Muhammad Ali Memorabilia > Muhammad Ali Autographs
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Muhammad Ali vs Zora Folley, Madison Square Garden
Action Photograph measuring 16x20 Inches of
Muhammad Ali in action against Zora Folley in 1967 at Madison
Square Garden. This was Ali's last fight before his enforced
retirement by the boxing authorities. His last fight when
he was arguably at his peak. Signed in Silver Sharpie and
comes complete with Online Authentics Certificate. Nice
clear Signature.
We only have 1 of these signed photographs to ensure exclusivity.
All Postage costs will be calculated at checkout. This item
will be shipped Unframed in a protective tube within 7 days.
£1,395.00
MUHAMMAD ALI
"After I go," said Muhammad Ali,
"boxing will be a graveyard."
The heavyweight champion won an interesting fight against
an aging but surprisingly worthy challenger. Now Ali's clouded
future raises the possibility that the ring soon may be
deprived of its most colorful figure.
Still, Folley did accomplish some things.
He cut the ring down on Ali. He hit the champion more often
than any other opponent with solid right hands and slip
jabs. He did not panic when Ali got cute and, faking and
feinting, he forced Ali to miss several good punches. On
the negative side—besides being knocked out—he
obstinately clung to one strategem; while moving to his
right, he kept looking to throw a right-handed counter.
It did not take Ali long to learn that he could go in flat-footed
and ram home his good right hand, which so many people doubt
he possesses.
It is also a popular opinion that Ali just
played with Folley the first two rounds, but it is more
likely that he was measuring Folley's reactions and the
strength of his punches. It wasn't until the third round
that Ali began working. His straight left hands—not
his jab—kept snapping Folley's head back, and these
were the punches that started Folley on his way out. At
the end of the third round, Ali told his corner that Folley
had begun to tire, that his punches had lost some of their
life.
In the fourth, Ali, now punching flat-footed,
spun Folley around with a left hook and then banged a right
hand in back of his ear. Folley went down; he was flat on
his stomach, and then suddenly he was up, his nose streaming
blood, and he was kneeling and looking to his corner for
the count. Folley raged back, but he had left too much of
himself on the floor. Ali, it appeared, carried Folley in
the fifth and sixth rounds, but going into the seventh Herbert
Muhammad, his manager, told him to "stop playin'."
He did. Two rights, the first of which traveled roughly
six inches, gave Ali his 29th straight successful title
defense, and sent Folley back to the anonymity in which
he has long labored—and seems to prefer.
