After his controversial ban from boxing, Muhammad Ali finally rematched a rather familiar foe, sending him into a sudden retirement from the ring.
A year removed from his Fight of the Century shock defeat to Joe Frazier, the late Muhammad Ali had fought a staggering seven times, recording wins in each of his outings.
And rematching a prior foe whom he had fought seven years earlier, after his historic knockout of Sonny Liston, Ali would force his rival into retirement after a one-sided beating.
For his efforts, Ali secured quite a sizable paycheck leading into his memorable series of fights with Ken Norton.
Muhammad Ali earned $250,000 for stoppage win over Floyd Patterson
Initially inflicting a 12th round knockout win over Patterson — when fights were sanctioned to take place over a gruelling 15 rounds, Ali would have to wait seven more years before meeting the late ‘Gentleman of Boxing’ in a rematch.
And headlining at Madison Square Garden after a trip to Croke Park in a dominant win in Dublin, Ali would face Patterson on this day in 1972.
Putting his NABF (North American Boxing Federation) heavyweight crown on the line, Ali inflicted a rather gruesome injury on Patterson.
Forced out of the fight as determined by the ringside physician ahead of the eighth round, Patterson was left with significant swelling and an eye injury from the fight, and failed to enter the ring ever again.
Securing a $250,000 payday for his efforts, considering inflation, Ali would have scored a cool $1.9 million for the victory nowadays.
Muhammad Ali suffered his own brutal injury just four months later
Matching with the above-mentioned Norton in a highly anticipated clash billed solely as The Fight, Ali would suffer the second loss of his magnificent career in the ring.
Dropping a controversial split decision loss to the Illinois puncher, Ali suffered a fractured jaw in the opening round of the clash, and was treated at the hospital post-fight for his injuries.
Staggeringly, just six months later, Ali would return to the ring, rematching Norton and nabbing the NABF heavyweight crown in another split decision clash of the duo.
Four years later, Ali and Norton would meet in a trilogy rubber match, with the Louisville icon taking home bragging rights with a clear-cut unanimous judging win that time around.