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presents

WORLD'S
HEAVYWEIGHT
CHAMPIONSHIP
 

MUHAMMAD  ALI
--------  vs  --------
CLEVELAND  WILLIAMS


ASTRODOME  *  HOUSTON,  TEXAS
November 14, 1966 - 8 P.M.
 
 
 
 
   

A full unused on-site ticket to the Muhammad Ali-Cleveland Williams world heavyweight championship bout... This fight took place at Houston's Astrodome on November 14, 1966... Ali would have Williams down a total of four times on his way to a third round TKO... Many boxing experts consider this fight as Ali in his absolute prime!!

   

measures: 2.5 x 6"
condition: fine

sold

This was Ali's first fight back in the U.S. after a one year tour fighting abroad in Europe.
 Ali was avoiding growing tension of his being reclassified as eligible to be drafted by the
 Army during the Vietnam War. After his reclassification Ali coined his "I ain't got no quarrels
 with them Viet Cong" remark. When asked to recant Ali refused. Instead he coined a
 second, equally quotable riposte: "No Viet Cong ever called me nigger!"
 
 


Muhammad Ali-Cleveland Williams

  
     During Ali's American absence much had been written about Texan Cleveland Williams, a formidable slugger in the Sonny Liston tradition. Bad luck had constantly undercut Williams' potential. On the eve of his 1964 match with Ernie Terrell in the WBA elimination tournament, a Texas Highway Patrolman had shot him in the stomach with a .38 magnum. The bullet seemed certain to prematurely end Williams' career, but after a 5 1/2 hour operation the chief surgeon was moved to comment, "This man has an iron constitution, a body of steel. I believe he will be fighting again." Williams, who had already survived a girlfriend's cleaver assault, did recover. In doing so he paved the way for Ali's return to American rings.
    After his three impressive comeback fights, Texas was anxious to see Williams try for the heavyweight title. This desire outweighed the state's strong links with the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and when an Ali vs. Williams match was scheduled for Houston, there was little local protest. Boxing commissions in other states looked on with interest. New York Commissioner Eddie Dooley hinted at a possible Ali vs. Terrell match at Madison Square Garden if all went smoothly in Houston. "We are not inclined to rush into giving Cassius a license," he said. "We must wait for the reaction to his return to the United States, and the Williams affair in Houston."
    On the night, Ali had no trouble with either hostile demonstrators or Cleveland Williams. From the bell Ali pranced around, ducking and slipping the bemused Texan's brutish punches. He even found time to unveil his tribute to Fred Astaire-a flashy but ineffectual quickstep that he named the "Ali Shuffle". In the third round Ali changed gears almost audibly, came down off his toes and stood in the center of the ring slugging it out with Williams. In five punches he had split his opponent's face and pummeled him to the floor for the fourth time, but this time for the count. It was hailed by many as his finest performance.		  
 


Felix Dennis & Don Atyeo
Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years