Читать книгу Ali vs. Inoki. The Forgotten Fight That Inspired Mixed Martial Arts and Launched Sports Entertainment онлайн

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I really liked Ali’s nonchalant way of approaching a bout, so I did it as well when I was fighting. Training and competing would be the serious part, so why not have fun in between? Plus this way fans could also connect with me and see a “person” not just a “fighter,” because let’s face it, many people still perceive fighters as being angry all the time. I didn’t want to be as outspoken as Ali was, though. Just being colorful was enough for me.

During my time competing in Japan, the name “Antonio Inoki” was mentioned in a conversation on many occasions. Everybody I talked to told me that he was not only a great pro wrestler but had real fighting skills as well. And, of course, the match between him and Ali would always come up.

Pro wrestling in Japan is called puroresu—that’s just the way they say “pro wrestling”—and it’s considered a “strong style,” meaning they use real submission holds and prefer to connect with hard strikes or not at all.

Many great wrestlers like Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Karl Gotch, Masakatsu Funaki, and Minoru Suzuki are considered strong-style wrestlers. And all these guys tie into Inoki. Inoki was Fujiwara’s shisho (teacher). Fujiwara and Gotch were Funaki and Suzuki’s teachers.