Muhammad Ali vs Jimmy Ellis

Venue: Houston Astrodome, Texas. 26th July, 1971.

Muhammad Ali quickly rationalized his defeat by Joe Frazier, reasoning that he had lost just once in 32 bouts and the loss had not been an overwhelming one. Indeed, a little more activity in the middle rounds where he'd gone to the ropes might have been enough to give him the fight and his title. He was buoyed too, when the Supreme Court finally overturned his draft conviction and quashed his five-year prison sentence a month before the bout.

He picked jimmy Ellis one of his sparring partners, as the fight to begin rebuilding his boxing career. Ellis had briefly held the WBA belt and was a hard hitting fighter. He had grown up in Ali’s shadow: both were born in Louisville, and he had first fought Ali as an amateur (a fight Ellis claimed to have won easily). He had sparred more than a thousand rounds with Ali. Ellis even had Angelo Dundee in his corner, with Ali’s blessing and so Ali used Harry Wiley, who had trained his hero Sugar Ray Robinson.

Between them, Ellis and Dundee knew more about Ali’s methods than any partnership, yet Ali still won the fight with a punch they feared. After the expected fast start from Ellis, Ali threw a straight high right hand past Ellis’s jab in the fourth round. “It hurt me so bad, I couldn’t really fight my best after that.” Ellis admitted. Ali treated the rest of the fight as an extended sparring session. In the 12th he threw the high right again, following up with a strong combination and only the ropes kept Ellis up. Ali pulled back and the referee stepped in.

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