Aug 26, 2013 · Bobby Riggs didn’t train as hard for the Billie Jean King match as he did for his previous “battle of the sexes” against Margaret Court, which he won with ease.

Sep 3, 2013 · Riggs made no secret of his penchant for gambling. He reveled in his reputation as the “Happy Hustler” — a Barnumesque showman, a motor-mouthed antagonist who would take on all comers in whacky...

At the 1939 Wimbledon Championships he also won the Men's Doubles and the Mixed Doubles. After retirement from his pro career, Riggs became well known as a hustler and gambler. He organized numerous exhibition challenges, inviting active and retired tennis pros to participate.

Aug 26, 2013 · Did Bobby Riggs intentionally throw the match for a big payday? That rumor has swirled for years and now, it's bolstered by an ESPN investigation, which finds new evidence that Riggs threw...

Others speculated that Riggs deliberately lost based on his poor play and large number of unforced errors, in order to win large sums of money that he had bet against himself as a way to pay off his gambling debts. [35]

Aug 26, 2013 · Did historic tennis match just settle Riggs' gambling debt? It was 40 years ago next month that women's tennis champ Billy Jean King, 29, routed Bobby Riggs, 55, in the "Battle of The Sexes.''

Aug 25, 2013 · For Riggs, the $100,000 winner-take-all match offered big money and a perfect launching pad to a late-in-life career playing exhibition matches against women. It seemed a certain payday for him.

Sep 20, 2023 · Bobby Riggs was renowned for his reputation as a hustler and gambler. In his 1949 autobiography, he made a remarkable claim that in 1939, he had amassed $105,000, which would be equivalent to approximately $2.20 million in today’s currency.

Aug 27, 2013 · Did Bobby Riggs throw his famous Battle of the Sexes tennis match against Billie Jean King in 1973 to pay off gambling debts? Billie Jean King raises her arms after defeating Bobby Riggs,...

May 21, 2014 · It happened when ESPN published an article and produced an Outside The Lines TV report about a man named Hal Shaw, a former assistant golf pro at a country club in Tampa, FL. Shaw came forward saying Billie Jean might not have won fair and square, that Riggs might have intentionally thrown the match to settle gambling debts.