Muhammad Ali vs. Alfredo Evangelista
Date | May 16, 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Venue | Capital Centre, Maryland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Title(s) on the line | WBA, WBC, and The Ring heavyweight titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ali won via 15 round UD |
Muhammad Ali and Alfredo Evangelista fought a championship match on May 16, 1977. Ali won the bout through a unanimous decision on points (71–65, 72–64, 72–64). The fight was held in the Capital Centre before a crowd of over 12,000 at the Capital Centre, along with a prime time broadcast on ABC.
Background
This was Muhammad Ali's ninth title defense during his second title reign, and the first since his third bout with Ken Norton. This close and controversial fight happened over seven months ago, representing the longest break the champion had taken in between title fights.
Alfredo Evangelista was a young and relatively inexperienced fighter, he had scored eleven knockouts in just fourteen victories in just over a year, and suffered only one defeat. By 1977, Evangelista began entering the heavyweight top ten rankings, and before the fight was ranked eighth by the WBA and 10th by the WBC.
Despite the challengers formidable left hook, Ali and his team expected an easy victory. Despite the confidence, Ali did make sure to properly train and slim down after having gained significant weight in the time off between fights.
The Fight
The fight proved to be another difficult defense for the champion. Evangelista was able to go the distance with Ali, and managed to land his powerful left hook at several occasions, but only stunned the champion twice (in the sixth and eighth round). Ali heavily used his rope-a-dope tactic, mixed in with his use of the shuffle and jab to outmaneuver the challenger. At several occasions Ali landed effective combinations and even came close to shutting out the challenger, but was unable to knock him out.
The longer the fight lasted, the bolder Evangelista got, but Ali ultimately won the fight by unanimous decision. Ali had effectively out landed Evangelista in punches, particularly in jabs, but the challenger landed more power punches and was seen as the aggressor by the crowd, who booed the decision.
Undercard
- Alfredo Escalera KO 8 Carlos Becerril Escalera retains WBC world Junior Lightweight Title
- Roberto Durán UD 10 Javier Muniz
- Tyrone Everett TKO 4 Delfino Rodriguez
Quotes
"I'm sorry, we televised it" Howard Cosell doing the bout for ABC who later said that this was one of the worst bouts he's ever seen.
"I'm 35 and I danced for 15 rounds, it's a miracle". Ali after his bout with Evangelista.[1][2][3][4][5]
References
- ^ "Muhammad Ali's ring record". ESPN. 19 November 2003. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
- ^ "The old song and dance sham". The Age. 18 May 1977. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- ^ "Ali's Scouting Report on 'Rocky'". New York Times. 16 May 1977. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
- ^ Felix Dennis; Don Atyeo (2003). Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years. miramax books. p. 252.
- ^ Thomas Hauser (1991). Muhammad Ali:His Life and Times. Simon & Schuster. p. 341.
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- Boxing at the 1960 Summer Olympics
- Clay vs. Hunsaker
- Clay vs. Siler
- Clay vs. Esperti
- Clay vs. Robinson
- Clay vs. Fleeman
- Clay vs. Clark
- Clay vs. Sabedong
- Clay vs. Johnson
- Clay vs. Miteff
- Clay vs. Besmanoff
- Clay vs. Banks
- Clay vs. Warner
- Clay vs. Logan
- Clay vs. Daniels
- Clay vs. Lavorante
- Clay vs. Moore
- Clay vs. Powell
- Clay vs. Jones
- Clay vs. Cooper
- Liston vs. Clay
- Ali vs. Liston II
- Ali vs. Patterson
- Ali vs. Chuvalo
- Ali vs. Cooper II
- Ali vs. London
- Ali vs. Mildenberger
- Ali vs. Terrell
- Ali vs. Williams
- Ali vs. Folley
- Ali vs. Quarry
- Ali vs. Bonavena
- Fight of the Century (Frazier vs. Ali I)
- Ali vs. Ellis
- Ali vs. Mathis
- Ali vs. Blin
- Ali vs. M. Foster
- Ali vs. Lewis
- Ali vs. Patterson II
- Ali vs. B. Foster
- Ali vs. Bugner
- Ali vs. Norton
- Norton vs. Ali II
- Ali vs. Lubbers
- Ali vs. Frazier II
- The Rumble in the Jungle (Foreman vs. Ali)
- Ali vs. Wepner
- Ali vs. Lyle
- Thrilla in Manila (Ali vs. Frazier III)
- Ali vs. Coopman
- Ali vs. Young
- Ali vs. Dunn
- Ali vs. Norton III
- Ali vs. Evangelista
- Ali vs. Shavers
- Ali vs. Spinks
- Spinks vs. Ali II
- Holmes vs. Ali
- Ali vs. Berbick
Docu films and series |
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- Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962 film)
- I Am the Greatest (1963 album)
- The Super Fight (1970 film)
- "Black Superman (Muhammad Ali)" (1974 song)
- The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976 album)
- The Greatest (1977 film)
- I Am the Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali (1977 animated series)
- Superman vs. Muhammad Ali (1978 comic book)
- Muhammad Ali Heavyweight Boxing (1992 video game)
- Foes of Ali (1995 video game)
- When We Were Kings (1996 film)
- King of the World (2000 TV film)
- Ali: An American Hero (2000 TV film)
- "Muhammad Ali" (2001 song)
- Ali (2001 film)
- "The World's Greatest" (2002 song)
- One Night in Miami (2013 play)
- Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight (2013 TV film)
- Approaching Ali (2013 opera)
- One Night in Miami... (2020 film)
associates
- Chuck Bodak (trainer, cutman)
- Angelo Dundee (cornerman)
- Drew Bundini Brown (trainer, cornerman)
- Ferdie Pacheco (personal physician, cornerman)
- Joe E. Martin (first trainer)
- Archie Moore (trainer)
- George Dillman (instructor)
- Jabir Herbert Muhammad (manager)
- Luis Sarria (trainer, cutman, masseur)
- Joe Frazier (opponent, friend)
- Richard Durham (autobiography co-writer)
- The Greatest: My Own Story (1975 autobiography)
- The Fight (1975)
- Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times (1991 biography)
- The Tao of Muhammad Ali (1997)
- King of the World (1998 biography)
- Facing Ali (2002)
- Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years (2002 biography)
- The Soul of a Butterfly (2004 autobiography)
- Twelve Rounds to Glory (2007 biography)
- Ali: A Life (2018 biography)
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