LA Lakers Governor Says Jimmy Connors vs. John McEnroe Helped Them Beat Muhammad Ali’s Record Numbers

Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe playing each other was one of the most highly anticipated clashes during their time. Bringing them together on the tennis court was one of the biggest tasks on its own. Recently, LA Lakers co-owner Jeanie Buss, who organized the historic 1984 exhibition match, detailed how bringing these two legends together broke Muhammad Ali’s fight record.

During the 1990s, the Lakers president was active in tennis with her father, Jerry Buss. The world team tennis was actually created by Senior Buss. But, after years of being a member of the tennis circuit, Jeanie went on to become an important component of the Los Angeles Lakers.

How Connors vs. McEnroe broke Muhammad Ali’s unbeatable record?

The LA Lakers governor was recently invited as a guest to the Jimmy Connors’ podcast show called Advantages Connors. In that conversation, she talked about the biggest exhibition title fight that took place in 1984, between the greatest rivals of that time in tennis. She also highlighted how the ticket sales of that exhibition match broke the original record that was created by the legendary American boxer, Muhammad Ali, back in the 70s. 

She said, “Finally, in March 1984, we sold out the forum. And set the gross gain in ticket sales record that was held at the forum and the original record was for a Muhammad Ali fight in the ’70s. So here you guys are, ten years later, out-drawing the championship boxing. And put on a match that I was never so proud to be a part of something. Seeing tennis sell out the forum and be like Madison Square Garden, rowdy and full of celebrities.” 

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The match that took place at the then called Great Western Forum, and currently known as Kia Forum, set a record at that time for bringing in the largest gross profit and ticket sales.

Further, she also explained that organizing that specific exhibition match was one of the greatest moments of her life. Nevertheless, she also believed that the title match was no less than a ‘World heavyweight championship fight’. 

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1984 was a year when tennis legend McEnroe was at the peak of his career. He grabbed a lot of attention with his head-to-head clashes against Connors. Moreover, that was the year when the SuperBrat felt a lot of pressure with his immense success.

Do you consider Connors vs. McEnroe as one of the fiercest rivalries in tennis?