1972 Muhammad Ali Fight Worn Gloves from Floyd Patterson II Bout....

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Ali sends a battered former Champion into retirement

1972 Muhammad Ali Fight Worn Gloves from Floyd Patterson II Bout. They met for the first time in 1965, just six months after Ali had cemented his claim to the Heavyweight Championship with a first-round knockout in the Liston rematch, and then announced a new name and religion. While both fighters would claim it was a promotional ruse, the pair put on a convincing show of mutual disdain, Patterson refusing to call the Champion by his new name, and Ali choosing his own for Patterson--"Rabbit"--a suggestion that he was "scared like a rabbit." The bout had been a decidedly lopsided affair until the referee mercifully ended the beating in the twelfth.

But, as Ali himself would later illustrate, the heart of a fighter can sometimes be his own most dangerous enemy, and Patterson stepped through the ring ropes for what would prove to be the final time on September 20, 1972 in a bout that was more competitive than the one-sided assault he had suffered seven years earlier, but shorter nonetheless, stopped due to cuts after six rounds.

Presented are the "Everlast" brand eight-ounce gloves that sent Floyd Patterson into retirement, worn by Muhammad Ali in front of 17,378 fans at Madison Square Garden. Despite the tension, contrived or legitimate, that had existed between the two legends of the prize ring in their early battle, Ali was gracious in victory, telling reporters, "Patterson is a great, great fighter. I thought he'd be nothing, but he surprised me. I didn't knock him out. I didn't get him on a TKO. All I did was close his eye."

The gloves exhibit sweaty wear from the decisive victory, bearing a pair of Angelo Dundee notations at each interior wrist. Blue ink reports Dundee's pre-fight prediction: "Ali #1, KO 4," while black post-fight text states, "Patterson KO Sept 20/72." Each wrist label is likewise autographed by the legendary trainer, who likewise supplies a letter of provenance for the pair. Letter of provenance from Angelo Dundee. LOA from Heritage Auctions.

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