On June 26, 1976 American heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali fought Japanese professional wrestler Antonio Inoki in Tokyo, Japan. The 15 Round match, billed  as “The War of the Worlds”, has gone down as one the weirdest, most controversial, most embarrassing, but, at the same time, oddly influential events in the history of sports.

The match was conceived when at a party in 1975, Muhammad Ali met several  executives from the Japanese Amateur Wrestling Association . The undisputed heavyweight boxing champion with his characteristic bravado asked the Japanese contingents “Isn’t there any [Asian Slur] fighter who will challenge me? I’ll give him one million dollars if he wins”. The remark was front page news across Japan, and the challenge was accepted within a few days by Japanese heavyweight wrestling champion Antonio  Inoki. In order to entice Ali into actually step in to the ring; Inoki’s backers offered the boxer $6 million for the fight. In March 25, 1976 Ali and Inoki held a joint press conference at the Plaza Hotel in New York City to officially declare a match  between the fighters to be held on June 26, 1976 at the historic Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. During the press conference Muhammad Ali with full swagger remarked  that he nicknamed Inoki ‘The Pelican’ due to his prominent chin, but the Japanese wrestler met Ali’s braggadocio with some of his own with a comeback of; “When your fist connects with my chin, take care your fist is not damaged”. He then presented the boxer with a crutch to use after he threw Ali out of the ring. Anticipation for was huge; matching the hype of the Ali’s three epic boxing matches (The Fight of the Century, Superfight II, and The Thrilla in Manila) against Joe Frazier and the famed Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman. The Budokan was completely sold out with tickets selling for ¥300,000 ($1,000 in 1976 around $5,700 today) The fight was to be broadcast across the world to an estimated audience of 1.5 billion viewers. In the USA the bout was to be shown on closed-circuit pay-per-view sites across the country. Wrestling promoter Vince McMahon Sr. sold tickets to the telecast to be screened at Shea Stadium in NYC; drawing a crowd of over 32,000. The event at Shea included in-stadium undercards including a match featuring  Andre the Giant. 

Leading up to the fight several problems started to loom over the preparations. The first hurdle were the rules. In order to stage a fight with two completely different fighting styles, special rules had to be created. Originally, upon  accepting Ali’s challenge, Inoki proposed  a  bare-knuckle ‘street’ brawl in letters to Ali’s trainer Angelo Dundee and main fight promoter Don King. Muhammad Ali was originally eager to a straight-up fight, but his handlers quickly changed his mind. There was then a tentative agreement between the two camps in which Ali would fight wearing gloves and follow standard international boxing rules and Antonio Inoki would fight bare-knuckled under a combination of modified Judo and Catch Wrestling rules. Both fight camps agreed to a 15 Round match with a knockout or submission to declare a winner. These rules were made public during the March 25th press conference. However, a shortly  before the fight, Ali and his went to see Inoki train for the upcoming fight, in which the Japanese wrestler unleash a series of brutal looking kicks and hard grapples against his sparring partners. Afterwards the Ali camp requested all sorts of changes to the original agreement upon rules. In May , the two fighter’s representatives had renegotiated the rules to place a series of restrictions on Inoki. He would no longer be able to throw, grapple, or tackle Ali and could only kick the American boxer if he had one knee on the canvas. Ali’s camp requested that the new rules would not be released to the public until the day of the fight much to the chagrin of many fight fans, martial arts experts, and the boxing and wrestling press corps. Many complaints started to arise in what many were now seeing as a farce in the making. This led into the second major problem with the upcoming fight that is still debated to this day; would it be a real fight, an exhibition, or a fixed ‘work’.  In professional wrestling parlance a work is a staged fight; there may be some actual real fighting between the combatants, but it’s mostly choreographed with a predetermined outcome. It’s been alleged that Ali’s camp initially  agreed to a worked fight, but the boxer himself claimed he never agreed to fix the fight. According to sources the original plan for the match was that Ali would accidentally punch refree Gene LeBell; knocking him out. While a concerned Ali stood over the downed referee, in a pose resembling his famous ‘Phantom Punch’ stance; Inoki would hit Ali with a roundhouse kick. The referee would recover and count the boxer out; giving Inoki the win in front of his home fans while also allowing Ali to save face. Muhammad Ali however refused to agree to lose under any conditions insisting the fight be a ‘real’ one. On June 23rd, three days before the fight, Antonio Inoki, frustrated by all the rule changes, proposed a winner-take-all purse of millions of dollars in personal assets and the each others entire fight revenue as proof of how serious he was about the fight. Ali accepted and signed a contract of agreement, but on the next day Ali’s camp demanded the contract be voided. The explanation was that Ali could not agree to any contract with first consulting his manager and promoters. On the eve of the match, experts  and press started to serious question the legitimacy of the fight . Martial Arts expert Donn Draeger, a pioneer of American martial arts, exclaimed “The rules have been so seriously modified that the contest is no longer boxing versus wrestling. Unless this were done there would be no way to choreograph the match and make it look convincing. Ali can grapple or punch the man down; Inoki is not allowed to leg-dive or tackle. That latter restriction is the same as prohibiting Ali from jabbing. What a farce!” Associated Press correspondent John Roderick wrote ‘…what is called by some the first Martial Arts Championship  and by others a multi-million-dollar sham”

“There will be no Pearl Harbor! Muhammad Ali has returned!”, proclaimed Ali to the press as he made his way to the sold out 14,500-seat Nippon Budokan on the day of the fight. With another 1.5 billion viewers watching world-wide the highly anticipated match finally began. Antonio Inoki, weighing in at 220 lbs. standing 6ft 3in and aged 33 years 4 months old, entered the ring first. the Japanese wrestler wore his signature purple robe and tight black trunks. Muhammad Ali entered second. The 34 year 5 month old American boxer standing 6ft 3in weighed in at 218lbs and wore a red and white robe and white boxing trunks. The two fighters met in the center of the ring and referee Gene LeBell gave his last minute instructions, before sending them to opposites corners. Right from the opening bell Inoki ran at Ali and slid at the legs of Ali and boxer sidestepped the attack. Inoki stayed on the ground and stated kicking and sweeping at Ali’s legs; a tactic the wrestler, hamstrung by the rules, would use for almost the entire fight. Inoki landed a few hard kicks in the opening round, forcing Ali’s corner to instruct him  to back away from Inoki. Ali began taunting Inoki to stand up,but Inoki counted his kicking strategy until the end of Round 1. Rounds 2 and 3 went pretty much the same way with Inoki laying on the canvas and kicking at Ali’s legs while staying out of range of Ali’s punches. An infuriated Ali started moving around the ring to avoid the kicks but Inoki crawled towards him and kept connecting with his legs. Towards the end of Round 3 a visible wound started to appear on Ali’s left leg. The American boxer began walking around the ring out of reach of the Inoki’s kicks and started taunting the wrestler by shouting “Coward Inoki! Inoki no fight!! One punch! I want one punch!” The Round ended with the  Budokan crowd starting  to loudly boo at the lack of any real action in the fight. In Round 4 Inoki missed a jumping side kick but, still on his back, trapped Ali in a corner of the ring. Referee LeBell separated the fighters and restarted the fight in the center of the ring. Muhammad Ali mockingly shoved the referee with his chest earning a warning as Inoki again sat down on the canvas. The Japanese wrestler once again forced Ali into the corner, while the boxer leapt up onto the ropes to avoid the kicks. Round 5 saw Inoki land a kick that staggered Ali; almost sending him to the canvas. Recovering quickly; Ali managed to grab Inoki’s boot and drag him briefly around the ring, but the round ended before anything could come of it. Ali legs at the end of Round 5 were bruised and bleeding from the barrage of kicks he had been taking, and he was visibly frustrated at his inability to land any punches in return. During Round 6 Antonio Inoki kept up his strategy of laying on the mat and kicking at Ali. One of the kicks landed straight on Ali’s groin earning a warning from the referee for a low blow, though he followed it up with a pair of successful kicks. Muhammad Ali was finally able to grab Inoki’s boot trying to immobilize the wrestler and set up a punch. Inoki, however,  was able grab Ali’s left foot, wrapping his leg around Ali’s calf, and sweeping the boxer to the canvas. The wrestler went in for a leglock and a possible submission, but Ali was able to swing his foot over the ring rope to force a restart. Inoki while the fight was stopped threw an elbow to the boxer’s face earring a warning and a point reduction. In Round 7 Inoki tried to goad Ali to meet him on the ground, but Ali refused and tried a few, feeble, kicks of his own. Ali was finally able to connect with his first punch of the fight in Round 7; a jab to Inoki’s face. The wrestler was unfazed by the strike and was able to knock down Ali with a leg sweep before the boxer could land a combination. The  Budokan crowed began to mockingly cheer the American who seemed wary to strike again. Round 8 was more of the same. Inoki, still lying on the ground, managed to land a pair of kicks that knocked down Ali again. Inoki was penalized for another low blow leading to another point reduction. The round was stopped multiple times in order to reapply tape on the boot of Inoki; much to the frustration of the Japanese wrestler. Round 8 ended with Ali, his legs covered in blood, taunting “Inoki nothing!” Round 9 started with Ali come in on Inoki crouched down and trying for a jab but Inoki, sticking to his ground strategy, countered with a series of kicks that sent Ali staggering to his corner. Round 10 saw Muhammad Ali land his second punch of the fight; a jab to Inoki’s face, Antonio Inoki was able to counter with a pair of kicks to Ali’s leg. The crowd started to chant for Inoki to finally fight standing up, so he charged at the boxer who leaned into the ropes. Inoki then returned to his ground strategy and the Budokan crowd in an instant almost completely turned against the Japanese wrestler. In Round 11 Ali started to become more aggressive; protecting his legs by blocking Inoki’s kicks with his gloves and arms. The Boxer managed to catch one of the kicks and twisted Inoki’s legs around, but because of Ali’s lack of grappling skills; he was unable to complete a submission maneuver. By Round 12, Ali grew confidence after blocking some, but not all, of Inoki’s ground kicks. Antonio Inoki about midway through the round stood up and landed a kick to Ali’s legs. However the blow was negated for being against the rule that he had to have one knee on the canvas while kicking. While Inoki was standing; Ali’s corner yelled at him to punch  the wrestle, but Inoki immediately returned to the safety of the ground. In between Rounds 12 and 13 Ali’s left leg was so swollen that commentators remarked that it appeared to be double the size of the right. During Round 13 Ali came out aggressively had  Inoki backed into a corner. Thinking the wrestler would attempt to kick his way out of the corner, Ali began taunting Inoki with his glove. However Inoki instead came at the boxer and grabbed his waist; attempting a suplex. Ali panicked and quickly grabbed the ropes, forcing Inoki to back off. As the two fighters were in a clinch, Ali put all his weight on Inoki, and the wrestler responded with an illegal knee strike to the boxers groin. Referee Gene LeBell stopped the fight and asked Ali if he could continue. Protesting the  illegal strike Ali seemed as if he was going to walk out of the ring, but LeBell convinced him to return to the center of the ring for a restart. As the fight wears restarted, Inoki missed with a low kick and Ali countered with a two jab combination; forcing Inoki to lay back down on the canvas. Round 14 saw Inoki feigning a few bare-fisted jabs and an attempted takedown before dropping back to the canvas for leg kicks. The fighters began taunting each other to fight in their respective styles but nothing came of it. At the end of the round, however, Ali landed a left jab to Inoki’s body visibly stunning the wrestler. As the bell rang for Round 15, the final round of the fight, the fighters shook hands in their respective styles center of the ring. The hostile Budokan crowd calmed down in anticipation of a climatic finish, but it wasn’t to be. Inoki continued his strategy of lying on the canvas while Ali vocally reminded him of the fight’s imminent ending.  Inoki landed a few final kicks to the boxer’s leg and Ali managed a jab on the counterstrike, but otherwise little happened in the final round. When the final bell rang the two fighters shook hands and embraced to a cacophony of jeers from the crowd. While waiting for the three judges’ decision Muhammad Ali, with a visibly wounded left leg, paced around the ring declaring himself the winner due to Antonio Inoki’s ‘cowardice’. Professional wrestling judge Kokichi Endo scored the fight 74-72 for Ali, while boxing judge Ko Toyama scored it 72-68 for Inoki; leaving the final and decisive scorecard to referee Gene LeBell. The referee, taking into consideration the various points deductions to Inoki, scored the fight 71-71; ending the fight in a draw.  When the result was announced the sold-out Budokan crowd exploded in anger. Chanting “Money back! Money back!”, the crowd began throwing trash into the ring, and officials were afraid of a full-scale riot. The spectators were especially outraged by the performance of their hometown hero Antonio Inoki as he hastily left the ring; pelted with garbage. It’s been rumored  that the Nippon Budokan staff took over two full days to cleanup the mess. 

The resulting draw meant, in theory, that neither fighter would have to lose face; Inoki could claim he won if not for the penalties, and Ali could accuse his opponent of cheating. However the fight was universally poorly received, that it’s considered the most embarrassing moment in the careers of everyone involved.  The spectators at the Budokan were the only ones infuriated by the fight as mini-riots and boos from crowds at off-site broadcast gatherings were reported across the world. Journalist explained it as “They were expecting like a cross between a boxing match and a pro wrestling match and got nothing resembling either” The Japanese press, unaware of the rules and restrictions placed on the wrestler, were especially harsh towards Inoki and his fight tactics.  Only after the fight was Inoki able to explain himself to the world. In a press conference Inoki explained, holding back tears, “ I was handicapped by the rules that said no tackling, no karate chops, no punching on the mat. I kept my distance to stay away from Ali’s punches” Ali left leg, sustaining damage from over 100 undefended kicks, was so badly swollen and bloody that it led to a serious infection. He suffered two blood clots in his legs that would affect his mobility for the rest of career and life. At one point amputated was discussed, though Ali insisted to the press that it was nothing serious. Notwithstanding the disappointment and anticlimactic nature of the fight, it is considered highly influential  as a precursor to the modern sport of mixed martial arts 

Despite the fight and the public reaction afterwards, Muhammad Ali and Antonio Inoki became good friends. Inoki incorporated Ali’s famed Rumble in the Jungle “Boma Ye” catchphrase into his wrestling routine for the rest of his career. Ali never fully recovered his form after the fight, losing his heavyweight titles to Leon Spinks( who would also fight, and lose to, Inoki in 1986) in 1978; before finally retiring for good in 1981 following a loss. Inoki would continue to wrestle until 1998. Ali went to see the final match of his Japanese opponent, and climbed into the ring and hugged Inoki. A representative of Ali read a message over the arena PA: “It was 1976 when I fought Antonio Inoki at the Budokan. In the ring, we were tough opponents. After that, we built love and friendship with mutual respect. So, I feel a little less lonely now that Antonio has retired. It is my honor to be standing on the ring with my good friend after 22 years. Our future is bright and has a clear vision. Antonio Inoki and I put our best efforts into making world peace through sports, to prove there is only one mankind beyond the sexual, ethnical (sic) or cultural differences. It is my pleasure to come here today.”