Muhammad Ali vs. Brian London
Earls Court, London, August 6, 1966
on-site fight ticket & program

 


EARLS COURT
6/8/66
SECOND FLOOR

SEAT $4/4/0

ENTRANCE  77

BLOCK  w
ROW
A
SEAT
39
TO BE GIVEN UP
 

E A R L S   C O U R T
Licensees   -   -   -   -   -    -  -   -   -   -   -    EARLS CORT LTD.
WARWICK ROAD                                                 LONDON,   S.W.5

JACK SOLOMONS & LAURIE LEWIS
present THE FIGHT OF THE CENTURY (15x3min. ROUNDS)

*

Saturday, August 6th 1966
Doors Open 7 p.m.  Commence 8 p.m.
THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
MUHAMMAD ALI (formerly Cassius Clay) v. BRIAN (British Bulldog) LONDON
SECOND FLOOR SEAT
TO BE RETAINED                              (SEE CONDITIONS ON BACK)


WARWICK
ROAD
ONLY


ENTRANCE
77
BLOCK
W
ROW
A
SEAT
39
 

 

 

 

Offering the official on-site program and ticket to the Muhammad Ali-Brian London world heavyweight title fight which took place at Earls Court, London, England on August 6, 1966... Ali would retain his title by knocking London out in round three... A nice and colorful program and ticket combination to one of Ali's overseas fights!!

 

 

measures:
program 7.5 x 9.75"
ticket 3 x 6"
condition:
program shows minimal wear, overall fine
ticket has a number written on reverse, otherwise fine

sold

 
 


Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years
 

  
      Encouraged by the profits from the Henry Cooper match, British promoters enticed Ali back to Britain and into the ring on August 6th with the other English heavyweight, Brian London. Like Cooper, London was 32 and seemed to have been around British boxing since the bareknuckle days. For all his years he had enjoyed little success. Henry Cooper had beaten him three times, the first as far back as 1956. In 1959, when London was in his prime, Ingemar Johansson had laughed, "London could not beat my sister." His one world-title bid had been aborted by Floyd Patterson in the 11th, seven years before. He had lost 13 of his 48 professional fights. Ali's entourage titled him "the human punching bag". The half-filled Earl's Court Stadium summed up British opinion of the "Blackpool Rock."
    Apart from two delicate taps early in the fight, London failed to lay a glove on Ali. For two rounds Ali danced circles around his bedazzled partner, jabbing at his prominent jaw while Dundee yelled, "Finish him off...Finish him off!" At the beginning of the third Dundee ordered, "Enough, Muhammad. Take him out in this one." Ali immediately landed a right followed by a one-two combination onto London's inviting chin. London backed into his own corner and Ali followed. With his quarry on the ropes, the champion unleashed an astonishing succession of quick-fire left and right punches at London's face. The blows weren't particularly hard, just incredibly fast. London slid slowly onto his side. Towards the end of the count he gave a few kicks like a dying rabbit and then lay still. Eleven thousand fans jeered in disgust.
    Afterwards, fully clothed, cleaned up, and set to return to Blackpool less than three-quarters of an hour after the beginning of the fight, London confessed he had no desire to meet Ali again. "He hits you so often you're dizzy," he said before picking up his easily earned $100,000 paycheck. The papers headlined the affair a disgrace and a black eye for Britain. London was pilloried as a cowardly "lumbering, bumbling, unskilled worker." One writer described the fiasco as "a lamb trying to bite a dog!"		  
 


Felix Dennis & Don Atyeo
 

  
 

 

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