Muhammad Ali vs. Alfredo Evangelista
| Date | May 16, 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Capital Centre, Maryland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA, WBC, and The Ring heavyweight titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ali won via 15 round UD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Muhammad Ali and Alfredo Evangelista fought a championship match on May 16, 1977. Ali won the bout through a unanimous decision on points (71–65, 72–64, 72–64). The fight was held in the Capital Centre before a crowd of over 12,000 at the Capital Centre, along with a prime time broadcast on ABC.
Background[edit]
This was Muhammad Ali's ninth title defense during his second title reign, and the first since his third bout with Ken Norton. This close and controversial fight happened over seven months ago, representing the longest break the champion had taken in between title fights.
Alfredo Evangelista was a young and relatively inexperienced fighter, he had scored eleven knockouts in just fourteen victories in just over a year, and suffered only one defeat. By 1977, Evangelista began entering the heavyweight top ten rankings, and before the fight was ranked eighth by the WBA and 10th by the WBC.
Despite the challengers formidable left hook, Ali and his team expected an easy victory. Despite the confidence, Ali did make sure to properly train and slim down after having gained significant weight in the time off between fights.
The Fight[edit]
The fight proved to be another difficult defense for the champion. Evangelista was able to go the distance with Ali, and managed to land his powerful left hook at several occasions, but only stunned the champion twice (in the sixth and eighth round). Ali heavily used his rope-a-dope tactic, mixed in with his use of the shuffle and jab to outmaneuver the challenger. At several occasions Ali landed effective combinations and even came close to shutting out the challenger, but was unable to knock him out.
The longer the fight lasted, the bolder Evangelista got, but Ali ultimately won the fight by unanimous decision. Ali had effectively out landed Evangelista in punches, particularly in jabs, but the challenger landed more power punches and was seen as the aggressor by the crowd, who booed the decision.
Undercard[edit]
- Alfredo Escalera KO 8 Carlos Becerril Escalera retains WBC world Junior Lightweight Title
- Roberto Durán UD 10 Javier Muniz
- Tyrone Everett TKO 4 Delfino Rodriguez
Quotes[edit]
"I'm sorry, we televised it" Howard Cosell doing the bout for ABC who later said that this was one of the worst bouts he's ever seen.
"I'm 35 and I danced for 15 rounds, it's a miracle". Ali after his bout with Evangelista.[1][2][3][4][5]
References[edit]
- ^ "Muhammad Ali's ring record". ESPN. 19 November 2003. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
- ^ "The old song and dance sham". The Age. 18 May 1977. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- ^ "Ali's Scouting Report on 'Rocky'". New York Times. 16 May 1977. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
- ^ Felix Dennis; Don Atyeo (2003). Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years. miramax books. p. 252.
- ^ Thomas Hauser (1991). Muhammad Ali:His Life and Times. Simon & Schuster. p. 341.
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