Muhammad Ali vs. Jimmy Young

Boxing competition

Muhammad Ali vs Jimmy Young

Date

April 30, 1976

Venue

Capital Centre, Maryland

Title(s) on the line

WBA, WBC, and The Ring heavyweight titles

Tale of the tape

Boxer	Muhammad Ali	Jimmy Young
Hometown	Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Purse	$1.8 million	$85,000
Pre-fight record	50–2	17–4–2
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight	230 lb (104 kg)	209 lb (95 kg)
Style	Orthodox	Orthodox
Recognition	WBA, WBC, and The Ring heavyweight champion	Ranked #3 heavyweight

Result

Ali won via 15 round UD

Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Young fought a boxing match on April 30, 1976. Ali won the bout through a unanimous decision on points. This bout was aired live in primetime on ABC with Howard Cosell calling the action from the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland.

Background

The fight was Ali's sixth defense during his second championship reign. By comparison, Jimmy Young had a relatively unimpressive record, but had scored several big victories (most notable at this point was Ron Lyle), leading him to being ranked #3 overall heavyweight since 1975.

Ali did not believe Young would be a difficult opponent. Prior to the bout, Muhammad Ali's trainer Angelo Dundee put up a message board to Ali saying "Remember San Diego" That was when Ali, overweight, lost a 12-round split decision to Ken Norton on March 31, 1973, in that city, knowing just before this bout Ali trained lightly.

Ali came into the bout at 230 pounds, the heaviest he weighed for any fight until his final bout in 1981 when he weighted 236 pounds against Trevor Berbick.

Fight

The fight was a hard-fought defense for Ali, who found himself struggling against the crafty challenger. Young's footwork and defensive skills made him stylistically difficult for Ali, and for most of the fight he did well against the champion.

During the bout on six occasions, Young ducked outside of the ropes when he began to be seriously pressured by Ali. This was done in the seventh, eighth, 12th, twice in the 13th and once more in the 15th round. When he did it in the 12th round, the referee ruled it an official knockdown and began to count. Young pulled his head back into the ring at the count of two. Young's decision to duck outside of the ring did not go over well with the judges, costing him points, and was one of the chief factors in his loss.

When the decision was made, the crowd loudly booed. Ali won by decision with the three judges voting for him.

In the stats department, Young landed 222 punches to Ali's 113. Young outlanded Ali 65–27 in jabs and 187–86 in power punches. The punch disparity highlighted the booing at the judges decisions. Compubox points out that Young landed 41.1 percent while Ali only 18.9 percent of the shots. Ali's 113 punches we're the lowest Ali ever had in a 15-round bout.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Aftermath

Howard Cosell, while commentator for Ali's rematch with Leon Spinks in 1978 believed that Ali's decline truly began to show with this fight. Although he would successfully defend his title four more times, three of them would also prove quite difficult for Ali, with this fight and his eventual third match with Ken Norton being among his most controversial victories.

Top contender Ken Norton, who was in attendance later stated,

He look pitiful. I kept hollering up to him. 'don't blow the money, Ali, don't blow the money damn it!' But the Ali you saw tonight is not the guy I have to fight. I wish I was, but it won't be. He'll be ready for me. You can count on it
— Ken Norton

Ali never rematched Young, although the latter would continue to rise through the ranks, with Young defeating George Foreman for the NABF heavyweight championship in 1977, but ultimately lossing on a slit decision in a title eliminator fight against Ken Norton later that year.

References

^ "Muhammad Ali's ring record". ESPN. 19 November 2003. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
^ "The Most Subjective Sport". New York Times. 2 May 1976. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
^ Felix Dennis; Don Atyeo (2003). Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years. miramax books. p. 246.
^ Thomas Hauser (1991). Muhammad Ali:His Life and Times. Simon & Schuster. pp. 332–3.

Muhammad Ali

Fights

Media

Docu films and series	Whicker's World (1967 episode) a.k.a. Cassius Clay (1970) Facing Ali (2009) When Ali Came to Ireland (2012) The Trials of Muhammad Ali (2013) I Am Ali (2014) Icons: The Greatest Person of the 20th Century (2019 episode) What's My Name: Muhammad Ali (2019) Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali (2021) Muhammad Ali (2021 series)