Why are they boxing and not wrestling?
A novelty bout. Also, neither of them can box for shit (or are, apparently, intended to).
It’s a common “specialty” match used in professional wressling over the years. You need to spice things up from time to time.
I can’t say that this is why, but back in the 70s when Ali was heavyweight champion, he did a few promotional bouts and I’m guessing that this may have been related.
About a year before this bout, Ali “fought” Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki. I was about 14 or 15 at the time, and watched it on closed circuit from Shea Stadium. There were a bunch of preliminary wrestling and boxer vs. wrestler matches. That very night, I saw Andre the Giant vs. Chuck Wepner. It was a total farce, and a lot of fun (Gorilla Monsoon ended up storming into the ring!).
That’s the kind of silly fun I was HOPING Ali and Inoki would deliver. Instead, that was the ONLY match of the night that was no fun at all. For 15 rounds, Ali danced around the ring, while Inoki bounced around on his butt making half-hearted, ineffectual leg sweeps. At the end of 15 rounds, Ali hadn’t even TRIED to land a single punch, and Inoki did absolutely nothing except leave a few scrapes on the back of Ali’s calves.
FWIW, the referee in the “boxing” video is Jersey Joe Walcott, a/k/a Arnold Cream, who was legitimately world heavyweight boxing champion between Ezzard Charles and Rocky Marciano.
Also, FWIW, Ali was admitted to the hospital after his bout with Inoki, suffering from muscle damage in his legs. There is considerable controversy about the match, but I heard that it was supposed to be a work but when Ali arrived in Japan, he realized that Inoki was planning to cross him and actually fight. So Ali refused the match until the rules were changed so he could force a break by touching the ropes. Hence fifteen rounds of boredom.
Refereee in the match was Gene LeBell, two-time US national judo champion and well-known grappling instructor.
Regards,
Shodan