Ellis went with Hall to Louisville's Columbia Gym, where the coach was a police officer named Joe Martin.

His five losses were decisions to top Middleweight contenders Holly Mims (whom he defeated in a rematch), Henry Hank, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, Don Fullmer, and George Benton.

"[6] Ellis wrote a letter to an at first skeptical[7] Angelo Dundee, the trainer of Ali, and asked him to handle his career.

Instead, Frazier fought for the vacant New York State Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Championship, which he won with an eleventh-round knockout of Buster Mathis.

In the opening round of the tournament, Ellis fought Leotis Martin on August 5, 1967, in Houston, Texas.

Ellis, the betting underdog, battered Martin's face into a bloody mask, and the referee stopped the fight in the ninth round.

[10] In the tournament final, Ellis faced Jerry Quarry, a slight betting favorite, on April 27, 1968, in Oakland, California.

"[14][15] In his only successful title defense, Ellis defeated Floyd Patterson by a controversial 15-round decision on September 14, 1968, in Stockholm, Sweden.

Ellis, who suffered a broken nose in the second round, was awarded the decision by the referee, the sole judge.

[18][19] On February 16, 1970, Ellis fought Joe Frazier to unify the World Heavyweight Championship at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Ali accepted the arrangement and got Harry Wiley, who had worked with Henry Armstrong and Sugar Ray Robinson, to be his trainer for the Ellis fight.

Ellis, ranked fourth by the WBA, stunned Shavers in the first round with a chopping right to the jaw and backed him into a corner.

After the referee separated the fighters, Shavers put Ellis down for the count with a powerful single right uppercut to the chin.

[23] Ellis came back with a knockout win against club fighter Memphis Al Jones, but with his skills in decline, he went winless in his next five fights.

Ellis trained at the Golden Bowl Gym in Camberwell, Melbourne, with martial arts 4th Dan Gerry Scaife.

With Ellis bloody and battered, Angelo Dundee signaled for referee Bob Foster to stop the fight in the ninth round.

'[25] Brother Jeff gave a tribute on his death saying " He was someone you could model yourself on"[26] Ellis was a reserved family man who shunned flash although had a determined competitive streak in boxing.

[29][30] Ellis died in Louisville Baptist Hospital, Kentucky at the age of 74 from complications of dementia on May 6, 2014, 39 years exactly after his last boxing match.

[31] His funeral was held on 12 May, 2014, at Louisville's Canaan Christian Church and he was buried in Green Meadows Memorial Cemetery.

[33] His son Jeff played professional football and confirmed the family were always immensely proud of Ellis's achievements and his World Title.

[35] His younger brother Jerry, who had trained with Ellis, commented that he avoided watching boxing in his later years as he had seen too many people damaged by it.