Muhammad Ali is regarded as the greatest of all time in boxing, with some of his biggest paydays reflecting that status.
Despite fighting in time before the $100 million paydays the likes of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao earned, Muhammad Ali was still paid millions of dollars for his prize fights.
“The Greatest” was a box office draw, with millions across the world tuning into his fights, with a billion people reportedly having watched his controversial clash with Antonio Inoki in 1976.
While he may not have been in his prime by 1980 and was clearly past it as a top contender, Ali’s biggest payday came for one of his saddest defeats.
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Muhammad Ali earned millions for his sad defeat against Larry Holmes
Ali’s loss to Larry Holmes was an upsetting event to watch, although his bank balance was much happier once the disastrous bout was over.
The Las Vegas heat that night tired out the 38-year-old Ali, who was dominated throughout every round by the younger, fitter Holmes.
It was clear from the opening round that this fight would be one-sided, but it took until the tenth before Ali was forced to retire by his trainer, who was concerned about the health of the “People’s Champion”.
Despite being handily beaten in the fight, Ali walked away with the lion’s share of the purse. The three-time world champion earned $8 million for his part of the fight, the biggest payday of his career.
His involvement in the bout, as he aimed to become the first four-time world champion in history, helped draw a $6 million live gate, which was a record at that time.
That was Ali’s biggest fight purse of his career in total. However, adjusted for inflation, bouts against the likes of Joe Frazier and George Foreman gave him more spending power.
Larry Holmes told the referee to stop the fight before he killed Ali
Holmes could tell that Ali didn’t have it in him anymore during the fight, and begged the referee to end it before he killed the heroic former champion in the ring.
In a 2020 interview with DJ Vlad, Holmes admitted that the referee told him to “shut up and box” before Ali’s corner eventually threw in the towel and ended the contest.
“I told the referee, ‘Stop this fight — don’t let this man take this beating.’ He said to me, ‘Shut up and box.’
“What was I supposed to do, kill him? Can’t you see I’m beating him up? But they just pushed him back out there, so I wasn’t even hitting him hard anymore. I was just trying to make him quit.”
Ali fought once more in 1981 in the Bahamas before hanging up his gloves for good, with the Holmes fight coming one fight too late.