Title Reign
In his only successful title defense, Ellis defeated Floyd Patterson by a controversial fifteen-round decision on September 14, 1968 in Stockholm, Sweden. Many in the crowd of 30,000 disagreed with the decision and started chanting, "Floyd champ!" The New York Times scored the fight seven rounds to six for Ellis, with two even. Ellis left the match bloodied with a broken nose.
Following the defeat of Patterson, Ellis was out of the ring for seventeen months. He was going to fight Henry Cooper in the United Kingdom, but Cooper was injured and pulled out of the fight. In his biography, Cooper alleges the British Boxing Board of Control blocked the match but the reason is unclear. Ellis then planned to fight Bob Cleroux in Montreal, but Cleroux lost what was supposed to be a tune-up fight against the lightly regarded Billy Joiner. Finally, Ellis was going to fight Gregorio Peralta in Argentina, but promoters canceled the fight 24 hours before it was to take place because of poor ticket sales.
On February 16, 1970, Ellis fought Frazier to unify the World Heavyweight Championship. Predictions were split, but Frazier proved too strong and powerful. The undefeated Frazier knocked Ellis down twice in the fourth round, and Dundee stopped the fight before the start of the fifth round. It was the first knockout loss for Ellis.
Read more about this topic: Jimmy Ellis
Famous quotes containing the words title and/or reign:
“Greatness is a light-hearted title for theatrical entertainments. Or a definition endowed on men too long dead to know that it’s been awarded.”
—Arthur Ross. Leslie (Tony Curtis)
“See how peaceful it is here. The sea is everything. An immense reservoir of nature where I roam at will.... Think of it. On the surface there is hunger and fear. Men still exercise unjust laws. They fight, tear one another to pieces. A mere few feet beneath the waves their reign ceases, their evil drowns. Here on the ocean floor is the only independence. Here I am free.”
—Earl Felton, and Richard Fleischer. Captain Nemo (James Mason)