Episode 14 - Muhammad Ali, Antonio Inoki, & Fighting

Put up your dukes! Because today we’re talking about the science of fighting, how humans were evolution-built to bust heads, and a few practical time-honored tips to win a streetfight.

The strangest, most awkward, and most shameful fight in modern history, might have also been the most formative in the world of organized sports, and very nearly cost Muhammad Ali his boxing career. That’s right, today we’re talking about the “War of the Worlds” fight that occurred in Japan in 1976, where a wrestler tried to butt-scoot and spam-kick his way to victory against Muhammad Ali.

And when we’re not busy laughing about the awkward match between Ali and Inoki, we’ll talk about the practical side of boxing and martial arts, the evolution of the human hand for punching, and why it seems like kids are getting weaker with every generation. And if you stick around to the end, we’ll reveal which parts of the US it’s legal to engage in “mutual combat”...with a lot of warnings and caveats.

History Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzm2qveUi54
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali_vs._Antonio_Inoki#Rounds_11%E2%80%9315

Science Links:
https://jeb.biologists.org/content/218/20/3215
https://www.livescience.com/46216-male-faces-evolved-for-fighting.html
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2014/06/10/our-skulls-didnt-evolve-to-be-punched/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-domestication
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/12/early-humans-domesticated-themselves-new-genetic-evidence-suggests
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/exercise.htm
https://www.wikihow.com/Win-a-Fight-in-Under-30-Seconds