MALAYSIA: BOXERS MUHAMMAD ALI AND JOE BUGNER MAKE FINAL PREPARATIONS FOR THE WORLD TITLE FIGHT.

Record ID: 1066484

  • Title: MALAYSIA: BOXERS MUHAMMAD ALI AND JOE BUGNER MAKE FINAL PREPARATIONS FOR THE WORLD TITLE FIGHT.
  • Date: 30th June 1975
  • Summary: 1. SV INT. Ali with sparring partner (3 shots) 0.22 2. GV Crowd cheering 0.26 3. SV Ali sitting at ringside 0.48 4. CU Woman laughing 0.51 5. CU Frazier surrounded by crowd 0.58 6. CU Frazier 1.04 7. CU Ali replies 1.22 8. CU Bugner walking with newsmen, talking to Bob Kearsley 1.39 9. CU ZOOM OUT FROM Woman's jersey reading 'Joe Bugner Champion' TO Crowd outside pavilion 1.46 10. CU Bugner exercising with skipping rope and punchball 2.02 11. SV PAN OUT Bugner shadow boxing 2.18 TRANSCRIPTS: ALI: "To you Malaysians, if you root for Joe Bugner, you root against Malaysia. When you challenge Muhammad Ali, you challenge Malaysia. When you root for Bugner you root for the enemy of Ali." After his weekend training session, Ali turned his ready torrent of words on an old foe -- Joe Frazier -- who had come from America for the fight. REPORTER: "When are you going to fight Ali?" FRAZIER: "I don't know. I was travelling and I don't know the situation until I get back and find out what really happened." ALI: "I whipped you the first time. And after I destroyed George Foreman, you had the nerve to challenge me. I tell you what I can do, I don't have to fight you tonight, we can fight here today." BUGNER: "As far as I'm concerned I'm here to beat Muhammad Ali, not the Malaysian people. The Malaysian people are just fabulous. This is upsetting and this is (indistinct) can't frighten me." REPORTER: "What are you going to do after you've won?" BUGNER: "Get back to my children and my wife as soon as possible." World heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali the day before the big fight in Kuala Lumpur. Ali was sparring at nearly full pace while his challenger, European champion Joe Bugner had stopped training, declaring he was at peak fitness. The fight, in the merdeka Stadium in the Malaysian capital, was rare because it was a non-American challenge for the World title. Boxing fans in Malaysia were joined by former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier. He came from America to watch his former adversary fight. While Ali was shouting in the stadium, Britain's Joe Bugner took a quieter approach when he spoke with newsmen. Although Ali has been by far the local favourite in Kuala Lumpur, Bugner does have his fans. Few heavyweight challengers can have looked so much the part. He has put six years' work into this fight. Out of his fifty-eight fights he has won fifty-one. Bugner is much younger and slightly bigger than Ali. He also weighs-in five pounds heavier. The two fighters were scheduled to fight at nine forty-five on Tuesday morning. The expected temperature was eighty degrees Fahrenheit. Initials CL/2230 CL/2322 SPORT: BOXING Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 14th July 1975 13:00
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  • Location: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
  • Country: Malaysia
  • Reuters ID: LVA7H4F0P5ZINCC1MOJV5G9ZXD3F
  • Story Text:Later, Bugner retaliated to Ali's claim to represent Malaysia.

    The final preparation were completed in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday (29 June) for the world heavyweight title fight. European Champion Joe Bugner is challenging World Champion Muhammad Ali in a rare non-American fight. The match was scheduled to take place at 9.45 on Tuesday morning (1 July).

    The day preceding the fight in the Malaysian capital, Ali was sparring at nearly full pace, while Bugner had almost stopped his training, convinced he was at peak fitness. Al went fifteen rounds in one training session, and looked remarkably fit at the end of it, despite the gruelling heat.

    For Ali this was his 15th championship fight. For Joe Bugner, it was his first try at the World title.

    A transcription of brief statements by Ali, Bugner and Frazier, follows:
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