Antonio Inoki, whose most famous moment on the world stage was an unorthodox exhibition match against boxing champion Muhammad Ali that aimed to settle which sport could beat the other, died Friday…
that aimed to settle which sport could beat the other, died Friday in Japan. He was 79 and no cause of death was released.
In wrestling-mad Japan, Inoki was considered its most important star, selling out countless arenas and stadiums from the 1970s and on. He was also the first Japanese wrestler to win the WWF championship and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010.'ALI', A Musical About The Greatest Sports Superstar Of All Time, Is Being Developed For Broadway
In addition to the sold-out crowd of more than 14,000 at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, the exhibition fight aired on closed-circuit across the world, including more than 32,000 people at Shea Stadium in New York. Years later, mixed martial arts fighter Colin McGregor recalled the match. “Ali tried to reach down and punch and he ended up getting swept,” McGregor said at a media scrum before his match with boxer Floyd Mayweather. “Inoki ended up on top and the referee separated it straight away.
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