Nowadays, crossover boxing is very popular, but it all began in 1976 with one of the greatest fighters of all time.
In front of 14,500 spectators at the Budokan venue in Tokyo on June 26, that year, Muhammad Ali, a two-time world heavyweight boxing champion at the time, took the ring against Antonio Inoki, a Japanese wrestler.
Ali had to visit the hospital after the match, and the disgruntled audience threw trash into the ring.
But anticipation was strong before it all started.
In 1975, Ali was introduced to both the boxer and Ichiro Hatha, the president of the Japanese amateur wrestling federation.
It garnered national attention in Japan, where Inoki, a well-known figure, and his supporters made an offer to fight Ali for $6 million.
Sean Allsop of the Sporting Witness podcast spoke with photographer Claude Charlier about his thoughts on the game known as the “War of the Worlds.” The 23-year-old Charlier was residing in Tokyo at the time of the altercation.
