Billie Jean King demolished Bobby Riggs in a tennis match dubbed the “Battle of the Sexes” 40 years ago Friday.
King, a tennis star of her day, described Riggs as a “male chauvinist pig” before she won the match, considered a boon for women around the U.S. and the world.
Before the match, Riggs unleashed a slew of offensive comments against his opponent, saying that “the best way to handle women is to keep them pregnant and barefoot,” according to History.com.
“I’ll play her on clay, grass, wood, cement, marble or roller skates,” said Riggs, a Wimbledon and U.S. Open champ. “We got to keep this sex thing going. I’m a woman specialist now.”
He added: “I’ll tell you why I’ll win. She’s a woman and they don’t have the emotional stability.”
King won 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in front of more than 30,000 fans in Houston, which at the time, was the largest crowd to ever watch a tennis match.
King said that if she didn’t win the match, “I thought it would set us back 50 years.”
“It would ruin the women’s tour and affect all women’s self-esteem,” she said.
However, a report last month claimed that the match was rigged by the mob.
ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” reported that Riggs owed mobsters more than $100,000, throwing the match.
King described ESPN’s story as “ridiculous.”
“I would bet my life that Bobby never had that discussion with them,” King told ESPN. “Bobby doesn’t get involved in mobsters.”
“I was on the court with Bobby and I know he was not tanking the match. I could see in his eyes and body language he wanted to win,” she said.
