Muhammad Ali's fight against wrestler Antonio Inoki inspired the launch of MMAIt's an argument that has engrossed sports fans for decades. Would a boxer beat a martial artist? In possibly the most bizarre chapter of his extraordinary career, Muhammad Ali fired the opening salvo in this great debate when, 4. Japanese professional wrestler named Antonio Inoki. The surreal encounter has largely been forgotten - and for good reason - with the contest leaving those present at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan arena on June 2.

It is hard to imagine a modern boxer at the peak of his powers agreeing to such a fight. But Ali, fresh from a world- title defence against Britain's Richard Dunn, travelled to Tokyo for what was promoted as 'the martial arts championship of the world'.

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Ali was to receive six million dollars (though how much he was actually paid has since been disputed) for the bout which was a precursor to modern mixed martial arts. Muhammad Ali attempts to slip out of the way of a kick from professional wrestler Antonio Inoki. Under the set rules, Inoki could only kick Ali while his other knee was on the canvas. Ali upended Inoki in the first round of their scheduled 1.

The build- up to the fight was in keeping with its unusual nature. Inoki refused interviews and did not allow any media to watch him train. When he appeared alongside Ali at a press conference to promote the fight he seemed shy as his opponent took centre stage, mocking the size of his chin and performing unflattering impersonations of heavyweight rivals Joe Frazier and George Foreman. Away from the cameras, Ali hung out with a huge entourage, including eccentric characters such as Piranha Fred (aka wrestler Fred Blassie) and a dozen female admirers, as witnessed by Sportmail's then chief sports writer Ian Wooldridge. Also in tow was the fight's referee Gene Le. Bell, leading Wooldridge to question whether everything was above board. For all I know it will be over in 3.

Le. Bell told Wooldridge innocently. How wrong he would turn out to be. Wooldridge remained sceptical. For two days now Ali has given me the impression he would call the whole thing off if he decently could,' he wrote.

Nonetheless, the loquacious man from Louisville did his best to hype the fight, which was receiving huge attention all over the world. Ali claimed he had invented a new signature move, which he called the 'acupunch', just for the occasion. His reputation - and that of his craft - was on the line, he said in one interview. I can't let boxing down,' he stressed. I can't lose to an old fat- bellied wrestler.

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I'll destroy Inoki. This will be the biggest one- sport event in the history of the world.'The key to the whole encounter centred on its rules. A script had been devised that would create an entertaining spectacle and ensure no injuries to either man, especially as Ali had a fight with Ken Norton on the horizon. The scenario was set,' promoter Bob Arum told boxing writer Thomas Hauser. Ali would pound on Inoki for six or seven rounds. Inoki would be pouring blood. Apparently he was crazy enough that he was actually going to cut himself with a razor blade.

Ali would appeal to the referee to stop the fight, and right when he was in the middle of this humanitarian gesture, Inoki would jump him from behind and pin him. Pearl Harbor all over again.' The referee is stuck in the middle as Ali and Inoki grapple during their boxer vs mixed martial artist contest. Inoki and Ali shake hands after their 1.

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Tokyo in 1. 97. 8In Arum's version of events, Ali got cold feet, believing it was wrong to dupe the public. As ever, there is more than one side to the story. In another telling, Ali began to have suspicions that the fight was legitimate after witnessing the intensity of Inoki's training. He subsequently visited his opponent for a rehearsal, only for Inoki to tell him: 'This isn't an exhibition, it's a real fight!'Ali and Inoki's representatives spent three days trying to thrash out the rules of the contest, only to modify them to such an extent that both men, but particularly Inoki, were hamstrung.

Inoki was prohibited from throwing, grappling, tackling or kicking above the knee. And any kicks would have to be executed with one knee on the canvas. A farce was inevitable. From the opening bell, Inoki charged at Ali, throwing himself to the ground in an effort to land a kick. Watched for the first time, those opening seconds hinted at an exciting encounter. But a tedious pattern had been set.

That first exchange would be repeated ad nauseam for 1. Inoki on his back, kicking desperately at Ali's legs; Ali, on his feet, imploring his opponent to fight him in the manner to which he was accustomed. Ali, ever the showman, did his best to inject some razzmatazz into the drab affair.

He goaded his grounded opponent, stuck his tongue out, played up to the crowd, shook his hips and even feigned being restrained by referee Le. Bell at the end of rounds. It was no good. Ali, by Wooldridge's estimation, threw only six punches of note throughout the entire fight. But, more seriously, he had absorbed dozens of kicks to his legs. At one stage, in round four, Inoki even had Ali cornered and landed a flurry of powerful kicks, with the American forced to climb onto the ropes to escape. The Japanese successfully swept Ali's legs from under him at the start of the fifth, to rare applause from the crowd, and had Ali on the floor again in the sixth, only for Le. Bell to intervene and allow Ali back to his feet.

It was turgid stuff and Arum would later quip: 'Any moron knew it wasn't fixed, because a fixed fight wouldn't have been that awful.' Inoki refused interviews before the fight and did not allow any media to watch him train. Ali was present before Inoki's retirement match which took place in Tokyo in 1. Once the 1. 5 rounds were up, Le.

Bell declared a draw, much to the displeasure of the local crowd. Wooldridge summed up the scenes that followed: 'The Japanese, who between wars are a restrained and courteous race, could take no more. They flung what was left of their sandwiches out from the hired balconies of the octagonal Budokan Martial Arts Hall and left.

In London there would have been a riot and in Paris they would have been forced to summon the water cannon.'An embarrassed Ali told the Press: 'I wouldn't have done this if I'd known he was gonna fight like that.' But he had more pressing concerns. He had ruptured blood vessels and, even worse, blood clots in his legs. Arum claimed that even an amputation was possible.

Foolishly Ali ignored the advice of his doctor Ferdie Pacheo and continued on to South Korea for an exhibition bout rather than seeking proper treatment. Pacheo believed Ali was never the same again. Though he would defeat Norton in September of that year, he would never knock out another opponent. While positives from the fight were few and far between, Ali forged a great friendship with Inoki, whose fame soared in his homeland. Commercial endorsements poured in for the wrestler, who even went on to found a political group - the Sports and Peace Party - and he was elected to the lower house of Japanese government. Upon Ali's death last weekend, Inoki appeared at a press conference in Japan, against the backdrop of a giant picture of their fight, to pay tribute to his one- time adversary.'Thanks to Ali and the reputation of our fight I can do what I am doing today and bring a different perspective to politics and in particular foreign policy,' he said.

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