| Date | September 10, 1966 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Waldstadion, Frankfurt, West Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBC, NYSAC, and The Ring heavyweight titles | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ali won via 12th round TKO | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Muhammad Ali and Karl Mildenberger fought for the world’s heavyweight championship on September 10, 1966. The champion’s sixth title defense since winning the world title in 1964, Ali stopped Mildenberger in the 12th round.[1]
The fight held several historic firsts, this included the location. Being held in Frankfurt, this was Germany’s first time hosting a world heavyweight title fight in the country. Mildenberger would also be the first southpaw to get a heavyweight title shot. The fight would serve as the first ever sports event that was broadcast live via satellite through a color telecast. [2]
Ali was given 10-1 odds of defeating the European Champion, and a crowd of over 40,000 spectators attended the fight, along with millions of television viewers around the world.
At first, Mildenberger's unorthodox southpaw style caused Ali some surprising discomfort in the early rounds of the bout, a sight rarely seen by the champion. Despite the early difficulties, Ali quickly adjusted, and by the mid rounds had taken full control of the fight. Mildenberger’s left eye was cut in the sixth round, and by the end of round eight it had completely swollen shut. Ali also scored three knockdowns over the course of the fight (in the fifth, eighth and tenth rounds), although Mildenberger managed to beat the count each time. The fight finally came to an end when the referee stopped the fight halfway through the 12th round. The technical knockout would be Ali’s 21st knockout victory in just 26 fights.[3][4][5][6]
