The jeers after the fight from the 12,000 crowd at the Capital Centre were loud and painfully unmistakable.
Muhammad Ali had sealed a unanimous, if unmemorable, points victory over Uruguayan-born Spanish fighter Alfredo Evangelista in Maryland, USA.
The Louisville Lip was now 35 and well past his best – although past his best was still too good for his 22-year-old challenger in the heavyweight title bout.
It was Ali's first fight in eight months, after winning his third clash with the tough as teak Ken Norton in the Bronx's Yankee Stadium.
Evangelista had never been past eight rounds in a 16‐bout professional career but would take Ali the full 15 in a fight shown live on prime-time television.
“I did not think Ali could go the distance,” said Evangelista after the fight. “I thought at his age he would get tired.”
Ali had brought along his full repertoire of now familiar tricks to the show. The Ali shuffle was out, the rope-a-dope – that famously drained George Foreman of his power during 1974's Rumble in the Jungle – was employed again. He was still dancing in the 15th round.
A knockout, though, never looked close for either fighter.
Evangelista would take him the distance, something only seven other fighters had done, but Ali was given the verdict comfortably by all three judges.
The crowd, though, made their feelings known at the end, while American journalist Howard Cosell – covering the bout for ABC – described it as one of the worst fights he had ever seen. "I'm sorry, we televised it," he said afterwards.
Ali, unsurprisingly, was unrepentant. "You saw a miracle tonight," said Ali. "A 35-year-old man dancing 15 rounds ... a welterweight couldn't dance 15 rounds."
And he railed against those who had dismissed Evangelista before the fight. “I tried to knock him down,” said Ali, “but he wouldn't fall. Go tell the world. Evangelista is a great fighter.
"He ain't no bum. He moves ... how wrong you were saying this man was nothing.
“This nobody, this Evangelista, I'll bet you my life he'll give Norton hell, if not beat him.
“Nobody? Jimmy Young was a nobody, Ken Norton was a nobody. I made nobodies somebody by fighting them. The trouble is, they are good fighters and I proved it.”
For Evangelista, facing The Greatest was a life-changer. “I was young and strong and he was old at this time,” he would later say. “But he was very intelligent; he knew how to handle the fight. He was special, a legend.
"He made me famous around the world and I will always be grateful for that.”
To the detriment of both body and mind, Ali would face another five fights – winning two and losing three – before finally calling it a day in 1981.
At the end of an incredible career, he had fought 61 times, winning 56 – with 37 knockouts – and losing five times.
The five new places of worship
Church of South Indian Parish
St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch
St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch
St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais
Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais
Bullet%20Train
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2019 Asian Cup final
Japan v Qatar
Friday, 6pm
Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UK%20record%20temperature
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The%20specs
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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Gully Boy
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Producer: Excel Entertainment & Tiger Baby
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi
Rating: 4/5 stars
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
Duminy's Test career in numbers
Tests 46; Runs 2,103; Best 166; Average 32.85; 100s 6; 50s 8; Wickets 42; Best 4-47
The five pillars of Islam
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Florida: The critical Sunshine State
Though mostly conservative, Florida is usually always “close” in presidential elections. In most elections, the candidate that wins the Sunshine State almost always wins the election, as evidenced in 2016 when Trump took Florida, a state which has not had a democratic governor since 1991.
Joe Biden’s campaign has spent $100 million there to turn things around, understandable given the state’s crucial 29 electoral votes.
In 2016, Mr Trump’s democratic rival Hillary Clinton paid frequent visits to Florida though analysts concluded that she failed to appeal towards middle-class voters, whom Barack Obama won over in the previous election.
Most match wins on clay
Guillermo Vilas - 659
Manuel Orantes - 501
Thomas Muster - 422
Rafael Nadal - 399 *
Jose Higueras - 378
Eddie Dibbs - 370
Ilie Nastase - 338
Carlos Moya - 337
Ivan Lendl - 329
Andres Gomez - 322
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Day 1 fixtures (Saturday)
Men 1.45pm, Malaysia v Australia (Court 1); Singapore v India (Court 2); UAE v New Zealand (Court 3); South Africa v Sri Lanka (Court 4)
Women Noon, New Zealand v South Africa (Court 3); England v UAE (Court 4); 5.15pm, Australia v UAE (Court 3); England v New Zealand (Court 4)
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
Two-step truce
The UN-brokered ceasefire deal for Hodeidah will be implemented in two stages, with the first to be completed before the New Year begins, according to the Arab Coalition supporting the Yemeni government.
By midnight on December 31, the Houthi rebels will have to withdraw from the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Issa and Al Saqef, coalition officials told The National.
The second stage will be the complete withdrawal of all pro-government forces and rebels from Hodeidah city, to be completed by midnight on January 7.
The process is to be overseen by a Redeployment Co-ordination Committee (RCC) comprising UN monitors and representatives of the government and the rebels.
The agreement also calls the deployment of UN-supervised neutral forces in the city and the establishment of humanitarian corridors to ensure distribution of aid across the country.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
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Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
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