[2][3][4] Prior to the fight, Ali claimed that he had been declared fit by "even the best white doctors.

"[3] Nevertheless, the venue for the fight—Nassau in the Bahamas—was chosen because no American state would grant Ali a boxing license after his performance in the match with Larry Holmes.

[3] The promoter of this fight was James Cornelius, a convicted felon with links to the Nation of Islam.

However, a problem arose since Don King had signed up Berbick for a three-fight deal.

[3] Ali had hoped to use this fight to earn a title bid against Mike Weaver the World Boxing Association Champ.

Ticket sales for the fight were so slow that the promoters ended up offering them at a heavy discounted price.

There was also no bell to signal the end of a round; ultimately a hastily procured cowbell had to be used for this purpose.

Because of the paucity of paying spectators Berbick refused to fight unless he was paid upfront.

In the early rounds, Ali tried putting together some combinations, but these proved ineffectual and he was pushed back on the ropes.

[3] Sportswriter Hugh McIlvanney, who witnessed the fight, wrote: Berbick is the kind of lumbering, slow-armed swinger [Ali] would have first embarrassed and then demolished in his dazzling prime...To see [Ali] lose to such a moderate fighter in such a grubby context was like watching a king riding into permanent exile on the back of a garbage truck.