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September was Muhammad Ali's Charm or Lucky Month By Teodoro Medina Reynoso PhilBoxing.com Fri, 04 Sep 2020  "All of a sudden, summer collapsed into fall."- Oscar Wilde. What's in the month of September that endears it to many especially in the Northern Hemisphere? In the Philippines, it heralds the "ver" or "ber" months ushering the Christmas season in the country which is said to celebrate the festivity the longest in the world. September is the start of fall, generally the most ideal season in the cold countries especially the USA. Faith Baldwin of the Evening Star was inspired to write one of the most memorable quotes about the month: "…there is a clarity about September. On clear days, the sun seems brighter, the sky more blue, the white clouds take on marvelous shapes; the moon is a wonderful apparition, rising gold, cooling to silver; and the stars are so big. The September storms… are exhilarating…” Though generally speaking as professionals, boxers will fight in any clime or season, there have been a few in the annals of prizefighting who preferred to fight in fall, specifically in the month of September. Julio Cesar Chavez with his then promoter Don King started the tradition of holding big fights in September (and also May) in celebration of the Mexican independence Day. Holding fights during those months close to or coinciding with those national holidays ensures the attendance of hordes of fans of Mexican blood or ancestry. Canelo Alvarez and later Floyd Mayweather Jr. and to certain extent, the trio of Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez adopted that practice too for nationalistic and (especially in the case of Floyd Jr.), commercial reasons. But long before Julio Cesar Sr, Canelo and Floyd started the tradition and practice of holding big important fights in September, there was this great heavyweight champion who liked fighting during the month for totally different reasons. Like most Americans, Muhammad Ali loved September for its ideal weather and climate conditions. But Ali also considered September as a sort of a charm or lucky month. It was in September in 1960 that Ali, then still known as Cassius Marcellus Clay, won the gold in the light heavyweight class in the 1960 Rome Olympics as highlight of his amateur career. Returning back soon afterwards to the US, Ali announced he was turning pro and fought and handily won three exhibition bouts against separate foes on the same day to demonstrate his readiness. Ali figured in six important bouts held in September, actually seven if we will consider that his third and final tussle against archnemesis Joe Frazier held in the Philippines on October 1, 1975 was beamed live to and seen in the US on the last day of September. Ali won all these seven bouts he purposely chose to set in September, his lucky month, against foes as Karl Mildenberger, Floyd Patterson, Ken Norton twice, Frazier, Ernie Shavers and Leon Spinks, mostly with his heavyweight title on the line. September 11, 1970 also was significant in Ali's career and life as it was then that he was allowed to box professionally again after the US Supreme Court overturned his conviction for refusing military draft for the Vietnam War on moral and religious grounds. He announced his boxing comeback against Jerry Quarry on that date. Actually, Ali fought his first September bout in 1966, nearly six years after he turned pro and two years after winning his first world heavyweight championship against Sonny Liston. His opponent in the first world heavyweight championship bout held in Germany was German European champion Karl Mildenberger who also happened to be the first southpaw to figure in such contest. Ali was not used to and had difficulty fighting southpaws at that point in his career so he chose to hold the sixth defense of heavyweight crown that September. Note that he had just fought and defended his title just a month before in August against Britain's Brian London whom he stopped in three rounds at Wembley in London. As Ali anticipated, Mildenberger proved to be a difficult foe with his awkward southpaw fighting stance which gave him problems. Though he managed to deck the German twice and give him some hellish beatings, it took him twelve rounds before the referee stopped the fight on account of the deep cut on Mildenberger's left eyebrow. In a 1973 interview, Ali said that the Mildenberger fight was more difficult than his fight against Joe Frazier thus far at that point. 
Ali vs Patterson. Ali's first September bout coming back from his long forced inactivity came against former champion Floyd Patterson in 1972 in the 4th defense of his NABF heavyweight title. Ali had previously suffered his first defeat versus Frazier in what was billed as the Battle of the Century in March of 1971. Ali opened a cut above Patterson's left eye in the sixth round and it was swollen shut by the end of the seventh round and the fight was stopped awarding Ali a TKO victory. Patterson announced his retirement after the fight, actually his second TKO defeat to Ali counting their first fight in 1965. Praising Patterson, Ali was quoted as saying after the fight: "Patterson was a great, great fighter. I thought that he would be nothing but he surprised me. I didn't knock him out. I didn't get him on a TKO. All I did was close his eyes. Ali would suffer his second career loss in an upset against Ken Norton who broke his jaw in scoring a split decision win in their March 1973 fight. Ali chose the proceeding September as the date for their rematch and true to form, he managed to exact sweet revenge, defeating Norton by split decision in another closely fought match to regain his NABF title. Ali would praise Norton as the best fighter he had thus far fought. The victory gave Ali a crack at the then world title held by George Foreman. Ali's next September fight would come against Frazier in 1975 after he had regained the heavyweight championship from Foreman on October 20, 1974 in Zaire. Ali had made his first defense of the title against UK's Joe Bugner in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia the previous April. 
Thrilla in Manila. The Thrilla in Manila actually was held in the Philippines in the morning of October 1, 1975 but it was still night of September 30 in the US and most other countries where millions of fans awaited and watched the fight. In a brutal and hard fought contest which saw Ali and Frazier taking turns at whaling at each other, Ali took control in the later rounds, coming close to knocking out Frazier in some instances with only the bell and Frazier's indomitable spirit preventing such. Frazier's corner was forced to surrender the fight at the end of the 14th round with Frazier all bruised and bloodied and his left eye totally shut. Ali paid tribute to Frazier, saying the fight was his nearest experience to dying. Ali would defend the title against Norton and he chose September of 1976 for it. He did not mind that it was his fourth consecutive fight after successfully defending against Rudi Koopmans, Jimmy Young and Richard Dunn from February to May of the same year. At the time of the third Ali-Norton bout, the oddsters were not precluding another upset decision. But the last time a heavyweight champion lost the title by decision was when Max Baer lost a 15 round verdict to Jim Braddock back in 1935. Indeed it was another closely fought affair with both Ali and Norton claiming they did enough to win. Tears fell from Norton's eyes when the judges gave Ali a close but unanimous decision after 15 rounds. "I won at least nine or ten rounds. I was robbed" Norton said after the fight. Ali said during an interview with Mike Cronin in October 1976: "Kenny's style is too difficult for me. I can't beat him and I sure don't want to fight him again. I honestly thought he beat me in Yankee Stadium but the judges gave it to me, and I am grateful to them". The January 1997 issue of Boxing Monthly ranked Ali-Norton III as the fifth most disputed title fight. Pitted against arguably the hardest punching fighter ever, Ernie Shavers in yet another title defense, Ali again set September as the fight date in 1977. Ali prepped up by taking on and beating Alfredo Evangelista in a title defense in May of 1977. But still he struggled against Shavers that September, getting pummeled a few times by punches to the head. Ali won by unanimous 15 round decision but the bout caused his longtime doctor Ferdie Pacheco to quit after being rebuffed for telling Ali to retire. The writing was clearly on the wall. Ali was nearing the end. And it showed when in February 1978, he faced former Olympic champion Leon Soinks at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. At that time, Spinks only had seven pro bouts. Ali sparred less than two dozen rounds in preparation for the bout and was visibly out of shape by fight time. He lost his heavyweight title by split decision. But Ali had one last rabbit to pull out with that following September as fight date for their title rematch. The last September fight of his storied career was held on September 24, 1978 at the Superdome in New Orleans with 70,000 people in attendance, paying a then record highest live gate of $6 million. Ali did not disappoint in what proved to be his last winning fight, smothering Spinks on defense and totally outclassing him on offense in a masterful display of smart boxing. He was awarded with a unanimous 15 round decision victory, making him the first to win the heavyweight crown three times. Ali would announce his retirement but make a comeback, losing to Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick in October 1980 and December 1981, respectively. It was doubtful even a September magic would work for him at that stage. The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.  |
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