Muhammad Ali vs Karl Mildenberger

Muhammad Ali made the sixth defence of his world heavyweight championship against Karl Mildenberger at Frankfurt’s Waldstadion on September 10, 1966, before an estimated crowd of between 40,000 and 45,000. It was the first world heavyweight title contest staged in Germany. Ali, recognised as champion by the World Boxing Council, the New York State Athletic Commission and The Ring, entered with a record of 25 victories and no defeats. He weighed 204 pounds, nine more than the challenger, and was a 10-to-1 favourite. Mildenberger, the European champion, had won 49 of 54 contests and was the first southpaw to challenge for the heavyweight championship. Former champions Joe Louis, Max Schmeling and Ingemar Johansson were introduced before the bout, which was fought in six-ounce British gloves.

Ali had already defeated George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper and Brian London during a busy year, but Mildenberger presented him with a problem not encountered in those defences. The German stood with his right hand and foot forward, moved steadily after the champion and directed his left to the body whenever Ali raised his hands or leaned away. Ali was cautious in the opening rounds. His jab was quick, but he did not release the right hand with his usual freedom, and Mildenberger occasionally reached him with the straight left. Encouraged by this success, the challenger pressed forward while the crowd repeatedly called his name. Ali remained on the outside, moving to his left and trying to place his lead foot beyond Mildenberger’s right, but he was struck often enough to show that the unfamiliar stance required adjustment.

The champion began to find the proper range in the third and fourth rounds. Instead of retreating in a straight line, he stepped around Mildenberger’s lead shoulder and brought the right across the German’s jab. Mildenberger continued to advance, but his attacks were increasingly met by Ali’s jab or by short combinations delivered before the challenger could set his feet. Ali also struck while moving away, forcing Mildenberger to reset before starting another attack. The German remained competitive and continued to land his left to the body, but the cleaner punches were now coming from the champion.

Ali scored the first knockdown in the fifth round. Mildenberger was caught as he came forward and went down under a rapid series of punches. He rose and returned to the attack, but the fall established Ali’s control and showed the danger of following the champion without sufficient head movement. In the sixth, Mildenberger suffered a serious cut around the left eye. Ali repeatedly drove the jab into the damaged area and followed it with the right hand. The challenger’s face became bloodied, yet he did not withdraw into defence. He continued to seek Ali’s body and attempted to crowd him near the ropes, where the champion had less room to escape.

By the eighth round, Mildenberger’s left eye was badly swollen and close to shutting. Ali dropped him for a second time and then resumed his measured attack when the German regained his feet. He did not throw without restraint, preferring to draw Mildenberger forward and strike between the challenger’s wider punches. Mildenberger’s courage kept him in the contest, and he remained dangerous with the left hand, but his vision and timing were deteriorating. Blood was now coming from cuts around both eyes, and Ali was able to land the right with increasing regularity.

The tenth round contained one of Mildenberger’s better moments. He drove a hard left into Ali’s body and briefly checked the champion’s movement. Ali later acknowledged the effectiveness of the German’s body punching, but the success brought no sustained change in the contest. Ali answered with speed and accuracy, putting Mildenberger down for the third time. The challenger rose once more and continued forward, although his punches had lost much of their force. Ali’s face remained largely unmarked, while Mildenberger’s injuries were plainly visible and required close attention between rounds.

Mildenberger survived the eleventh through determination and continued to throw whenever Ali paused, but he could no longer avoid the jab or see the right hand clearly. In the twelfth, Ali drove him towards the ropes and struck with both hands. Mildenberger attempted to cover himself, but he was no longer returning effective punches. With the German standing helpless under a succession of clean blows, referee Teddy Waltham stepped between the fighters. The official time was recorded as 1 minute 30 seconds of the twelfth round, although some contemporary accounts gave it as 1:28.

There was no dispute over the result. At the stoppage, Waltham had Ali leading by seven rounds to two, with two even, while judges Felix Ohlert and Nat Fleischer each had the champion ahead by seven rounds to three, with one even. The Associated Press scored it nine rounds to one for Ali, with one even. Mildenberger at first objected to the intervention but soon accepted that the referee had acted properly. Ali described him as his most difficult championship challenger to that point. The German’s southpaw attack and persistent work to the body had caused difficulties, particularly in the early rounds, but Ali’s adjustment of distance and angle, followed by the repeated right hands which damaged Mildenberger’s face, decided the contest.

I’ve always thought Mildenberger gave Ali a more awkward night than people remember. Because when fans talk about Ali in the 1960s, they jump straight to Liston, Patterson, Cooper, Cleveland Williams. But Karl Mildenberger was a problem for stretches in Frankfurt. Not because he was better than Ali, he clearly wasn’t, but because southpaws make great fighters think differently, and Mildenberger was the first left-hander to fight for the world heavyweight title.

Ali did not look comfortable early. Mildenberger was neat, brave, and he kept sneaking that straight left through the middle. He also went to the body, which is something more fighters should have done to Ali when he was bouncing around with those fast feet and low hands. You could see Ali getting irritated, and that tells you Mildenberger was doing something right.

But here is the difference between making Ali uncomfortable and actually beating him. Mildenberger had moments; Ali had gears. Once the champion started timing him, the class gap opened. He dropped him, marked him up, and by the late rounds, Mildenberger was brave but getting broken down. His face was a mess, and Teddy Waltham was right to stop it in the twelfth.

I give Mildenberger full credit. He was not a no-hoper, and he earned Ali’s respect the hard way. But Ali was too fast, too spiteful when annoyed, and too adaptable. That was the lesson. You could puzzle him for a while, but solving him over 15 rounds was a different business altogether.