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A t a press conference in January 1966, Muhammad Ali announced that he had formed Main Bout Inc., a new corporation that would manage the ancillary promotional rights to his fights, including all live and delayed broadcasts, starting with a multi-million-dollar March 29 match, hopefully in Chicago, against top contender Ernie Terrell. “I am vitally interested in the company,” he said, “and in seeing that it will be one in which Negroes are not used as fronts, but as stockholders, officers, and production and promotion agents.” Although racially integrated, Main Bout was controlled by the Nation of Islam (NOI) and built upon its philosophy of economic nationalism. The NOI’s command of the most lucrative prize in boxing , the world heavyweight championship, sent shock waves throughout the sport that quickly marshaled into a fierce resistance against Ali.1 From the beginning, the corporation faced criticism, initially from white sportswriters. But about a month after Main Bout’s formation, Ali’s draft status changed to 1-A, meaning that he had become eligible for military service, possibly in Vietnam. Ali responded by publicly opposing the war, and politicians nationwide joined the press in attacking Main Bout. The political controversy surrounding Ali made it easier for Main Bout’s competitors within boxing—rival promoters, closed-circuit-television theater chains, and organized crime—to run the organization out of business. Money and politics underpinned opposition to Main Bout, but we must also consider the organization’s symbolic value and the moral implications of its success or failure. Main Bout Inc. How Commerce Affects Culture 94 Nation of Islam Ali’s boxing career was financially viable prior to 1966. Although his bouts against Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson did not achieve their full economic potential, they produced solid gates that indicated Ali’s popularity among certain segments of society, as well as the willingness of his detractors to pay to see him lose. The cultural antipathy resulting from Ali’s bombast and membership in the NOI had an effect on his moneymaking ability, but not a dramatic one. Under the banner of the Louisville Sponsoring Group (LSG), against two of the biggest stars of the era, Ali parlayed bad-guy status into box-office success. Many people despised Ali, but they did not boycott him. Ali’s three previous bouts, the first of his championship career, had all been lucrative. His last match before forming Main Bout, against Patterson in November 1965, grossed approximately $3.5 million, most of which came from the 210 closed-circuit-television venues screening the match. Nearly 260 locations, with a seating capacity of over a million, had broadcast the May 1965 Ali-Liston rematch, producing a gate of over $4 million. Similar totals resulted from the first Ali-Liston contest. Ali’s purses reflected these promotional successes. He earned about $750,000 against Patterson and about $600,000 for each of the matches against Liston. He may have been disliked, but he was still the biggest draw in the sport.2 The combination of Main Bout’s takeover of the ancillary rights to his matches and the champion’s subsequent opposition to the Vietnam War, however , nearly halted his boxing career. Already unpopular, Ali was unable to withstand these twin assaults on his cultural image and the commercial intrigue surrounding his fights. They resulted in a determined backlash that led to a boycott of the Terrell bout and prevented him from boxing in the United States for almost a year. The reaction illustrated the relationship between Ali’s economic power as the world heavyweight champion and his symbolic significance as a race man; he demonstrated unprecedented professional, political , and personal autonomy for a black athlete by forming Main Bout and challenging the draft. While Ali’s bravado and association with the NOI had not previously crippled him at the box office, his forming Main Bout and coming out against the war were a different story. Ali’s draft resistance was at the heart of the tidal wave of hostility toward him during this period, but it is also crucial to consider the significance of Main Bout in this development. Ali’s disassociation with the LSG and the corresponding fear that his boxing matches would produce millions of dollars for the NOI were factors that accelerated and intensified the breakdown of his cultural image and commercial viability. Ali’s outcries against the Vietnam War caused his levee of moral authority, previously girded by his clean lifestyle and...

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