On September 29, 1972, a 29-year-old Buster Mathis (30-3, 21 KOs) and a 31-year-old Ron Lyle (16-0, 14 KOs) met in the ring.
Mathis came in to the fight on a 1-fight win streak with a 63% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 24 days. Lyle was on a 16-fight win streak with a 87% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 2 months and 19 days.
Ron Lyle stopped Buster Mathis via KO in the 2nd round. Lyle improves his record to 17-0 (15 KOs), while Mathis adds a loss to his record at 30-4.
On November 17, 1971, a 28-year-old Buster Mathis (29-2, 20 KOs) and a 29-year-old Muhammad Ali (32-1, 26 KOs) met in the ring in a heavyweight bout.
Mathis came in to the fight on a 1-fight losing streak with a 64% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 2 years, 7 months, and 24 days. Ali was on a 1-fight win streak with a 78% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 3 months and 22 days.
Muhammad Ali defeated Buster Mathis via unanimous decision in the 12-round heavyweight fight. Ali improves his record to 33-1, while Mathis adds a loss to his record at 29-3.
On March 24, 1969, a 25-year-old Buster Mathis (29-1, 20 KOs) and a 23-year-old Jerry Quarry (30-2-4, 18 KOs) met in the ring.
Mathis came in to the fight on a 6-fight win streak with a 66% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 1 month and 21 days. Quarry was on a 4-fight win streak with a 50% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 1 month and 26 days.
Jerry Quarry defeated Buster Mathis via unanimous decision in the 12-round fight. Quarry improves his record to 31-2-4, while Mathis adds a loss to his record at 29-2.
On March 4, 1968, a 24-year-old Buster Mathis (23-0, 17 KOs) and a 24-year-old Joe Frazier (19-0, 17 KOs) met in the ring in a heavyweight bout.
Mathis came in to the fight on a 23-fight win streak with a 73% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 2 months and 7 days. Frazier was on a 19-fight win streak with a 89% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 2 months and 15 days.
Joe Frazier stopped Buster Mathis via TKO in the 11th round. Frazier improves his record to 20-0 (18 KOs), while Mathis adds a loss to his record at 23-1.