Heritage Auctions sells Muhammad Ali's WBC Championship belt for $6.18 million

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, March 28, 2024


Heritage Auctions sells Muhammad Ali's WBC Championship belt for $6.18 million
Title belt awarded for 1974's historic Rumble in the Jungle added to Colts owner and philanthropist Jim Irsay's celebrated collection of American artifacts.



DALLAS, TX.- A heavyweight bout lasted well into Sunday morning. And when the final bell rang at Heritage Auctions, Indianapolis Colts owner and philanthropist Jim Irsay walked away with the championship belt — specifically, Muhammad Ali's World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight championship belt earned in his victory over George Foreman in 1974's legendary Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire.

The WBC belt realized $6,180,000, the highest price for a sports collectible sold at Heritage Auctions. It was offered alongside other historic Ali items in Heritage's July 21-23 Summer Sports Catalog Auction.

"After several hours of watching two bidders go back and forth over this belt, this proved to be a battle worthy of the Rumble itself," says Chris Ivy, Heritage's Director of Sports Auctions. "We're just thrilled this extraordinary piece of boxing history — of sports history, of cultural history — found such an exceptional caretaker who will now share it with the rest of the world."

Indeed, as Irsay tweeted Sunday morning, he will add the belt to his celebrated collection of historical and pop-culture artifacts currently touring the country. The belt will be displayed on August 2 at Chicago's Navy Pier and on Sept. 9 in Indianapolis. "Proud to be the steward!" Irsay tweeted.

Two Muhammad Ali World Boxing Council belts are known to exist, each presented retroactively to Ali in 1976 for his 1974 victory over Foreman. One of those belts remains in a private collection. The title belt sold Sunday, like so many of the most extraordinary Ali artifacts circulating the hobby today, was first acquired in 1988 when the contents of Ali's late boxing coach Drew "Bundini" Brown's storage lockers were sold at auction.

Heritage's catalog called this belt "arguably the most important boxing award ever made available at public auction," with good reason. Ali was drafted to fight in Vietnam but refused induction into the U.S. Armed Forces, insisting his religion forbade him from serving. Said Ali in April 1967, "I will not go 10,000 miles to help kill innocent people." The cost to Ali was enormous: He was stripped of his boxing license — and his World Boxing Association title.

The comeback fight with Foreman, which took place in Kinshasa, Zaire, on Oct. 30, 1974, was "arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th century," Grantland once noted. As documented in the Academy Award-winning 1996 film When We Were Kings, the event was a spectacle that began with a three-day music festival in September and concluded with Ali's eighth-round knockout of the man who entered the ring the overwhelming favorite.

The belt joins other Ali artifacts in Irsay's collection, including his 1965 walkout robe that first bore his new name, his shoes from the 1975 Thrilla in Manila vs. Joe Frazier and his fight-worn gloves from a 1966 title defense in Germany.










Today's News

July 27, 2022

Splitting T. Rex into 3 species becomes a dinosaur royal rumble

Almine Rech Shanghai opens Leelee Kimmel's second solo exhibition with the gallery

Kimbell Art Museum acquires rarely before seen painting by 19th century Austrian artist

Toledo Museum of Art acquires 27 works that broaden the narrative of art history

Antique quilts, Americana and folk art from the estate of Laura Fisher now open for bidding on iGavelAuctions.com

Phillips announces the New York selling exhibition, Arrangements in Black

Marianne Boesky Gallery and Paula Cooper Gallery announce that artist Jennifer Bartlett passed away

Exhibition spotlights work by key modern and contemporary artists

'Projekt Mkt' Vintage Poster Market returns to Peckham with unique vintage art from just £10

The Jackie Robinson Museum is about a lot more than baseball

Nigerian artist brings local perceptions to international stage

SeMA, Buk-Seoul Museum of Art presents Artland by Do Ho Suh and Children

Springfield Art Museum awarded $3 million In ARPA funding from city

New Orleans Museum of Art presents 'Picture Man: Portraits by Polo Silk'

Rediscovering Australia's Generation of Defiant Female Directors

Heritage Auctions sells Muhammad Ali's WBC Championship belt for $6.18 million

Sarah Faux joins Hales

Sacred Site at Olana by artist Diana Wege highlights intersection of art and environmental history

Going where the wind blows in Italy's Salento

Paul Sorvino: A voluble man who excelled as a brick of a mobster

1825 coin worth $4 million+ to be auctioned

Black portraits get new names, and a new show

Aldrin's space memorabilia sells for more than $8 million

A new commission by Devin Kenny launches on the Whitney Museum's Artport

Baccarat Strategy & Tips

The History of Slot Games

That Brand Put Cleaning Art on Water Flosser and Sonic Toothbrush.




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful