted to face Ron Lyle instead.[5][6]
On April 22, Ali revealed that he had four different offers on the table at that moment: against Bugner in Europe, Dominican Republic and Malaysia and against Frazier in New Orleans. According to Herbert Muhammad, final decision would be made after Ali defended his title against Lyle on May 16.[7]
Nevertheless, on April 25 Ali signed the Malaysia offer; Bugner signed it on April 27.[8]

Buger ranked fourth by The Ring Magazine and WBC at the start of 1975.
In its February rankings published early March, Bugner moved up to third by both organizations after Ron Lyle was dropped to seventh and eighth, respectively, after his loss to unranked Jimmy Young. Young was moved to ninth by the WBC, remaining below Lyle, and seventh by The Ring.
In the March rankings published early April, WBC moved Bugner to second, only behind Joe Frazier, while Ring Magazine dropped him to fourth.

The fight was shown on closed circuit TV in the United States and about 59 other countries.
Ali's purse was $2,000,000 and Bugner's was $500,000.
Ali was a 3 to 1 favorite.
There was an estimated crowd of 22,000.
Closed-Circuit Poster, Fight Photo 2

Preceded by: Ali vs. Lyle	WBA Heavyweight Title Fight # 22	Succeeded by: Ali vs. Frazier III
Preceded by: Ali vs. Lyle	WBC Heavyweight Title Fight # 23	Succeeded by: Ali vs. Frazier III