It was a work, like a pro wrestling exhibition. It was more for show than anything, but it was a huge deal at the time IIRC.Originally Posted by MikeJones
It was a work, like a pro wrestling exhibition. It was more for show than anything, but it was a huge deal at the time IIRC.
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You can find the fight (if you want to call it that) on youtube.
Gene LeBell was the referee.
It's my understanding that it was suppose to be a work from the start but due to Ali's refusing to go along with losing it turned into a quasi shoot. At that point, just prior to the match Ali threatened to pull out if the rules weren't changed drastically to prevent Inoki from taking him down and or submitting him. This all resulted in Inoki spending much of the match lying on his back and kicking at Ali's legs. Pretty ridiculous stuff all in all.
Also, despite Inoki's huge reputation in Japan the guys in the know say that Inoki's skills were far from high level in fact Karl "Gotch" Istaz who was his trainer is on video (also available on youtube) telling Jake Shannon that Inoki was pretty far down the list in terms of the early Japanese guys that he trained.
You can also find video of the Gene LeBell vs Milo Savage mixed match that was perhaps the first mma match fought in the U.S. since the early part of the 1900's.
[img]http://www.lutte-wrestling.com/old-train2.jpg[/img]
Oh man I just watched the Video. Was funny seeing Ali in the corner his legs up. Other than that I would have been mad to have bought a ticket to that.
That Barnett, Paulson and Robinson video is awsome.
Last edited by MikeJones; January 3rd, 2012 at 05:09 PM.
GO VOLS
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