Jürgen Blin
Jürgen Blin (born 7 April 1943) is a German boxer. He is best known for fighting Muhammad Ali on 26 December 1971, being knocked out in the seventh round.
Born in Fehmarn and residing in Hamburg, he represented West Germany. Blin's record in the ring was 30-12-6 with eight knockouts.[1] He was greatly admired by German boxing fans for his toughness and stamina in the ring. He was briefly heavyweight champion of Germany after beating Gerhard Zech (he had two draws with him previously).
His first professional bout came against Klaus Krüger in October 1964. Blin won this bout, as well as the next five bouts against domestic opponents, and lost his first professional bout in June 1965 to Ray Patterson in Jordal Amfi.[1]
Blin lost a decision to Joe Bugner in May 1971 when fighting for the European heavyweight title. Blin later won the title in June 1972, his greatest triumph in the ring, when he beat Jose Urtain (who had beaten Blin for the same title in June 1970). However, in October 1972, Blin once again faced Bugner who retained the title by knocking the German out in the eighth round.[1]
The bout against Muhammad Ali happened on 26 December 1971 in Hallenstadion Arena, Zürich. Blin was knocked out 2 minutes and 12 seconds into the seventh round.[1] In 2002, Blin collaborated with author Stephen Brunt on a book called Facing Ali. He said that fighting Ali was the greatest honour of his life.
Professional boxing record
| 30 Wins (8 knockouts, 22 decisions), 12 Losses (4 knockouts, 8 decisions), 6 Draws [2] | |||||||
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Location | Notes |
| Loss | 24-1 |  Ron Lyle |
TKO | 2 | 04/10/1973 | Denver, Colorado |
Referee stopped the bout at 1:01 of the second round. |
| Win | 0-9 |  Danny Machado |
TKO | 7 | 03/02/1973 |  Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein |
|
| Loss | 39-4-1 |  Joe Bugner |
KO | 8 | 10/10/1972 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London |
EBU Heavyweight Title. |
| Win | 39-4-2 |  Jose Manuel Urtain |
PTS | 15 | 09/06/1972 | Madrid |
EBU Heavyweight Title. 73-68, 72-70, 71-67. |
| Win | 21-13-1 |  Charles E. Chase |
KO | 5 | 05/05/1972 | Hamburg |
|
| Loss | 33-1 | Muhammad Ali |
KO | 7 | 26 December 1971 |  Hallenstadion, Zürich |
Blin knocked out at 2:12 of the seventh round. |
| Win | 18-20-4 | George "Scrap Iron" Johnson |
TKO | 2 | 01/10/1971 | Hamburg |
|
| Loss | 32-2-1 | Joe Bugner |
SD | 15 | 11/05/1971 | Empire Pool, Wembley, London |
EBU Heavyweight Title. 69-70, 70-67, 71-73. |
| Win | 24-14-3 |  Manuel "Pulgarcito" Ramos |
PTS | 10 | 02/04/1971 | Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia |
|
| Win | 21-22 |  Roberto Davila |
PTS | 10 | 26 February 1971 | Hamburg |
|
| Win | 7-7-2 |  Vasco Faustino |
PTS | 8 | 05/02/1971 | Frankfurt, Hesse |
|
| Win | 13-16-3 | Charley Polite |
PTS | 10 | 02/01/1971 | Wiesbaden, Hesse |
|
| Win | 7-6 | Sylvester Dullaire |
KO | 8 | 17 November 1970 | Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia |
|
| Win | 10-7-3 | Billy Joiner |
PTS | 10 | 09/10/1970 | Hamburg |
|
| Loss | 30-0 | Jose Manuel Urtain |
PTS | 15 | 22 June 1970 | Barcelona, Catalonia |
EBU Heavyweight Title. |
| Win | 23-8-4 | Ray Patterson |
PTS | 10 | 13 February 1970 | Ernst Merck Halle, Mitte, Berlin |
|
| Win | 30-9-6 | Wilhelm Von Homburg |
PTS | 10 | 12/12/1969 | Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia |
|
| Win | 33-9-3 | Gerhard Zech |
PTS | 10 | 21 November 1969 | Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg |
|
| Win | 17-17-3 | David E. Bailey |
PTS | 10 | 12/09/1969 | Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg |
|
| Win | 41-13-5 | Giulio Rinaldi |
PTS | 10 | 29 May 1969 | Grugahalle, Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia |
|
| Draw | 3-2-1 |  Macan Keita |
PTS | 8 | 29 November 1968 | Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse |
|
| Loss | 20-3-2 | Peter Weiland |
PTS | 10 | 01/11/1968 | Ostseehalle, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein |
Germany BDB Heavyweight Title. |
| Loss | 32-6-5 | Piero Tomasoni |
DQ | 2 | 29 September 1968 | Brescia, Lombardy |
EBU Heavyweight Title Eliminator. |
| Win | 33-7-3 | Gerhard Zech |
PTS | 12 | 11/05/1968 | Deutschlandhalle, Charlottenburg, Berlin |
Germany BDB Heavyweight Title. |
| Win | 15-12-3 |  Lloyd Walford |
PTS | 8 | 08/03/1968 | Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia |
|
| Win | 22-11-3 |  Renato Moraes |
PTS | 10 | 17 February 1968 | Deutschlandhalle, Charlottenburg, Berlin |
|
| Win | 18-3 | Giuseppe Ros |
PTS | 8 | 15 December 1967 | Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia |
|
| Loss | 33-3-3 | Piero Del Papa |
PTS | 10 | 11/11/1967 | Deutschlandhalle, Charlottenburg, Berlin |
|
| Draw | 19-11-3 |  Jose Menno |
PTS | 8 | 08/09/1967 | Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia |
|
| Win | 16-11-3 |  Ivan Prebeg |
KO | 5 | 28 April 1967 | Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia |
|
| Draw | 32-6-2 | Gerhard Zech |
PTS | 12 | 24 February 1967 | Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia |
Germany BDB Heavyweight Title. |
| Draw | 32-6-1 | Gerhard Zech |
PTS | 12 | 18 November 1966 | Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia |
Germany BDB Heavyweight Title. |
| Loss | 6-0-2 | Giulio Saraudi |
PTS | 8 | 23 September 1966 | Palazzetto dello Sport, Rome, Lazio |
|
| Draw | 40-9-3 | Giulio Rinaldi |
PTS | 10 | 02/09/1966 | Mungersdorfer Stadion, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia |
|
| Win | 18-15-6 | Ossi Buettner |
KO | 8 | 15 June 1966 | Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse |
|
| Win | 6-5-1 | Roland Graetz |
PTS | 6 | 14 May 1966 | Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia |
|
| Win | 10-27-2 | .svg.png){kind=small} Andre Wyns |
PTS | 6 | 15 April 1966 | Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg |
|
| Draw | 1-0 |  Raimo Nisula |
PTS | 8 | 18 March 1966 |  Masshallen, Gothenburg |
|
| Loss | 8-8-2 |  Joseph Juvillier |
PTS | 8 | 02/12/1965 | Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia |
|
| Loss | 46-25-6 |  Wim Snoek |
RTD | 6 | 16 October 1965 | Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia |
|
| Win | 10-10-4 | Willem Bomber |
PTS | 6 | 10/09/1965 | Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg |
|
| Loss | 10-2 | Ray Patterson |
PTS | 6 | 21 June 1965 |  Jordal Amfi, Oslo |
|
| Win | 7-10-2 | Valere Mahau |
PTS | 4 | 09/04/1965 | Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg |
|
| Win | 0-1 | Manfred Schlesinger |
PTS | 6 | 27 March 1965 | Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia |
|
| Win | 3-1 | Danilo Zoratti |
KO | 3 | 30 January 1965 | Stadthalle Bremen, Bremen |
|
| Win | 1-6-1 |  Friedrich Mayr |
KO | 1 | 16 January 1965 | Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia |
|
| Win | 1-7 | Manfred Ackers |
PTS | 4 | 05/12/1964 | Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia |
|
| Win | -- | Klaus Krueger |
PTS | 4 | 16 October 1964 | Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia |
|