He also took part in a number of style-vs.-style fights. In August 1976, he defeated Ivan Gomez in a vale tudo match in Brazil. He also faced pro wrestler Antonio Inoki on three occasions. However, his matches against Inoki are believed to have had a pre-determined outcome. Between 1976 and 1980, Ruska competed as a pro wrestler for the New Japan Pro Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation promotions. He had fourteen pro wrestling matches, in some of which he was the tag team partner of fellow judoka Allen Coage. In 2001 Ruska suffered a major stroke which left him physically disabled.

[Source: Wikipedia]

Judo aggressively attacks and defends major joints (knees, shoulders and so on), using triangular and circular movement. One “wins” either through submission -typically a shoulder lock/arm bar or choke hold- or through a really clean throw (ippon). Judo includes very little in the way of weapons except in self-defense training, and even there, attacks are typically stylized.

Meanwhile, Aikido attacks, and to a lesser extent, defends, minor joints -wrists, fingers, and so on-, using triangular and circular attacks on balance and overall body structures. These structures are often perceived rather than easily seen, and are described in Aikido as Ki and in art and engineering as tensegrity. In Aikido, one is not in theory competing, only practicing, but in practice, ego gets involved. In these cases, winning comes through pain compliance or a really clean throw. Aikido also includes some weapon, mostly stick and bokkuto. The attacks and defenses, though, are stylized, and generally used to teach principles rather than actual combative measures.

Pep continued his career with a staggering amount of victories at a championship level cementing the fact that he’s one of the best of all time. He won 73 fights in row which set an amazing boxing record. Willie Pep was an asset to the sport and his weight class. The middle and heavy weight classes made the most money and attendance. Pep changed that expectation eventually fighting before packed arenas. Setting boxing records from the start of his career until the end, William Pep is definitely one of the greatest pugilists of the century.

[Source: http://druhepkins.hubpages.com/]

There’s been a back and forth Marciano debate for decades. Some people call him the greatest. However, Marciano is never ranked high amongst the greatest by boxing analyst despite being undefeated. You’ll need to look no where else to understand why. His less than stellar rankings are primarily because the competition he faced wasn’t as strong as many of the other champions like Ali or Robinson. Ali and Robinson beat many other all time great Hall of Famers you might find on similar lists, and while these fighters were in their prime. Simply being undefeated can be easily nullified. Many of the boxing greats were also once undefeated boxers for long periods of time. Willie Pep was once 61-0. Sugar Ray Robinson was 85-0 as an amateur and once 40-0 as a pro. It’s only when these warriors fought other legends, took losses, and reasserted their dominance did people learn how good they were and earned their places in boxing history.

Most of the biggest names Marciano fought were passed their prime and weren’t great litmus tests. Marciano took the Heavyweight title from a 38 year old Jersey Joe Walcott. He also famously knocked Joe Louis out of the ring, but Louis was obviously not the same Louis, old, weathered and forced to keep fighting because of debt. Robinson had Jake LaMotta and beat him. Ali had Frasier and Foreman and beat them. Unfortunately and to no fault of his own, Marciano won all his fights and never had a fresh legendary nemesis to prove his worth with an exclamation point.

Regardless, Marciano will always be remembered for his ferocity and no losses. He was a class act who never took more credit than he deserved. Being the only undefeated Heavyweight champion of all time will keep him relevant in boxing debates and rankings for a very long time.

[Source: http://druhepkins.hubpages.com/]

The fight itself was contested under specific rules. Due to varying claims over the years, it is difficult to know the reasons behind their implementation. It has been alleged that the fight was originally to have been a worked match. According to boxing journalist Jim Murphy, the original plan was for Ali to accidentally punch the referee and knock him out. While standing over the referee, looking concerned, Inoki would knock him out with a kick to the head. The referee would then come around and count Ali out, giving Inoki the win in front of his fellow countrymen, and allowing Ali to save face because of his noble instincts. However, when Ali found out he had to lose, he refused, turning the fixed fight into a real one.

[Source: Wikipedia. More here]

Over the course of the next two decades, Inoki built NJPW into the most successful wrestling company in Asia. Utilizing talented Japanese competitors like Tatsumi Fujinami and Riki Choshu, innovative high-flyers like Tiger Mask and Dynamite Kid and American Superstars like Bob Backlund and Vader, the young promoter created a product that was unique, influential and far ahead of its time. In addition to running the company, Inoki himself was one of the top stars in NJPW, carrying the championship and battling the likes of Stan Hansen, Tiger Jeet Singh and Hulk Hogan.

Inoki’s most famous bout, however, took place on June 26, 1976 in Tokyo when he took on fighting legend Mohammed Ali in a rare wrestler vs. boxer match. By most accounts, the contest was uneventful — Inoki spent much of the bout on the ground kicking at Ali’s legs — but it paved the way for the advent of Mixed Martial Arts, which would explode in popularity decades later.