Fight of the Century
| Date | March 8, 1971 | |||||||||||||||
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| Title(s) on the line | Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship WBC & WBA World Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||
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Fight of the Century was the promotional nickname given to the first boxing match between champion Joe Frazier (26-0, 23 KOs) and challenger Muhammad Ali (31-0, 25 KOs), held on March 8, 1971 at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Buildup and media coverage
The two fighters were the subject of numerous magazine cover stories and TV documentaries. They were guaranteed purses of $2.5 million each, then a record for a single prizefight.
Importance and predictions
The fight itself became something of a symbol of the country. Leading up to the fight, Ali (who had denounced the Vietnam War) became a symbol of the anti-establishment movement. Meanwhile, Frazier became a symbol of the conservative, pro-war movement. (In his autobiography, Frazier acknowledged that while he did not fight in the war because he was a father, states that had he been drafted, he would have had no problem serving his country, as it had been so good to him.)
Many boxing fans argued that Ali's speed and ability would blind Frazier, while others thought Frazier's superior punching power combined with Ali's long absence from the ring would give the advantage to Frazier. 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 attendees who had just learned they would not be able to watch the fight on closed-circuit TV.
The Fight
By the evening of the match, 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. Burt Lancaster served as a color commentator for the closed-circuit broadcast. Even though Lancaster had never performed as a sports commentator before, he was hired by the fight's promoter Jerry Perenchio, who was also a friend of his. The other commentators were play-by-play announcer Don Dunphy and boxing champion Archie Moore.
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 come back in the next three rounds. 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 (for only the third time in his career). Ali, his right jaw swollen grotesquely, got up from the blow quickly, 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 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 the Ring Magazine fight of the year award and many other honors. Some consider it even greater than the first fight.
Both boxers are in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
The term "Fight of the Century" was also used to describe the fight between former heavyweight champion James Jefferies and the then current champion Jack Johnson, in 1910.
