Fight of the Century
Fight of the Century was the promotional nickname given to the first
boxing match between champion Joe Frazier and challenger
Muhammad Ali , held on March 8, 1971 at New York's
Madison Square Garden.
Ali had been stripped of his world Heavyweight title by boxing's governing bodies after refusing induction into the military and publicly objecting to the
Vietnam war in 1967. Jimmy Ellis, a friend and stablemate of Ali, then picked up the vacant world title, and retained it until 1970, when he lost it to Frazier. When Ali was allowed to resume fighting, the first fight between the two was agreed upon almost immediately.
Encyclopedia
Fight of the Century was the promotional nickname given to the first
boxing match between champion Joe Frazier and challenger
Muhammad Ali , held on March 8, 1971 at New York's
Madison Square Garden.
Ali had been stripped of his world Heavyweight title by boxing's governing bodies after refusing induction into the military and publicly objecting to the
Vietnam war in 1967. Jimmy Ellis, a friend and stablemate of Ali, then picked up the vacant world title, and retained it until 1970, when he lost it to Frazier. When Ali was allowed to resume fighting, the first fight between the two was agreed upon almost immediately. Ali began his comeback by defeating top contender Jerry Quarry via a third-round technical knockout in Atlanta , then knocked out the tough Argentine Oscar Bonevena in the last round of a grueling, 15-round bout at Madison Square Garden .
The first Ali-Frazier fight attracted intense media coverage; the two fighters were the subject of numourous magazine cover stories and TV documentaries. They were guaranteed purses of $2.5 million each, then a record for a single prizefight.
Many boxing fans argued that Ali's speed and ability would blind Frazier, while others thought Frazier's superior punching power, and Ali's long absence from the ring, would prevail. In the days before the fight, Ali would sneak out to Frazier's training camp and call him an
Uncle Tom and the
White man's champion. All of this angered Frazier tremendously . Worse, he felt betrayed, because he had lobbied in favor of Ali's return to the ring, and had even lent Ali money while he had been unable to fight. So Frazier came into the fight seething with rage.
On the night of the fight, there were riots in many
United States cities, including
Chicago, where a whole theater was almost torn apart by angry attenders who had just learned they would not be able to watch the fight on closed-circuit TV.
On the night of the fight, Madison Square Garden had a circus-like atmosphere, with scores of policemen to control the crowd, outrageously dressed fans and countless celebrities, from
Norman Mailer and
Woody Allen to
Frank Sinatra, who took photographs for
Life magazine. Artist Leroy Neiman painted Ali and Frazier as they fought.
The fight itself exceeded even its promotional hype. Ali dominated the first three rounds, peppering the shorter Frazier with rapier-like jabs that raised welts on the champion's face. Frazier began to dominate in the fourth, catching Ali with several of his famed left hooks and pinning him against the ropes to deliver tremendous body blows. The fight was about even until late in round 11, when Frazier caught Ali, backed into a corner, with a crushing left hook that almost floored Ali, sending him falling into the ropes. Ali managed to survive the round, but from then on Frazier seemed to have the upper hand. Ali tried to come back in the next three rounds, but at the end of round 14 Frazier held a lead on the three scorecards. Early in round 15, Frazier landed a spectacular left hook that put Ali on his back . Ali, his right jaw swollen grotesquely, was up quickly but was badly hurt, and managed to stay on his feet for the rest of the round despite several terrific blows from Frazier. A few minutes later the judges made it official: Frazier had retained the title with a unanimous decision, dealing Ali his first professional loss.
Ali did show rust in the fight, and was visibly tired after the 6th round, and though he put together flurries of punches after that round, was unable to keep the pace he had set in the first third of the fight.
Ali and Frazier fought twice more, Ali winning both encounters. The last of these was the 1975
Thrilla in Manila, which, like the first bout, won
Ring Magazine fight of the year many honors. Some consider it even greater than the first fight.
Both boxers are in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
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