Opening Day Auction 2014
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/26/2014
Muhammad Ali made the grave mistake of overlooking Ken Norton in their 1973 heavyweight bout in San Diego and “The Greatest” suffered the consequences. Norton broke Ali’s jaw, and after 12 rounds, pulled off one of boxing’s biggest upsets by earning a split-decision victory and taking the NABF heavyweight title. This original program from the 1973 event features both Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton’s signatures in bold, gold Sharpie on the cover of the 17-page book. The cover reads “San Diego presents ‘The Fight’ Muhammad Ali vs Ken Norton.” A pair of boxing gloves appear below the title of the black-and-white program, one with an “X” made out of Band-Aids. A picture of Ali appears on the back cover of the program offering fans to watch Ali train leading up to the fight for $3. An interesting note is that Ali’s name is spelled wrong in the advertisement and appears as “Muhammed.” The signed program, which is in very good condition, is PSA/DNA certified with number “U05832.”