Comments Thread For: Muhammad Ali vs. Larry Holmes Anniversary Still Inspires Anger

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Lyle Fitzsimmons - Months after the nostalgia fueled by his death, another Muhammad Ali anniversary has arrived. But this one's not worthy of celebration. This past Sunday marked 36 years since Oct. 2, 1980. Thirty-six years since the beating Ali need never have taken...
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[PAC-BOY]

Good read Lyle! :qqq:

[TBear]

Even when the fight happened I personally had no anger. At the time realized it was the age old "Out with the old, In with the new". Boxing has been seeing it for generations. Whether it was Marciano-Louis or Lennox Lewis-Tyson the cycle unfortunately goes on. I understand Ali with his popularity gets extra concern due to his unfortunate health issues which were saddening, but this changing of the guard is also the nature of the game.

For those wanting a trip down memory lane, this is a video from before the fight I recorded. The Last Hurrah,


P.S. Lyle Fitzsimmons, than you for bringing us the memory. Any anger towards the promoters is understandable in spite of how I remember viewing it.
Thank you for the fine article.

[bwilson]

Ali was already showing bad signs. Seems like he convinced the world he was going to beat Holmes.

[jbpanama]

Ali was already showing bad signs. Seems like he convinced the world he was going to beat Holmes.

So much so that the Vegas Books only had Holmes as an 8/5 favorite...

[GodInFleshSuit]

And yet we still see this today. Old warrior used as a stepping stone against a young hungry lion. Us fans need to boycott these sort of mismatches. If not, it won't stop.

[nycsmooth]

It's all about money and Larry took advantage of it as you should have, good for him...

[chaos]

It's all about money and Larry took advantage of it as you should have, good for him...

Getting the money is fine. Gloating about the result as if it's some kind of accomplishment is pathetic. The guy's got a serious inferiority complex.

[Tatabanya]

From BoxRec.com:

"Due to concerns for Ali's health, the Nevada State Athletic Commission had the former champion examined at Minnesota’s Mayo Clinic as a prerequisite to being granted a boxing license. Ali checked into the clinic on July 23, 1980. His neurological exam was conducted by Dr. Frank Howard, whose report contained the following information: Ali showed a slight degree of missing when he tried to touch his finger to his nose, he had difficulty in coordinating the muscles used in speaking, and he did not hop on one foot with expected agility. However, Dr. Howard determined that there were no specific findings to prohibit Ali from fighting. The Mayo Clinic report was forwarded to the Nevada State Athletic Committee, but it was not made public at that time. Based on the report, Ali was granted a boxing in Nevada."

"Dr. Charles Williams, who was a member of Ali's medical team, diagnosed Ali as having a thyroid imbalance and prescribed one tablet of Thyrolar per day. Thomas Hauser, in his book Muhammad Ali: His Life & Times, wrote: "Thyrolar is a potentially lethal drug, and no one on Thyrolar should engage in a professional fight." To make matters worse, Ali doubled the dosage because he "thought the pills would be like vitamins." Thyrolar is known to cause fatigue, sluggishness, headache, increased blood pressure, tremor, nausea, increased heart rate, frequent urination and weight loss. The drug also interferes with the body’s self-cooling mechanisms, causing the body to dehydrate then overheat. Against Holmes, Ali said he felt weak, fatigued and short of breath from round one on. His body wasn't able to cool itself properly, and his temperature rose. That, Dr. Williams later acknowledged, "led to heat exhaustion that went into heat stroke with an immediate period of slight stupor and maybe delirium." He added, "I may have placed him in jeopardy inadvertently." Ali's former physician, Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, told Hauser: "Ali was a walking time-bomb in the ring that night. He could have had anything from a heart attack to a stroke to all kinds of bleeding in the head." Four days after losing to Holmes, Ali checked into UCLA Medical Center. Dr. Dennis Cope, who supervised Ali's stay, determined "that prior to medical intervention, Muhammad's thyroid gland was functioning properly." "

Lyle, you just reminded everybody about the truth. Let no one forget this veritable killing. And, speaking of Lennox Lewis v Mike Tyson (a fight still pitifully used by Lewis as a pretext to brag about his presumed "superiority" to Iron Mike), not many people seem to recall that Tyson was under psychotropic drugs until shortly before the fight. It could have been another tragedy.

[Bronx2245]

From BoxRec.com:

"Due to concerns for Ali's health, the Nevada State Athletic Commission had the former champion examined at Minnesota’s Mayo Clinic as a prerequisite to being granted a boxing license. Ali checked into the clinic on July 23, 1980. His neurological exam was conducted by Dr. Frank Howard, whose report contained the following information: Ali showed a slight degree of missing when he tried to touch his finger to his nose, he had difficulty in coordinating the muscles used in speaking, and he did not hop on one foot with expected agility. However, Dr. Howard determined that there were no specific findings to prohibit Ali from fighting. The Mayo Clinic report was forwarded to the Nevada State Athletic Committee, but it was not made public at that time. Based on the report, Ali was granted a boxing in Nevada."

"Dr. Charles Williams, who was a member of Ali's medical team, diagnosed Ali as having a thyroid imbalance and prescribed one tablet of Thyrolar per day. Thomas Hauser, in his book Muhammad Ali: His Life & Times, wrote: "Thyrolar is a potentially lethal drug, and no one on Thyrolar should engage in a professional fight." To make matters worse, Ali doubled the dosage because he "thought the pills would be like vitamins." Thyrolar is known to cause fatigue, sluggishness, headache, increased blood pressure, tremor, nausea, increased heart rate, frequent urination and weight loss. The drug also interferes with the body’s self-cooling mechanisms, causing the body to dehydrate then overheat. Against Holmes, Ali said he felt weak, fatigued and short of breath from round one on. His body wasn't able to cool itself properly, and his temperature rose. That, Dr. Williams later acknowledged, "led to heat exhaustion that went into heat stroke with an immediate period of slight stupor and maybe delirium." He added, "I may have placed him in jeopardy inadvertently." Ali's former physician, Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, told Hauser: "Ali was a walking time-bomb in the ring that night. He could have had anything from a heart attack to a stroke to all kinds of bleeding in the head." Four days after losing to Holmes, Ali checked into UCLA Medical Center. Dr. Dennis Cope, who supervised Ali's stay, determined "that prior to medical intervention, Muhammad's thyroid gland was functioning properly." "

Lyle, you just reminded everybody about the truth. Let no one forget this veritable killing. And, speaking of Lennox Lewis v Mike Tyson (a fight still pitifully used by Lewis as a pretext to brag about his presumed "superiority" to Iron Mike), not many people seem to recall that Tyson was under psychotropic drugs until shortly before the fight. It could have been another tragedy.

Great post! Many people forget about Tyson! Glad to see someone was paying attention. Too bad the media ignored it!