Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Video- The Night Muhammad Ali Fought Dave Semenko

06/04/2016 at 5:58am EDT

from Joe Pelletier of Greatest Hockey Legends,

In the early 1980s the unofficial championship belt arguably belonged to Dave Semenko. The tough guy known as "Wayne Gretzky's bodyguard" was as big and strong and as feared as anyone on the rink.

So have you ever wondered what would happen if hockey's heavyweight champ got into a fight with boxing's heavyweight champ? Well that's exactly what happened on June 12th, 1983.

Some of the details about this three round exhibition are pretty sketchy. It turns out Mark Messier's uncle Larry was behind it all. He was always trying to promote something, and his idea of Hollywood celebrities playing the Oilers in a floor hockey match turned into a heavyweight battle between Semenko and Ali, who at 41 was just 5 years removed from his last title reign.

I turned to Semenko's excellent autobiography "Looking Out For Number One" and unearthed some more details, but I never did find out who won the fight. I've seen some online comments suggesting Semenko "acquitted himself nicely."

Semenko apparently trained quite hard for the event, training under Rocky Addison, a former Manitoba middleweight champion.

more

Watch the exhibiton bout below...

Create an Account

In order to leave a comment, please create an account.

About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

Email Paul anytime at [email protected]

Most Recent Posts

Most Recent Comments

Comment by bezukov in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Seider's Year - 5 minutes ago
Comment by damndogrevenge in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Same Lineup Tonight - 17 minutes ago
Comment by RWHockey13 in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Same Lineup Tonight - 32 minutes ago
Comment by TreKronor in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Seider's Year - 33 minutes ago
Comment by retrospecd in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Same Lineup Tonight - 33 minutes ago