The 1970s Sports: Headline Makers

Muhammad Ali (1942–) Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali was the most publicized sports personality of the 1970s. Charismatic and articulate, he was a sensation both in and out of the ring. In a six-year period beginning in October 1970, Ali met twenty-two opponents, losing just two matches and winning more than $26 million in prize money. In 1974, in what is now simply referred to as "The Fight," Ali knocked out hard-hitting George Foreman to win the heavyweight crown, becoming only the second man ever to regain the title after having lost

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Billie Jean King (1943–) In 1971, Billie Jean King became the first woman to earn $100,000 as a professional tennis player. Since women champions on the professional tour were often awarded two to three times less prize money than their male counterparts, King began a vocal campaign to equalize the compensation. She soon succeeded. In 1973, in what may have been the most publicized event in American tennis history, King defeated Bobby Riggs in a match dubbed the "Battle of the Sexes." That same year, she helped establish the Women's Tennis Association, a union that lobbied for women's rights on the professional tour.

O.J. Simpson (1947–) Football star O. J. Simpson forged a new running style that would be emulated by the next generation of football players. A college standout, he was a national celebrity by the time the Buffalo Bills drafted him in 1969. During the 1970s, he led all running backs with 10,539 rushing yards, 25 percent more than second-place Franco Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 1978, Simpson became the highest paid professional football player when he signed a contract to play for the San Francisco 49ers for $806,668 per year.

Mark Spitz (1950–) Swimming sensation Mark Spitz was one of the most recognizable men in America in the 1970s as his Olympic achievements made him a celebrity. In 1971, the American Athletic Union named Spitz amateur athlete of the year. The following year, at the Olympic trials in August, he set a world record in the 200–meter butterfly. And in the 1972 Summer Olympics held shortly afterward in Munich, Germany, Spitz was stunning, winning seven gold medals. In every event in which he competed, four individual and three team events, he or his team set world records.