In recalling Muhammad Ali’s lucrative boxer vs. wrestler clash with Japan’s Antonio Inoki in 1974, a New York Times headline writer calls the bout, “Ali’s Least Memorable Fight”. That’s some insult considering Ali’s fight history includes defeats of such non-icons as Jurgen Blin, Jean Pierre-Coopman and Rudi Lubbers, though given that Inoki spent 15 consecutive rounds crawling around on his back, perhaps it’s not too surprising. But while the Ali/Inoki meeting was an aesthetic disaster in the ring, as you’ll see from the clip below, Ali was nothing if not fully invested in the promotion of the fight :