- author, Jack Jones
- position, BBC Sports
Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor, Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury or Nate Diaz vs. Jack Paul. Crossover boxing or modern mixed martial arts contests are commonplace in modern times, but did you know that it all started in 1976 with a contest billed as the ‘Battle of the Two Worlds?
It was June 26, 1976, when then two-time world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali took on Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki in front of 14,500 fans at Tokyo’s Budokan Arena.
It was a match that ended with Muhammad Ali being hospitalized and the arena being trashed by a frustrated crowd.
But before it all started, expectations were high for this contest.
In 1975, Muhammad Ali was introduced to the president of the Japanese Amateur Wrestling Association, Ichiro Hata, who asked if anyone would be willing to face him for $1 million.
The offer made headlines in Japan and the country’s famous wrestler Inoki and his supporters offered Muhammad Ali $6 million for the bout.
Shaun Allsopp of the Supporting Witness podcast spoke to photographer Claude Charlier, who was 23 years old and living in Tokyo at the time of the contest, about what was described as a ‘battle of two worlds’.
“A large number of people gathered outside Badukan hoping to catch a glimpse of Muhammad Ali and Antonio Inoki,” he said.
Recalling the arena of the competition, he said, ‘Anoki was wearing his purple robe as usual. Ali came jumping and shouting. Everything was quite exciting in the beginning.’
The bout was a chance for Muhammad Ali, who had beaten Joe Frazier in their last three bouts just eight months earlier, to stake his claim as not only the world’s greatest boxer, but the greatest athlete.
The original plan was a rehearsal but the exhibition match turned out to be a real battle. However, Ali had seen Inoki training in Tokyo and, seeing danger looming, new rules were made.
According to Charlier, ‘Anoki told me something interesting. That said, I don’t think Ali is taking the fight too seriously. They think it’s just a show but it’s not a show, we’re really going to fight, and I might break his arm or his leg. Inoki was a powerful fighter.’
Following the rules agreed upon by Muhammad Ali’s representatives, Inoki could not tackle, grapple, or kick while standing.
But this way, Inoki had a chance to kick Ali if he fell on the floor.
The fans in the arena were not informed of these rules and were shocked when Inoki began kicking Gray Ali’s legs on the mat.
According to Charlier, ‘Ali’s colleagues told him to stay away from Inoki, because he was really going to hurt him, but Ali started making fun of him.’
‘Inoki was kicking him repeatedly, in the second round, then in the third round it was the same. Ali gets mad and says I thought you are a professional wrestler. It’s not a competition.’
In the sixth round, Anouki managed to grab Ali’s feet and knock him to the ground. It was something not too different from the stakes seen in today’s mixed martial arts.
According to Charlier, ‘By the tenth round, Ali was in a lot of pain and his leg was very swollen.’
After much fanfare, the bout was declared a draw on the basis of equal points after 15 rounds.
Charlier explains that at this point everyone started shouting and throwing everything they had. Pillows, empty boxes or whatever.
‘People threw things because they were really angry. You pay about five thousand dollars at the time to sit on the side of the arena and see a fight like that, it really wasn’t fair.’
While Ali only landed six punches, he was hit with over 100 kicks.
Although ‘War of the Worlds’ did not impress fans, crossover boxing, and the lucrative revenue stream that came with it, had begun.