1. LANDOVER, Maryland was the venue for Muhammad Ali’s sixth world heavyweight title defence since regaining it from George Foreman in Zaire exactly 18 months earlier. Jimmy Young was the man chosen to challenge Ali. He had a mediocre record of 17-4-2 and his best win at the time was a 10-round decision over Ron Lyle who would go on to fight Ali in his next fight.
2. PUBLICITY for this fight was virtually non-existent, even less then Ali’s previous fight in Puerto Rico against Jean-Pierre Coopman which was considered to be a pathetic event.
3. THE venue was considered to be quite obscure and it was unlikely, according to reports, that this fight would make a profit for the heavyweight champs promotional company.
4. THE fight was originally scheduled to take place in Costa Rica but a disagreement over money ended the negotiations. Don King wanted the President of Costa Rica’s Central Bank to guarantee him $200,000 if the fight failed to make money and the President refused to agree to this.
5. JIMMY YOUNG would make a career high $100,000 for this fight whilst Ali would make his usual one million dollars plus.
6. ALI took Young for granted and cut corners in training. When he weighed in the day before the fight he registered a career high 230lbs and many observers wondered if an upset could be on the cards.
7. WHEN the fight began it was clear that Ali’s poor conditioning would make it an uncomfortable night for the champion. He wasn’t able to land his jab and he was off target with his hooks as Young ducked and slipped out of the way. Ali was forced to be the aggressor, something he wasn’t used in the majority of his fights, as the Philadelphia challenger waited for him to make the first move. He won the opening rounds merely on activity but it was clear that he was in for long night.
8. YOUNG’S tactics were working as Ali was becoming extremely frustrated as the fight moved into the later stages. Young was gaining in confidence and began to outbox the champ. He picked up the pace in the final rounds and hurt Ali a number of times in the 14th and 15th rounds.
9. MANY of the ringside experts had said before the fight that Young would not make it passed 10. However when the bell sounded to signify the end of the fight many of them felt the challenger had done enough to rip the title from Ali.
10. Unfortunately for Young, Ali was awarded the unanimous decision by scores of 72-65, 71-64 and 70-68 on the five point scoring system. The crowd voiced their anger at the decision and the challenger was furious he was not going home with the title. Ali admitted after the fight that he had taken Young lightly and had not trained as hard as he should have. “I underestimated him, everybody rated him a 15-1 underdog but he didn’t fight like one. I almost lost the fight.”
