Muhammad Ali vs Antonio Inoki Highlights

[nyrangers]

Fact check: Before this fight happened, Muhammad Ali fought Yujiro Hanma and earned his respect.

[major]

I used to fight my brother that way when I was three.

[shinobix]

"I never understood why my father struggled so much with that move. The goal of a fight is to bring down my opponent. With this move my opponent goes to the floor by themselves, so all I have to do is leave"

[fabarangan]

The rules were modified to favor Ali. Inoki is not allowed to throw, grapple or tackle Ali and he's also not allowed to land a kick unless one knee is on the mat. Inoki tried to fight the only way he can by lying on the mat and kick Ali's legs savagely. The fight was a draw but it goes down in history as Ali's and Inoki's most embarrassing moments.

[MikeDunn]

They really didn't think this through. Rules should've been different.

[trucking]

That was the weirdest fight I've ever seen!

[doshishakempo]

Inoki was not allow to use any pro-wrestling technique. When I watched the match in my childhood, I was disappointed. However, I am excited to watch this because I practiced martial arts later. I am not a fan of Inoki. But I realize I support him.
Anyway, I learned Ali's story about Olympics and about how he was treated at a restaurant. Since then, I have loved Ali very much. The news about his death is very shocking to me. Rest in peace, Ali.

[bosstheory]

When my wife starts beating me I fight like inoki

[mattxx]

So this is the legendary Alai vs. Igari position that has remained undefeated to this day...

[BEMSmarky]

So this is what inspired the Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan battles.

[jeraldmcclainofficial]

LOL, AM I THE ONLY PERSON THAT LAUGHED WHEN ALI FRONT-KICKED KICKED INOKI?!😅😅😅

[MistaTofMaine]

I know it was technically ruled a draw, but when factoring the rules where designed solely to help Ali I view this as an Inoki W. I don't know if Ali lands a single punch, and Inoki at least landed quite a few kicks.

[happytrailsgaming]

I never knew this fight existed untill today 😂😂 Looked weird as hell!!

[scotttyson]

Ole Muhammad was in for the fight for his life pal, that ain't no joke.The man almost lost hisdam legs on that dumb fight

[bradbeck]

This was the funniest shit I have ever seen when it comes to a fighting sport.

[denniseudela]

I do remember the Antonio Inoki Exhibition Fight.
The background story was this: the prelim fight was between another japanese wrestler & "The Real Rocky" Chuck Wepner. The fighr was ON, with very little rule modifications & restrictions. Wepner was wrestled and thrown 3 times like a ragdoll & game over!
Ali's camp has to demand for a last second extreme rule changes realizing all the freedom of technique wrestling have vs. a 2-gloved handed fighter!
If they had done it to Wepner, FOR SURE, Ali will fall on the same fate against the monster champion wrestler.
Inoki will SURELY turn Ali like a ragdoll too!
The demanded rules were approved at the last second to avoid inevitable humiliation to the 🌎 watching.
When camp of Inoki was informed, the new rules were so restricting like he cannot grapplw, he cannot lift & carry Ali, he cannot basically use his arms or else he will be eliminated, what was left for the wrestler to do to avoid getting penalized is a no-choice to stay down on his back and fight with his legs & feet.
This is the reason why he stayed down and since Ali cannot punch him in his face, all Ali can do was box the other guy's legs.
This ridiculous turn out was actually to protect Ali from turning into a ragdoll & getting really hurt.
Inoki's camp agreed because it was only minutes before the main event was to happen and they figured, OK, they don't want him to use his hands, then he'll just stay down on the canvass where Ali will NEVER make a hit on Inoki's head & body, and all the hitting will only really be coming Inoki's feet to Ali's legs.
True enough, one of the most hyped exhibition fight turned out to be a dope & turkey with hilarious scenes of Ali jumping up to set his feet on the ropes to avoid those stinging kicks.
This resulted to multiple blood clots on Ali's legs 🦵 and they were bad enough for Ali's MD to advice him to delay his flight ✈️ for another wk or so to have the clots dissolve first. If he rides a plane with those Acute DVTs in there, it could dislodge and becomes multiple embolism with the change of altitude & could travel to his lungs or heart and will kill him.

[megafaka]

Though this was an excruciatingly dull match to watch, inoki had the right strategy against a pro boxer. Stay on the mat and use kicks. Two things boxers never train for.

[sondaire]

what a great man, such a character, ali will be missed R.I.P champ

[krisskrossMR]

Let's be real here. If the rules were proper, Antonio would bash Ali's face into the canvas after a takedown.

[randalwung]

I'm showing my age, but I remember this. Hell, I remember the lead-up to this where Ali and crew crashed a wrestling match with the late Gorilla Monsoon, challenged the big man, and "lost." It was a work, of course, but served to hype what was supposed to be the action-packed answer to the age-old "boxer vs wrestler" debate, aaaannd...it wasn't. In fact, as you can see here, it not only failed to answer the question, it was fucking BIZARRE. The story is, as the date of the fight drew near, there was increasing concern that a skilled grappler (not that you can tell it from the video, lol) could do some serious damage to Ali--and the solution to that? DON'T LET THE MEN GRAPPLE, even though that was the whole fucking POINT of the match, and don't let Inoki kick the champ unless he was doing it with his butt touching the canvas--like WTF? Sadly and ironically, all these retarded rules meant to protect Ali did just the opposite, because those seated kicks you see him catching on the legs apparently resulted in permanent nerve damage, yet another addition to the checklist of injuries The Greatest sustained in the ring.
Oh, and if anyone has ever speculated on that other age-old debate, "Muhammad Ali vs Bruce Lee, " all I can say is: WATCH THIS VIDEO.