27 years ago...Ali vs. Berbick.

[prontostar]

27 years ago yesterday (tried to post yesterday but sherdog wasn't working properly) Muhammad Ali fought his last fight against Trevor Berbick...(apparently Hector Camacho also won his first NABF belt @130 against Blaine Dickson on the same night)

here's a long article from SI on Ali and retirement that appeared soon after the fight. It's a pretty good read. I figured it was a good time to post because the great DLH is at the end of the road.

After losing to Trevor Berbick, a subdued Muhammad Ali - 12.21.81 - SI Vault

"...The evening before, in a ring set up in a decaying sandlot baseball stadium, the 39-year-old former three-time champ embarrassed himself the same way his old adversary, Joe Frazier, had done in Chicago eight days earlier. In his first fight since heavyweight champion Larry Holmes beat him up in Las Vegas 14 months ago, Ali lost a unanimous 10-round decision to 28-year-old Trevor Berbick, a Jamaican who now lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia and is ranked fourth by the WBA. Until Friday, Berbick was best remembered for losing a decision to Holmes last April 11, and best forgotten for knocking out John Tate after chasing him across the ring and striking him on the back of the head."...

 

[axhand1e]

... how I choose to remember "The Greatest"

 

[Mike Mesey]

I Try Not To Watch That Fight,and Think Of Him In His Prime.

No One Can Be Great Forever.

 

[Sharkey]

I remember listening to that fight on the radio the night it happened.

Great times.

 

[axhand1e]

Yeah, I was like 10, a devout Ali fan, and no one could tell me he was going to do anything but destroy Berbick... and I had almost forgotten (not really) Holmes "ending of an era".

The birth of my realistic view of sports.

I sported an Ali av for about a month leading up the 26th anniversary last year, but no one seemed to catch on... and I didn't really want to bring it up. Like I said, I choose to remember him for his better times. Though it's probably impossible to erase those images from one's memory.

 

[prontostar]

The birth of my realistic view of sports.

I had a birth of another sorts on that day. :icon_chee

 

[ryuhasuki]

Ali was so far past his prime at that point john ruiz could have hugged him to a UD

 

[GodLovesUgly]

I wouldnt have been born for another 4 years. Never seen the fight, I've heard it was tough to watch though.

 

[bradlee180]

Trevor Berbick
R.I.P.
























Recent Incised Parietal !


BUUURNNNN!!!!

AHAH HAH HAH HAH AHA !!!

.

 

[xXSpawnXx]

Trevor Berbick
R.I.P.
























Recent Incised Parietal !


BUUURNNNN!!!!

AHAH HAH HAH HAH AHA !!!

.

Off your meds today?

 

[webeballin]

"Ali lost a unanimous 10-round decision to 28-year-old Trevor Berbick, a Jamaican who NOW lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia"

um berbick was murdered 2 years ago,you should know that


actually considering ali was already suffering from parkinsons i thought he fought a decent fight

certainly wasnt as bad as the holmes fight

 

[bradlee180]

Off your meds today?

I got news for you:


Winners don't use drugs...


.

 

[lugubriousduck]

I got news for you:


Winners don't use drugs...


.

D.A.R.E. Program supporter... Wait, you from Canada... Anything comparable up there or is it up there? Don't know... ask mum.

 

[xXSpawnXx]

I got news for you:


Winners don't use drugs...


.

Or utilize low blows.

 

[xXSpawnXx]

For the record Dempsey can't hold Ali's jock.

 

[bradlee180]

For the record Dempsey can't hold Ali's jock.

Jimmy Young sure f*<kin' could....and Ken Norton who won 2 out of 3...and Joe Frazier who kicked his @$$ the first time and should've got the decision in the second fight too...and Ron Lyle who got f*<kin' robbed on a BS stoppage...and coke addict Leon Spinks with 7 total fights beat him...and Doug Jones could carry his jock...and Henry Cooper may've got a win if Dundee didn't buy Ali some time after that knockdown...and Larry Holmes...and Trevor Berbick. Earnie Shavers?

Clubfighter Chuck Wepner had Ali down, for $#!ts-sake ! Sonny Banks too !


Take THAT !

I know the truth about Boxing.

.

 

[prontostar]

Muhammad Ali>Floyd Patterson>Tommy Jackson>Ezzard Charles>Joe Louis>Lou Nova>Max Baer>Tony Galento>Battling Bozo>Murray Gitlitz>CharleyWeinert>Willie Meehan>Jack Dempsey

on a side note Willie Meehan fought Sam Baker on 1/1/24 and the ref kicked both men out of the ring for not trying.

 

[webeballin]

Jimmy Young sure f*<kin' could....and Ken Norton who won 2 out of 3...and Joe Frazier who kicked his @$$ the first time and should've got the decision in the second fight too...and Ron Lyle who got f*<kin' robbed on a BS stoppage...and coke addict Leon Spinks with 7 total fights beat him...and Doug Jones could carry his jock...and Henry Cooper may've got a win if Dundee didn't buy Ali some time after that knockdown...and Larry Holmes...and Trevor Berbick. Earnie Shavers?

Clubfighter Chuck Wepner had Ali down, for $#!ts-sake ! Sonny Banks too !


Take THAT !

I know the truth about Boxing.

.

again opinions is all they is barerra won the first fight,gatti won the first fight ans so forth


frazier never kciked his ass in the first fight as you say that fight was even until the 10th round and frazier spent a month in a hospital bed so pick what you write there child and the second fight wasnt competitive at all ali out smarted him in an un-eventful but dominant win

jimmy young never seen the fight,he beat norton twice like it or not

ron lyle got hit 20 times with unanswered punches last time i checked if you leave you'reself open like that the fight gets stopped lol

he was shit again jones but still better


may have may have the actual time he was given is exagerrated there are some sources claiming 6 seconds and there are other sources claiming 6 minutes so take it for what it's worth


he was already washed up against spinks he was slow and was in the worst shape he ever came into a fight for he didnt take the fight serious at all and he also beat spinks in a rematch

chuck wepner got a beat down in that fight and didnt even legitimately knock ali down it was more of a push than anything


wepner was the kind of guy jack dempsey would claim as a legit opponent


difference between dempsey and ali is that while ali has been knocked down a few occassions in his career

he has never been knocked out like dempsey has

honestly

ali>>>>>>>>>>>>dempsey
holmes>>>>>>>>>>>>>marciano(completely irrelivent but it's another debate which can be compared)



oh by the way do you know who dempsey got knocked out by a guy who had a record of 49 wins and 53 losses?

i dare say that far more embarrasing than getting you're foot troden on and pushed over by a journey man but a respectable journey man

 

[TKDhasBin]

Jimmy Young sure f*<kin' could....and Ken Norton who won 2 out of 3...and Joe Frazier who kicked his @$$ the first time and should've got the decision in the second fight too...and Ron Lyle who got f*<kin' robbed on a BS stoppage...and coke addict Leon Spinks with 7 total fights beat him...and Doug Jones could carry his jock...and Henry Cooper may've got a win if Dundee didn't buy Ali some time after that knockdown...and Larry Holmes...and Trevor Berbick. Earnie Shavers?

Clubfighter Chuck Wepner had Ali down, for $#!ts-sake ! Sonny Banks too !


Take THAT !

I know the truth about Boxing.

.

Ali was a sucker for a left hook.....Banks and Frazier dropped him with left hooks and Norton broke his jaw with one.....it was his Achilles tendon, but the best beard in boxing history allowed him to get by.

Don't forget Brad....Dempsey had his off nights too.... Fat ass Willie Meehan took 2 decisions off of him and "Fireman" Jim Flynn knocked Dempsey out in 1 round after decking him three times......Sharkey had Dempsey on Queer St. until a low blow backed him off.....Tunney won 19 of the 20 rounds they fought and decked Dempsey in the Long Count fight.....etc. etc.

Wepner stepped on Ali's lead foot while he was back pedaling causing the knockdown. Archie Moore even commented later on that it was one of his most favorite tricks and that Wepner pulled it off beautifully.

Frazier lost 9 of the 12 rounds in the 2nd fight.

Insiders at the time said Ali hardly trained at all for the first Spinks fight.

Gotta scratch the Holmes and Berbick losses off the score sheet too....Jose Torres reported (later on) that he saw Ali taking prescription meds for Parkinson's disease while in training camp for Holmes.

And don't believe that Dundee story about buying Ali time in the corner by cutting the glove....it's all urban legend. Watch the corner in between rounds.....Dundee never touches the gloves.

So there......Take that....:icon_chee

 

[axhand1e]

Damn, looks like I missed the fun.

Listen guys, Gene Tunney was a great scientific boxer for his time, but c'mon, Ali would've danced circles around him. And he pretty much straight dominated Dempsey both times. Maybe earlier in his career before the long layoffs... but even then his only chance imo would have been the early "mauling" like he did to Willard. Doubtful that would've worked against Ali, but with Ali's cockiness, entirely possible.