Editing Muhammad Ali (section)

=== After his loss ===
====Chamberlain challenge and Ellis fight====
{{Main|Muhammad Ali vs. Jimmy Ellis}}
In 1971, basketball star [[Wilt Chamberlain]] challenged Ali to a fight, and a bout was scheduled for July 26. Although the seven-foot-one-inch-tall Chamberlain had formidable physical advantages over Ali—weighing 60{{nbsp}}pounds more and able to reach 14{{nbsp}}inches further—Ali was able to influence Chamberlain into calling off the bout by taunting him with calls of "Timber!" and "The tree will fall" during a shared interview. These statements of confidence unsettled his taller opponent, whom [[Los Angeles Lakers]] owner [[Jack Kent Cooke]] had offered a record-setting contract, conditional on Chamberlain agreeing to abandon what Cooke termed "this boxing foolishness",<ref>{{cite news |title=Ali's Remark Ended Wilt's Ring Career |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-15-sp-979-story.html |at=Morning Briefing |work=Los Angeles Times |date=January 15, 1989 |access-date=February 20, 2020 |archive-date=June 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603030813/http://articles.latimes.com/1989-01-15/sports/sp-979_1_wilt-s-ring-career |url-status=live }}</ref> and he did exactly that.<ref>{{cite news |last1=O'Reilly |first1=Terry |title=Achilles Heel Advertising: Repositioning the Competition |url=http://www.cbc.ca/radio/undertheinfluence/achilles-heel-advertising-repositioning-the-competition-1.3473631 |access-date=August 30, 2018 |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=March 3, 2016 |archive-date=March 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328021008/http://www.cbc.ca/radio/undertheinfluence/achilles-heel-advertising-repositioning-the-competition-1.3473631 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Meanwhile, on June 28, 1971, the Supreme Court overturned Ali's draft evasion conviction. To replace Ali's opponent, promoter [[Bob Arum]] quickly booked a former sparring partner of Ali's, [[Jimmy Ellis (boxer)|Jimmy Ellis]], who was a childhood friend from [[Louisville, Kentucky]], to fight him. Ali won the bout through a technical knockout when the referee stopped the fight in the twelfth round.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/07/27/archives/victor-at-220-12-in-command-of-houston-bout-ali-stops-ellis-using.html |title=Victor, at 220½, in Command of Houston Bout |work=The New York Times |date=July 27, 1971 |access-date=May 18, 2022 |archive-date=May 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517044730/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/07/27/archives/victor-at-220-12-in-command-of-houston-bout-ali-stops-ellis-using.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Fights against Quarry, Patterson, Foster, Bugner and Norton====
After Ellis, Ali fought Jerry Quarry, had a second bout with Floyd Patterson, and faced [[Bob Foster (boxer)|Bob Foster]] in 1972, winning a total of six fights that year. During two bouts he had in 1973 with [[Joe Bugner]] and [[Ken Norton]], he wore a "People's Choice" robe given to him by [[Elvis Presley]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.boxingnews24.com/2023/04/muhammad-ali-talks-about-his-relationship-with-elvis/|title=Muhammad Ali Talks About His Relationship With Elvis!|first=Ken|last=Hissner|publisher=Boxing News|date=April 21, 2023|accessdate=April 8, 2024|archive-date=April 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408071103/https://www.boxingnews24.com/2023/04/muhammad-ali-talks-about-his-relationship-with-elvis/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1973, before his fight with Norton, Tom Cushman, a boxing writer for the ''Philadelphia Daily News'', said Ali was "gloriously overconfident" and didn't consider Norton "a threat at all".<ref name="Selbe-2020">{{Cite magazine |last=Selbe |first=Nick |date=March 31, 2020 |title=This Day in History: Ken Norton Breaks Muhammad Ali's Jaw |url=https://www.si.com/boxing/2020/03/31/this-day-history-ken-norton-muhammad-ali-broken-jaw |access-date=April 8, 2024 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |language=en-us |archive-date=April 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408194759/https://www.si.com/boxing/2020/03/31/this-day-history-ken-norton-muhammad-ali-broken-jaw |url-status=live }}</ref> But during the fight, either in the second round according to most press reports, or the final round according to Norton, Norton broke Ali's jaw and inflicted by decision the second loss of his career.<ref name="Selbe-2020" /> After considering retirement, Ali won a controversial decision against Norton in their second bout.{{cn|date=November 2024}} This led to a rematch with Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 1974; Frazier had recently lost his title to George Foreman.

====Second fight against Joe Frazier====
{{Main|Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier II}}
[[File:Gatti, Reutemann, Cap, Clay y Frazier - El Gráfico 2831 3.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Ali vs. [[Joe Frazier|Frazier]], promotional photo]]
Ali was strong in the early rounds of the fight, and staggered Frazier in the second round. Referee Tony Perez mistakenly thought he heard the bell ending the round and stepped between the two fighters as Ali was pressing his attack, giving Frazier time to recover. However, Frazier came on in the middle rounds, snapping Ali's head in round seven and driving him to the ropes at the end of round eight. The last four rounds saw round-to-round shifts in momentum between the two fighters. Throughout most of the bout, however, Ali was able to circle away from Frazier's dangerous left hook and to tie Frazier up when he was cornered, the latter a tactic that Frazier's camp complained of bitterly. Judges awarded Ali a unanimous decision.