Titans of Wrestling #62: Muhammad Ali vs Antonio Inoki

[Ricky Jackson]

 

http://placetobenation.com/titans-of-wrestling-62-muhammad-ali-vs-antonio-inoki/

 

As part of the first Titans-Two-In-One, Kelly and Johnny discuss the road to the infamous boxer vs wrestler match between Muhammad Ali and Antonio Inoki from June 25 (26 in Japan), 1976! Among the fantastic footage discussed:

 

-Muhammad Ali/Gorilla Monsoon angle, June 1 (aired June 5), 1976 Philadelphia Arena

-Muhammad Ali vs Buddy Wolfe, June 12 ABC Wide World of Sports

-Muhammad Ali vs "Sodbuster" Kenny Jay, June 12 International Amphitheater, Chicago

-Muhammad Ali and Freddie Blassie on the Tonight Show, hosted by McLean Stevenson, June 14

-Pre-fight footage from Japanese TV

 

And then, exclusively on Dailymotion (because this is something YouTube doesn't want you to see!), Mystery Titans Theatre has Kelly and Johnny look at, not only all 15, um, interesting rounds of Ali vs Inoki, but also the forgotten classic (seriously!) between Andre the Giant and heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner from Shea Stadium.

 

So listen to the road to the fight discussion on Titans #62, then watch the fights on Dailymotion, and finally come back to the pod as Kelly and Johnny wrap things up and make some important announcements regarding future podcasts.

 

Titans-Two-In-One! Because JUST a podcast on one of the worst matches of all time is not enough!

[Ricky Jackson]

Mystery Titans Theatre: Andre the Giant vs Chuck Wepner, Shea Stadium, June 25, 1976

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4ieyr6

 

This is seriously a really awesome match

 

I'm working on getting Ali vs Inoki finished. I'll have to put it up in 4 parts because that's how Dailymotion rolls

[Ricky Jackson]

Playlist of Monsoon angle, matches with Wolfe and Jay, and Tonight Show segment (watch this!)

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0DFD2RtfoizCwTgRWXDNooM

[bucky]

I've been getting increasingly more excited about this all week. This is gonna be good.

[Ricky Jackson]

Uploading of Ali vs Inoki videos to Dailymotion has proved problematic. This may be released as Mystery Titans Radio instead. We'll see what tomorrow brings

[Ricky Jackson]

Here's the audio of Johnny and I watching Ali vs Inoki. Not sure if I'll get the videos to upload, between being on 6 months probation with restrictions on Youtube and Dailymotion being unreliable. Because the match is largely a bunch of nothing, we riffed on a bunch of random stuff and had a great time. Hopefully it works without the visual component. Those with a copy of the fight can sync up and watch at home, like playing Dark Side of the Moon over Wizard of OZ or something.

 

https://soundcloud.com/jerryvonkramer/ali-vs-inoki

[Johnny Sorrow]

And like the Dark Side/ Oz deal, it's really great high. 😎

[SteveJRogers]

Attendance to see the 'Stros and the defending champs Reds was 31,039

 

Astros won 3-0 and Joaquin Andujar got the complete game win.

 

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1976/B06260HOU1976.htm

[Ricky Jackson]

Groovy. I wonder how many stayed for the Ali/Inoki fight

[Ricky Jackson]

Meltzer's write up of the 40th anniversary of the fight in this week's Observer is outstanding and clarifies a lot of what Johnny and I discussed in regards to the build and execution of the whole thing

[BrianB]

Anybody interested in more of the surrounding circumstances and big narratives of this fight, as well as some juicy details, be sure to check out longtime MMA journalist Josh Gross' recently released book on this fight and the event. I haven't finished it yet, but it's extremely well written. It's available on amazon.

[TheDuke]

I really enjoyed this podcast, and the audio commentary from the actual fight. Really great work guys. I can't wait for whatever is coming next from Titans.

[Ricky Jackson]

Thanks a lot man