"Monkees in the Ring" features veteran Ned Glass as crooked fight promoter Sholto (not 'Shylock'), who spies Davy unwittingly knocking out a bully in the street, decides to groom him for a championship bout against the featherweight champion (D'Urville Martin), who dances and rhymes like Muhammad Ali. The other three Monkees soon learn that all of Davy's three knockouts were staged, and that their buddy is supposed to take a dive against the champ; needless to say, all does not go as planned, as ring announcer Jimmy Lennon has to observe a fight in all four corners before Jones is declared the winner, and promptly knocks himself out! (we quickly find out he has a glass jaw). D'Urville Martin went on to a successful blaxpoitation career in the 70s, before his untimely death at 45 in 1984. Featured during Davy's gym training is the newly recorded Jeff Barry production "Laugh" (Oct 28 1966), composed by Mitchell Margo, Philip Margo, Henry Medress, and Jay Siegel, a quartet better known as The Tokens, who had scored a number-one smash in 1961 with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." The final romp is appropriately scored by the original "I'll Be Back Up on My Feet," making its second appearance (the second version was recorded and released in 1968, on THE BIRDS THE BEES AND THE MONKEES). Broadcast no. 20 (Jan 30 1967), "Monkees in the Ring" was 23rd in production, filmed Dec 6-8 1966, by which time the group had become a functioning live band; they would soon put their hard-fought musical credibility to the test by actually performing on their third LP, HEADQUARTERS, recorded in February and March for release May 22.