Muhammad Ali 204 lbs beatKarl Mildenberger 195 lbs by TKO at 1:30 in round 12 of 15

• Date: 1966-09-10
• Location: Waldstadion/Radrennbahn, Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany
• Referee:Teddy Waltham 7-2
• Judge:Nat Fleischer 8-3
• Judge:Felix Ohlert 6-2

Ali lands a right against Mildenberger

• World Heavyweight Title (6th defense by Ali)
• Program Cover

Notes

• On April 12, Ali's trainerAngelo Dundee stated that Mildenberger was in Ali's plans for the title defense.
• On April 16, shortly after signing to fightHenry Cooper, Ali publicly claimed "I'd like to go from London to Germany and make this title of mine a real world championship", hinting at Mildenberger who was by far the highest-ranked German contender at the time.
• Contracts signed on July 5.
• This was the first world heavyweight title bout ever held in Germany.
• Mildenberger was the first southpaw to fight for the World Heavyweight Title.
• Ali was a 10-1 favorite.
• There was a crowd of about 40,000.
• Introduced in the ring prior to the bout were former World Heavyweight ChampionsMax Schmeling,Joe Louis, andIngemar Johansson.
• Ali and Mildenberger wore six-ounce British gloves.
• Mildenberger's left eye was badly cut in the sixth round and almost completely closed by the eighth round.
• Mildenberger was knocked down in rounds five, eight, and ten.
• RefereeTeddy Waltham of Great Britain stopped the bout at 1:28 of the 12th round to protect Mildenberger from further punishment.
• The fight was scored by rounds. At the time of the stoppage, Referee Teddy Waltham had Ali ahead 7-2-2, and Judges Felix Ohlet andNat Fleischer (editor ofThe Ring magazine) each had Ali leading 7-3-1. The Associated Press had Ali in front 9-1-1.
• One of the promoters said Ali would collect a purse of about $300,000 and Mildenberger about $100,000 of the total gross of approximately $750,000 from the gate receipts and television.
• Questioned in 1973, Ali said that Mildenberger, notJoe Frazier, was his most difficult opponent to date.

Article

• "Clay Stops Mildenberger In 12th" Associated Press, September 11, 1966