 After the 1971 playoffs , Chamberlain had yet another offer to fight heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali . The 15 @-@ round fight would have taken place on July 26 , 1971 in the Houston Astrodome but Chamberlain refused . The potential Chamberlain @-@ Ali match was predicated on Ali beating Joe Frazier in a fight scheduled for early 1971 . However , Frazier defeated Ali to hand Ali his first professional loss . As a result , Chamberlain declined the fight through a contractual escape clause . In a 1999 interview , Chamberlain stated that boxing trainer <unk> D 'Amato wanted to train him for the fight , and they offered Ali and him $ 5 million each to battle each other . Chamberlain checked back with his father and finally said no . Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke had also offered Chamberlain a record @-@ setting contract on the condition that Chamberlain agree to give up what Cooke termed " this boxing foolishness . " This was not the first time a Chamberlain @-@ Ali fight had been explored , as offers had also been made in both 1965 and 1967 . In 1967 , recently retired NFL star Jim Brown acted as Chamberlain 's manager , but Ali 's manager Jabir Herbert Muhammad backed out of the Chamberlain @-@ Ali match which was slated to take place at Madison Square Garden . 
