the day Mohamed Ali was in Switzerland

The greatest boxer of all time arrived in Zurich at the end of 1971 to face the German Jürgen Blin at the Hallenstadion. But everything didn't go as planned.

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The champion wears a leather jacket and worn boots. He walks down the stairs of the Atlantis Sheraton Hotel on Christmas Day. In the reception hall, Eric Bachmann, photographer on assignment for the magazine She+Hewaiting for him. He wants to accompany Mohamed Ali during his morning training. Surprisingly, the big mouth of boxing turns out to be simple. “Ali was friendly, not at all arrogant,” Bachmann recalls.

Ali then fled to the snowy slopes of Üetliberg, accompanied by Eric Bachmann. The photographer gives it his all and immortalizes every moment. The photos then gathered dust in his personal archives for decades. It is now possible to admire them in the illustrated book Muhammad Ali, Zurich, December 26, 1971.

Of whisky stake

How did the boxing legend end up fighting in Switzerland? The story is similar to a detective novel. The starting point: a bet at the Playboy Bar in Zurich. Promoter Hansruedi Jaggi plays a bottle of Ballantine's with the journalist from Blick Jack Stark. He is certain of being able to bring Cassius Clay, then Mohamed Ali, to Zurich.

Boxer Jürgen Blin (center) poses with his manager Fritz Wiene (left) and Hansruedi Jaggi (right).image: keystone

Jaggi, 30 years old, is no more than 1m60 tall. His silhouette is nevertheless imposing. Coming from a modest background, he made a name for himself by organizing two legendary concerts. That of the Rolling Stones at the Hallenstadion in 1967, when the fans revolted and destroyed everything, and that of Jimi Hendrix in the same place, shortly before the Globus riot, the Zurich episode of the events of 1968.

Signing Ali was no easy feat. It was only through Jaggi's friend, Rock Brynner, son of star Yul Brynner of Swiss origins, that the project came to fruition. The boxer then found himself at a difficult moment in his career. He is coming off a suspension of several years following his refusal to serve in the American army and lost the “fight of the century” against world champion Joe Frazier in March.

Feet in the snow

On December 15, 1971, the champion and his family arrived in Kloten with around fifty people, before heading to Zurich. As previously mentioned, he based himself at the Atlantis Sheraton, but trained at the Limmathaus Hotel, where a boxing ring was installed in the theater. Shortly after arriving in town, he spontaneously decided to buy shoes to replace his old, worn-out boots.

The boxer and his trainer Angelo Dundee go to the “Schönbächler” store on Langstrasse. There is only one pair of shoes that is available in size 47. A beige model from the Raichle brand, now Mammut. He buys them with a hat or rather takes them with him. Mohammed Ali has no money on him. The Ringier house, which exclusively prints Bachmann's photos, will be responsible for paying the bill a little later.

Nobody wants combat

Money is actually a real subject. Promoter Hansruedi Jaggi was mocked for his bet. When the arrival of Mohamed Ali looms, everyone becomes enthusiastic. But ultimately the recipes are not there. Jaggi wants to market the athlete and make him an advertising medium.

The figures are not much better on the TV rights side. Ali's opponent, Jürgen Blin, is nobody in the United States. This is why no American broadcaster wants to broadcast the fight. Same thing in Germany. The channels do not want to offer their audience boxing on Boxing Day. Swiss television apologizes by saying that it does not have the necessary resources because of the Spengler Cup in Davos. In the end, only the private British channel ITV will broadcast the fight live, spending barely 11,000 pounds.

The fight between Ali and Blin was one-sided. Victory by KO for the American.Image: PHOTOPRESS-ARCHIV

Ticket sales were also a failure. On the evening of Sunday, December 26, sports stars such as Bernhard Russi, Clay Regazzoni, Ferdi Kübler and Ruedi Hunsperger are seated near the ring. TV presenter Mäni Weber presents the fight.

Catastrophe financial

As expected, the fight is one-sided. Jürgen Blin tries to compensate for his inferiority with dazzling attacks. Ali lets the punches bounce off him. And when Blin is exhausted, in the seventh round, the champion sends him flying onto the boards.

After his appearance in Zurich, which was only a formality for him, Mohamed Ali continued to achieve new successes. He would later become a double world champion. But for Hansruedi Jaggi, his “crazy idea” ended in financial disaster. The loss of 800,000 francs is much greater than what was feared. He only got through it thanks to the German industrialist and boxing fan Bernd Grohe who discreetly paid off the debts.

Ali ended the fight in the 7th round.
Image: KEYSTONE

This adventure and many other episodes are recounted in the biography of Hansruedi Jaggi, who died in 2000 at the age of 59 from incurable muscular paralysis. However, the book written by journalist Eugen Sorg was never published. The rights were held by the widow of the late Jaggi and she always opposed the release.

The situation is also confusing with the 45-minute documentary entitled The Baddest Daddy in the Whole Worldshot by filmmaker Ernst Bertschi during Mohamed Ali's stay in Zurich. The work was well presented to a small group of guests. But public screenings are impossible, because no one really knows who owns the rights.