What was muhammad alis last fight

Even Ali finally believes what sanity and the calendar should have convinced him long ago. Ali once drank with kings, joked with despots, put nations on the map with his mere presence.

His face was his passport and his fists were his holy weapons. His magic infuriated one generation and previewed another. Ali overwhelmed his sport, his race and birthright. Now here in a junky little country that is strung together by cruise ships, tax shelters and duty-free booze, he danced his last dance with thieves and amateurs, all for one last humiliation. Ali is beyond pity. This last bizarre adventure puts him somewhere on the other side of scorn.

He is a man who kept botching his own suicide. At the end even his friends were ready to kick the chair for him. In a bush league ballpark, the ring built over second base, Ali waddled out to meet the fists of Berbick, an amiable Jamaican by way of Nova Scotia, whose only promise was not to kill his former idol, unless by accident. Jay Edson, a referee himself and one of the ringside judges, groaned as he marked each round of the unanimous decision for Berbick.

Ali could not even count the money for this one. No letter of credit or nothing. Cornelius identified himself as a "businessman" but never has said aloud what business he is in. Cornelius said that Don King, promoter of many of Ali's glories, sent four thugs to beat him up if he did not cut King in at the end. I did it for the people who are too old or too whupped or too tired.

There was only the dull fatigue of truth in his voice, not the coy hustle of other good-byes. His last hurrah was his last whimper, but even that was loud enough for Ali to hear.

In just a little more than a month, Ali will be He has been fighting, amateur and pro, for 28 years. What all of those blows have done is yet to know. I was in shape a rubbery pounds. I had 10 rounds to do what I wanted to do. Days after the lopsided loss, Ali admitted he had taken a thyroid medication that facilitated the weight loss but left him dangerously dehydrated and weak.

Enduring: The image of Ali lighting the Olympic flame in Atlanta is one of the most iconic images in sporting history. Credit: Vince Caligiuri. After the fight, Holmes said he "held back a few times to keep from hurting him.

You can't fight anymore. Ali came out for the 10th round, and though he threw no punches, cornerman Bundini Brown urged him to keep going in the 11th and Dr. Donald Romeo, the Nevada commission doctor, made no move to stop it. Trainer Angelo Dundee was the one who called the fight to a halt, and the next day, Ali said, "Under the conditions with me taking so many punches, I'm glad it was stopped. Ali admitted he had a desire to fight again. If it happened, Dundee said he'd be there to have someone who cared about Ali in the corner if he got in trouble.

A search of records later revealed Cornelius was a felon facing an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Atlanta on charges he violated terms of probation received for a conviction on five counts of theft.

The promotion was rife with allegations of governmental corruption in the Bahamas, shady financial dealings and utter ineptitude in terms of promoting a major heavyweight fight. Several undercard fighters, including middleweight Thomas Hearns and heavyweights Greg Page and Scott LeDoux, also threatened to pull out.

Negotiations that reached Prime Minister Lynden O. Pindling resulted in him prevailing upon Victor Sayyah, a Colorado real estate and insurance executive with holdings in the Bahamas, and Bahamas World Airlines chairman Everett Bannister to agree to underwrite unpaid promotional expenses. Satellite Sports president Sheldon Saltman, the cable telecast operator, threatened to pull out just over a week before the fight, he said, because no one had been paid to build the temporary stadium that was erected behind second base on a rundown high school baseball field.

Sayyah came through with the money to get the production to fight day. The thenyear-old Berbick was no tomato can by any stretch of the imagination — according to his BoxRec page, he had a record heading into the Ali fight, with one of his two losses coming against Holmes in a WBC heavyweight title bout. He was also a former Olympian who competed — but did not medal — in the Montreal Games. Per Boxing News Online , Ali's former doctor Ferdie Pacheco felt the fight was not a good idea; at that point, Ali was seen as "punch-drunk" from the Holmes fight and, as a result, likely no match for a promising fighter 12 years his junior.

Muhammad Ali's performance against Larry Holmes in their bout was so bad that fans had the arguable G. But considering that lackluster showing, as well as the fact he was just weeks away from his 40th birthday, Ali performed creditably against Trevor Berbick in their fight, dubbed "Drama in Bahama. While he won a few of the bout's 10 rounds, he was simply outclassed by his younger opponent as he lost via unanimous decision, with two scores and one score favoring Berbick.

Speaking to reporters post-fight, Ali agreed with the judges' decision, though he quipped that if Berbick was 39 years old like he was, he would have lost the fight. He beat me on aggression.