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In the 1960s, Wilt Chamberlain emerged as the most dominant basketball player the world had ever seen around the same time Muhammad Ali started to cement himself as one of the most fearsome boxers in history. At the start of the following decade, the two men agreed to meet each other in the ring, but the world never got the chance to see them face off thanks to the Lakers.
As you probably know, Wilt Chamberlain is still the only person to score 100 points in an NBA game, and the legendary big man was a force to be reckoned with over the course of a career where he won a couple of titles, four Most Valuable Player awards, and was selected to the All-Star Game on 13 occasions.
Muhammad Ali, on the other hand, revolutionized the sport of boxing and the art of trash-talking. He was more than able to cash the checks he wrote with his mouth before virtually every fight before hanging up his gloves with a 56-5 record as a pro after rightfully earning the nickname “The Greatest.”
Ali would’ve racked up even more wins if not for his decision to refuse to be drafted for the Vietnam War due to his status as a conscientious objector.
He initially faced a five-year prison sentence as a result, and while his conviction was ultimately overturned, he spent more than three years of what was arguably his prime in exile in Chicago due to his inability to be granted a license to fight thanks to his status as a so-called draft dodger.
Ali made his grand return in 1971 with a bout against Joe Frazier that was dubbed “The Fight of the Century”(which he lost via unanimous decision). Later that year, Chamberlain challenged him to step into the ring for a showdown that was supposed to be held at the Houston Astrodome at the end of July.
It would have been quite the spectacle, but it sadly never came to fruition.
Wilt Chamberlain almost fought Muhammad Ali before the Lakers got him to reconsider
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Chamberlain obviously had the edge in some key categories on paper. He stood at 7’1″ and had a 90-inch reach, while Ali (who weighed around 60 pounds less) clocked in at 6’3″and 78 inches in those categories.
Wilt had linked up with boxing trainer Cus d’Amato, but his foe obviously had a bit more experience inside the ring and didn’t seem intimidated by the challenge (the fact that each man was supposedly offered $5 million to participate in the fight also gave him some extra incentive).
The fight was set to unfold on July 26th, and prior to the bout, the two men linked up with broadcasting legend Howard Cossell to firm up their measurements in a face-to-face meeting where Ali’s motor mouth was on full display.
Ali remarked Chamberlain’s reach advantage would be a moot point, saying it “don’t mean nothing if he can’t find something to hit.”
Jack Kent Cooke (who owned the Los Angeles Lakers at the time) was understandably not that thrilled about the prospect of a star player suffering a setback as the result of “boxing foolishness” and had been trying to negotiate a new contract to lure Wilt away from the ring.
According to boxing promoter Bob Arum, Chamberlain arrived at the Astrodome to ink the boxing contract only to be greeted by Ali, who quipped, “Timber! The tree will fall!” He asserts that comment caused Wilt and his lawyers to leave the room to give Cooke a call, and he apparently offered him enough cash to convince him to rejoin the team under the condition he’d back out of the bout.
That worked out pretty well for the Lakers, as Chamberlain helped them win a championship while being named the MVP of the NBA Finals in 1972. The following season would be his last as an NBA player, but by that point, Ali was focused on his rematch with Frazier, which means we never got the chance to see how things would’ve panned out.