Fight of the Century

The Fight of the Century was forty years ago last night. And this morning forty years ago, the newspapers were full of coverage about the fight.

Muhammad Ali, who won the world heavyweight boxing championship from Sonny Liston in 1964, defended it seven times against top contenders in the next three years with his blinding speed and reflexes. But in April 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, he refused induction into the U.S. military because of his religious beliefs as a conscientious objector, and was promptly stripped of his boxing license and world title. He wouldn't be allowed to fight for three and a half years.

Joe Frazier, the 1964 Olympic heavyweight boxing champion, built a professional boxing career on his bobbing and weaving, counter-punching style combined with a great left hook. He mowed down the heavyweight division, winning the vacant world title by destroying Jimmy Ellis in four rounds.

In late 1970, Ali got his boxing license back and started his comeback by stopping Jerry Quarry on cuts in the third round of their fight in Atlanta, then knocked down Oscar Bonavena three times in the fifteenth round in Madison Square Garden in New York City for that knockout win.

So the stage was set. Given the political atmosphere surrounding the fight, America still embroiled in the Vietnam War with a growing antiwar movement, everybody was talking about the fight. Ali symbolized the antiwar movement, and Frazier symbolized the establishment still supporting the war. That night, March 8th, 1971, New York's famed Madison Square Garden was packed with celebrities. Actor Burt Lancaster was a commentator. So was former world light-heavyweight boxing champion Archie Moore. Frank Sinatra took a job as photographer for Life magazine just to get in, garnering a ringside seat. It was a circus atmosphere with everyone, including some gaudily dressed, trying to get into the Garden.

The fight lived up to the hype. Ali won the early rounds, with Frazier being a slow starter. But "Smoking Joe" Frazier kept up the pressure, eventually pinning Muhammad Ali to the ropes by the middle rounds. In the ninth round, Ali hurt Frazer with a combination, forcing Joe to back up, and winning that round. But two rounds later, in the eleventh, Joe nailed Ali with a terrific left hook that had Muhammad staggering all over the ring for the rest of the round. Rounds twelve and thirteen were fairly even, but Ali won the fourteenth handily.

Now the fight was pretty even, and the tension in the Garden, and to those watching on closed circuit TV all over the world, was palpable.

The fifteenth round was underway. About a minute into the round, fighting along the ropes, Ali threw a right uppercut. Frazier saw his chance, throwing his big left hook over Ali's uppercut, and nailing Muhammad on the jaw, sending him to the canvas. Ali would later say that he didn't remember going down, but woke up when he hit the canvas, thinking "Get up." He did get up when referee Arthur Mercantee got to three, and finished the fight on his feet and still looking okay.

The fight was close, with the referee's card showing that Frazer won eight rounds, Ali won six, and that one round was even. It was one of boxing history's greatest fights, and it led to two re-matches for the two great warriors we saw that night.