Muhammad Ali vs Trevor Burbick - Drama In Bahama

Venue: Queen Elizabeth Sports Center, Nassau, Bahamas. 11th December, 1981.

“ I thought I should go out of boxing with a win, Muhammad Ali said, or if not with a win, at least throwing punches.” It was nonsense, of course. Almost 40 already damaged by the attrition of his profession and now the victim of another large financial scandal, Ali took a bout with Trevor Berbick, who had just lost a decision to Larry Holmes in a title bout.

Manoeuvrings behind the promotion, run by Nation of Islam member James Cornelius, were internecine. Even Don King received a beating “for interfering with Muslim business” as he pressed a claim for a part of Berbick’s end of the deal.

Berbick handed Ali another defeat, although Ali exited boxing on his feet, which was, as he had wanted. “I came out all right for an old man,” he said in the post-fight press conference. “We all lose sometimes. We all grow old.”

With those words, perhaps the greatest career in boxing came to an end.

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