The great Muhammad Ali once fought Antonio Inoki, a legendary professional wrestler who crawled like a crab around the ring and kicked at his legs. That fight on June 24, 1976, drew an estimated worldwide audience of 1 billion viewers.
To build the fight, Ali appeared on professional wrestling house shows, where once he was grabbed by 400-plus-pound wrestler Gorilla Monsoon and put into an airplane spin. He appeared on "The Tonight Show" with the notorious heel pro wrestling manager, "Classy" Freddie Blassie.
After a "match" with WWWF wrestler Buddy Wolfe, Ali was interviewed in the ring by Vince McMahon.