The Ali Files by Norman Giller

Author:Norman Giller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2015-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Jimmy Ellis (USA)

Venue: Houston, Texas

26 July 1971

Ali 220lb, Ellis 189lb

Ali WRSF12

(Ali purse: $450,000)

THE comeback fight for Ali after his painful defeat by Frazier was one he would rather have ducked. It meant he would be hitting and hurting one of his closest friends. He and Jimmy Ellis had grown up together in Louisville, went to the same high school, and fought each other twice as amateurs. Ali won the first bout, and Ellis the return.

Ali often hired Ellis as a sparring partner to help boost his earnings, and they were both trained by Angelo Dundee. After torturing himself, Angelo decided his duty was to be in the corner of the underdog Ellis, whom he also managed. Ali gave Dundee his blessing and got the renowned veteran trainer Harry Wiley, who had worked with Henry Armstrong and Sugar Ray Robinson, to be his stand-in chief second.

They battled for the NABF title that had been vacated by George Foreman, and there was so much interest in how Ali would be affected by his pounding from Frazier that the Houston Astrodome was packed with 31,947 spectators.

Ellis had the skill to compete at the top level, but not the raw power to survive against the really big punchers. Joe Frazier and Earnie Shavers both took him out with their savage blows.

He sparred hundreds of rounds with Ali in the gymnasium, and knew his style and tricks better than anybody. While few gave him a chance of scoring an upset victory, he started with a flourish and for the first three rounds controlled the exchanges with Ali-style movement and quick fists.

But the fight dramatically swung Ali’s way from the moment late in the fourth round when a chopping right hand hit Ellis flush on the side of the jaw and turned his legs to rubber. He staggered around the ring under fire until the bell came to his rescue.

Ali, at 220lb, was at his heaviest and looked even bigger because Bundini Brown had forgotten to pack his trunks, and the pair borrowed at the last minute were two sizes too large. But while carrying extra weight, Ali was more on his toes than when he fought Frazier and started to take complete control after the near stoppage at the end of the fourth round.

He stepped up the pace from the halfway mark and was continually beating Ellis to the punch with left jabs that were snappy and accurate. In round 12 he stopped what had almost become exhibition boxing and switched to power hitting, threatening to lift Ellis out of his boots with a thumping right uppercut that parted him from his senses.

Ali, clearly hoping that referee Jay Edson would intervene, then threw a combination that left Ellis helpless on the ropes, and stood back as he virtually invited Edson to step in and stop the fight at two minutes and ten seconds of the 12th round.

ALI AFTER-FIGHT QUOTE, ‘Next to me, Jimmy is the best heavyweight boxer in the world. I showed I’m getting into the shape to take Frazier next time we meet.

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