July 11, 1964 - Fred Blassie of Los Angeles, “the dirtiest man in wrestling,” won on a disqualification from Bruno Sammartino tonight before a crowd of 18,981 at Madison Square Garden.
In the dressing room, as he folded his sequined jacket beside his copies of Playboy Magazine, Blassie claimed the world championship. “The only ones I’m afraid of,” the blond 238-pounder said, “are the ladies. They molest me.”
Sammartino, a 260-pounder from Abruzzi, Italy, was disqualified after 23:36 as he choked Blassie into unconsciousness. The crowd, which paid $59,169, hooted the decision for five minutes.
In the semifinal, Bobo Brazil of Benton Harbor, Mich., 276, was held to a 20-minute draw by the Golden Terror of the Northwest, 272.
In tag-team matches, Gorilla Monsoon of Manchuria, 345, and Killer Kowalski of Detroit, 260, were awarded a decision over Cowboy Bill Watts of Oklahoma, 293, and Don McClarity of Omaha, 260, and Jerry and Luke Graham of Phoenix, with a combined weight of 601, stopped Hans and Max Martier of Nuremberg, Germany, 520, in 14:03.
In other preliminary bouts, Bobby Davis of Hollywood, 228, stopped Cyclone Soto of Puerto Rico, 218, in 1:56; Pedro Morales of Puerto Rico, 226, pinned the Magnificent Maurice of Greenwich Village, N.Y., in 9:46; and Miguel Perez of Puerto Rico, 222, wrestled to a 15-minute draw with Red Basteen of Minneapolis, 235.
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