TOKYO — Former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali declared Monday he is so confident of stopping Mac Foster in five rounds that he plans to parade the numeral around the ring before their April 1 fight at the Budokan.

That, of course, depends on how game the Japan Boxing Commission is. Trainer Angelo Dundee said they may or may not approve Ali's bombastic gesture — all part of a carefully-laid-out plan to unnerve Foster before the bell. Might sell a ticket or two, also.

"You've heard of 007," Dundee said, flicking a thumb at Ali after he and Foster went to Jikei Medical University in downtown Tokyo for a pre-fight physical. "This is Five."

"He (Ali) got up at five, had five poached eggs and did five miles of roadwork. He has five fingers and five toes. Five. Know what their symbol (Foster's camp) is?" Dundee made a fist and thrust up two fingers in the Churchillian V sign Foster has flashed for photographers. "Know what ours is?" Dundee held up four fingers and a thumb.

"I'm gonna carry a big sign saying five around the ring before the fight," Ali added. "And Angelo might have it sewed on his sweater."

But there was no show of even playful animosity between the two fighters at the hospital. Worried authorities tried to keep them separated, fearing a shouting match, flashing cameras and total bedlam. Ali came in first. Patients in a crowded lobby took it calmly, although two small youngsters stared in awe at Ali, a towering outsize in Japan.

Ali first went into an eye clinic, then walked down to a basement examination room to have his heart and lungs checked. A doctor pressed a stethoscope to his chest. Ali, with an expression of intense concern, turned it around and began examining the doctor, who recovered his instrument and doggedly went on with the exam.

About that time, Foster was outside, sharing a long bench crowded with patients. One shy youth in a black student's uniform traded "good morning" and a few other words of English I with him. Then, as hearts jumped among anxious hospital officials, Foster got up and strode into the examination room.

Ali, sitting on the edge of a table, raised his fists. Foster saw that and stumbled in a loose-limbed gait, his arms down, as if he was groggy. There was good-natured banter and nothing else — no bitterness, real or pretended.

"Hey, boy," Ali said as Foster stripped to the waist, "you look in pretty good shape."

"I'll do my talking after the fight," Foster replied shortly.

"He's getting smart," Dundee told newsmen after the exam. Foster had predicted he would take Ali after four or five rounds. Dr. Kei Suzuki, who examined both fighters, said they were in good condition and ready to fight.

Ali and Foster immediately left to train. At Tanabe gym, next to Korakuen Ball Park, Ali worked out on the heavy bag and the speed bag and gave sparring partners Alonzo Johnson and Dave Adkins a precise, rhythmic drubbing. In a post-workout interview, Ali was asked what he thought about Foster's announced plan to silence him with an "urusai" (shut up) punch.

"There's a simple prediction to make," Ali told Pacific Stars and Stripes, "hopin' to make it come true.

"In five. Round five." He thrust up the fingers again. "I have the punch, too. The linnnnnnnnnger-on punch, the same on I used on Jimmy Ellis. Now with that punch —"

"You just linnnnnnnnnnger on," broke in Adkins. "Like a broken limb. Until Ali decides you're ready."