Yahoo Sport 
Listen now: History of the Heavyweight Championship, 1966
Welcome to the history of the heavyweight championship of the world.
Yahoo Sport will release a podcast led by legend Steve Bunce for each year of the golden age of boxing; the 1960s.
LISTEN: History of the heavyweight championship – Episode five
LISTEN: History of the heavyweight championship – Episode six
This podcast covers 1966. With the heavyweight titles split between Muhammad Ali and Ernie Terrell, there was a unification fight to arrange.
The match-up was scheduled for March, but in February Ali was called up to fight in the Vietnam War. Ali’s response: “Man, I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong.”
LISTEN: History of the heavyweight championship – Episode three
LISTEN: History of the heavyweight championship – Episode four
A boycott of Ali ensued, and instead a fight was arranged in Toronto. George Chuvalo was to be his opponent. Chuvalo took Ali 15 rounds.
From Canada, Ali went to London to fight Henry Cooper, away from US political strife, before taking on Blackpool’s Brian London, immune to Ali’s jibes: “He can’t insult me, I’m too ignorant.”
LISTEN: History of the heavyweight championship – Episode one
LISTEN: History of the heavyweight championship – Episode two
It was only the start of Ali’s European tour.
Listen to Yahoo Sport’s History of the Heavyweight Championship podcast with Steve Bunce, available on iOS or Android.
