ON May 24, 1976 at the Olympiahalle in Munich, Germany, Muhammad Ali made the seventh defense of his WBA and WBC heavyweight titles with a fifth round stoppage of tough Yorkshireman Richard Dunn.
Dunn was down three times in the fourth and twice in round five before referee Herbert Tomser had seen enough at 2-05 of the session.
Dunn takes up the story: “It was a terrific night and one of the very best of my life. I enjoyed everything about it – it was exhilarating, it was exciting. The only thing is I came second, but so what. I didn’t go into the ring thinking that I’d lose, even if it was at the very back of my mind a little bit. I went with every intention of winning the fight.
It was all level after three rounds but it quickly went downhill after that! I’m a southpaw so I think it took him a round or two to find his range but once he did, he just took me apart. Despite that, I enjoyed it.
Ali said I was better than George Foreman after the fight but that was certainly just his bravado of the time. He was a good fighter was Ali, the best I’ve ever seen and certainly the best I ever fought and, looking back, there was not a cat in hell’s chance of me winning – we were at different skill levels. My best chance – what I was hoping for – was to catch him unawares. But he was always in command, despite trying my hardest. He was a much better fighter than I was.
He was classy, he was brilliant and I loved the man. I still do.”
