In 1971, Wilt Chamberlain wanted to challenge Muhammad Ali in a boxing match for his heavyweight title.
The match was supposed to take place in the legendary Madison Square Garden. ABC arranged a special sports segment with both Ali and Wilt appearing together to announce the fight. Jim Brown was supposed to be the promoter and already secured enough money that engaged both of them in contract negotiations. After several failed negotiations, Ali finally accepted Chamberlain’s challenge after being offered a ton of money, something he desperately needed after being banned from boxing for three years after refusing to be drafted to fight in the Vietnam war.
Chamberlain was 35 at the time, a year away from retiring from the NBA after 13 seasons with more than 70 NBA records under his name. He was a Goliath on the basketball court. Ali was 29 in 1971 and 31-0 with 25 knockouts when he faced unbeaten Joe Frazier (26-0, 23 K.O.s) in Madison Square Garden in New York City for the undisputed heavyweight title. Frazier won in 15 rounds by unanimous decision.
After some thought, they agreed to go ahead with the massive payday, according to Tom Hauser’s “Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times.”
Chamberlain told Hauser, “I was offered more money than I had ever gotten (as a basketball player.)
For Chamberlain, fighting Ali represented the pinnacle in his quest to conquer not only his own sport but the entire sporting world. His accomplishments on the basketball court were already legendary. His records of 100 points scored in one game and 55 rebounds grabbed in another remain untouched, and many observers (then and now) considered him to be the greatest ever to play the game.
