In April 1975, at a reception held in the United States, Muhammad Ali was introduced to Ichiro Hatta, president of the Japanese Amateur Wrestling Association.

This flippant remark made headlines in Japan, and Ali's challenge was accepted by Inoki, whose financial backers offered the boxer $6 million for the fight.

[1] The Associated Press prefaced a report by its correspondent John Roderick written on the eve of the fight by describing it as "...what is called by some the world's first Martial Arts Championship — and by others a multi-million-dollar sham".

In New York, pro-wrestling promoter Vince McMahon, Sr. sold tickets to a closed-circuit telecast of the fight at Shea Stadium, and drew a crowd of 32,897.

At Showdown at Shea, the Ali and Inoki fight would be the main event on a card that also featured wrestler André the Giant vs. boxer Chuck Wepner.

Inoki initially responded to Ali's 'challenge' to having a bare-knuckle match in a letter to Angelo Dundee and promoter Don King in early June, 1975.

Both parties agreed to a KO or submission in order to recognize the victor, with Ali wearing boxing gloves and Inoki fighting barehanded.

The rule stipulations were made public by New Japan Pro-Wrestling on May 25, 1976 and an amended version reflecting Ali's additional demands on June 23.

[12] Professional wrestler Bret Hart, who started touring Japan in 1980, claimed in his 2008 autobiography that "the black Muslims who were backing Ali made it clear that if Inoki laid a finger on their champ, they would kill him.

Ali taunted Inoki to stand up, but the wrestler answered by continuing his kicking strategy, connecting with a few of them until the end of the round.

[17] The second and third rounds unfolded the same way, with Inoki taking refuge from possible punches on the mat and kicking the legs of an infuriated Ali.

By the third round, a wound had appeared on Ali's left knee, and the crowd had started to boo at the lack of solid action.

"[17] In the fourth round, Inoki missed a jumping side kick but, still on his back, crawled towards Ali, trapping him in a corner.

Inoki eventually trapped him again in a corner and started kicking wildly at his thighs, prompting Ali to leap up on to the ropes and tuck his legs underneath him in an attempt to avoid the strikes.

[17] The fifth round followed closely the already familiar pattern of the match, with Inoki landing kicks from his back and Ali looking for ways to counter it.

Upon recovering and dancing around to avoid more hits, the boxer managed to grab Inoki's boot and drag him a short distance, but the bell sounded before anything could follow up.

Ali's legs were already bruised and bleeding due to the accumulated kicks, the sight of which finally drew some appreciation from the crowd after the round ended.

Knowing his chance had waned, Inoki still threw a back elbow strike to Ali's face while action was being stopped, gaining a warning and a point deducted by LeBell due to the boxer's protests.

Meanwhile, Dundee went over to the Japanese corner and talked to Gotch, claiming that one of Inoki's brass eyelets had come loose from his boot and was cutting Ali's legs.

[17] In the tenth, Ali threw his second punch, landing a jab in Inoki's face, but the execution of the move left his leg open to another kick.

The rest of the round went without new events, so the crowd was now solidly against Inoki, despite Ali engaging in increasingly worried talks with his team.

As suggested by his cornerman Rhee, a taekwondo expert, Ali would try to block Inoki's kicks with his gloves and arms in order to protect his leg.

The boxer's blocks were relatively successful, but Inoki had continued to land kicks, and Ali's corner was forced to tend his leg again.

Ali's corner told him to capitalize and attack Inoki, but the latter immediately returned to safe ground, impeding further action.

Restarting the bout, Inoki threw a tentative low kick, but Ali responded by firing and connecting two jabs, forcing him to go to the canvas as usual.

[17] The result meant no one had to lose face; Inoki could claim he would have won had it not been for the penalties, whereas Ali could defend himself by saying his opponent had cheated.

Donn Draeger said of the response: "The Budokan janitorial people took almost a full day to clean up the garbage that was hurled at the two 'combatants' as the result of their lousy performance".

In 1986, Spinks would also fight and lose to Inoki in the eighth round of a match for the WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship.

Ali flew out from the United States to watch Inoki win his final match against Don "The Predator" Frye.

Antonio Inoki and I put our best efforts into making world peace through sports, to prove there is only one mankind beyond the sexual, ethnical [sic] or cultural differences.