Fight of the Century

This article is about the "Fight of the Century" between U.S. athletes Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. For other "Fights of the Century", seeFight of the Century (disambiguation).

Fight of the Century

The onsite poster for Joe Frazier vs. Former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world Muhammad Ali.
Date	March 8, 1971
Venue	Madison Square Garden,New York City, New York,US 40.7504°N 73.9935°W/40.7504; -73.9935
Title(s) on the line	WBA,WBC,The RingandLinealundisputedheavyweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer Joe Frazier Muhammad Ali Nickname Smokin' Joe The Greatest Hometown Beaufort,South Carolina,US Louisville,Kentucky,US Pre-fight record 26–0 (23 KO) 31–0 (25 KO) Age 27 years, 1 month 29 years, 1 month Height 5 ft11+1⁄2in 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) Weight 205+1⁄2lb 215 lb (98 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBA,WBC,andThe Ringheavyweight champion Linealheavyweight champion
Result
Frazier wins via 15-roundunanimous decision(8–6–1, 9–6, 11–4)

Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali,billed asThe Fight of the Centuryor simplyThe Fight,was anundisputedheavyweight championshipbo xingmatch betweenWBA,WBC,andThe Ringheavyweight championJoe FrazierandLinealchampionMuhammad Ali,on Monday, March 8, 1971, atMadison Square GardeninNew York City.

The fight is widely regarded as the biggest bo xing match in history and arguably the single most anticipated and publicized sporting event ever. An international audience observed the spectacle. It was the first time that two undefeated boxers who held or had held theworld heavyweighttitle fought each other for that very title.

The bout held broad appeal for many Americans, including non-bo xing and non-sport fans. Ali, who had been stripped of his titles by bo xing authorities for refusing to submit to thedraftfor theVietnam War,had become a symbol of theanti-establishment publicduring his government-imposed exile from the ring. In contrast, Frazier supported U.S. involvement in the war,and he had been adopted by elements of the public with alternate views. In addition, both men possessed intense personal animosity towards each other.

Frazier won in fifteen rounds byunanimous decision.Ali dealt with his first professional loss. It became the first of a trio of fights, followed by the rematch eventsSuper Fight II(1974) and theThrilla in Manila(1975). Both of those fights were won by Ali.

Background and cultural significance

In 1971, both Ali and Frazier were undefeated champions (in Ali's case, actually, former champion) who held legitimate claims to the title of "World Heavyweight Champion". Ali had won the title fromSonny ListoninMiami Beachin 1964, and successfully defended his belt up until he had it stripped by bo xing authorities for refusing induction into the armed forces in 1967 (though he was still recognized as theLineal heavyweight champion). In Ali's absence, Frazier won two championship belts, knocking outBuster Mathisfor recognition as champion in five states (most notably, New York) andJimmy Ellis,who had won theWorld Bo xing Association's world title by winning a WBA elimination tournament, to replace Ali as the acknowledged, unified world champion. Frazier was plausibly Ali's equal, which created a tremendous amount of hype and anticipation for a match pitting the two undefeated fighters against one another to decide who was the true heavyweight champ.

Ringside seats were $150 (equivalent to $1,129 in 2023) and each man was guaranteed $2.5 million.In addition to the millions who watched on closed-circuit broadcast screens around the world, the Garden was packed with a sell-out crowd of 20,455 that provided a gate of $1.5 million (equivalent to $11,285,127 in 2023).

Prior to his enforced layoff, Ali had displayed uncommon speed and agility for a man of his size. He had dominated most of his opponents to the point that he had often predicted the round in which he would knock his opponent out. In October 1970, he stoppedJerry Quarryvia cuts after three rounds in his first match after a three-and-a-half-year layoff. However, in his next fight, the last preceding the Frazier fight, Ali struggled at times during his 15th-round TKO ofOscar Bonavena,an unorthodox Argentinian fighter who was prepared by Hall of Fame trainerGil Clancy.On the March 4, 1971 episode ofThe Dick Cavett Show,Howard Cosell,Joe LouisandJimmy Breslinall correctly predicted that because of Ali's lengthy layoff, Frazier would prevail.

Frazier had an outstanding lefthookand was a tenacious competitor who attacked the body of his opponent ferociously. Despite suffering from a serious bout ofhypertensionin the lead-up to the fight, he appeared to be in top form as the face-off between the two undefeated champions approached.

Prior to the fight, Mark Kram wrote inSports Illustrated:

The thrust of this fight on the public consciousness is incalculable. It has been a ceaseless whir that seems to have grown in decibel with each new soliloquy by Ali, with each dead calm promise by Frazier. It has magnetized the imagination of ring theorists, and flushed outpolemicistsof every persuasion. It has cut deep into the thicket of our national attitudes, and it is a conversational imperative everywhere—from the gabble of big-city salons and factory lunch breaks rife with unreasoning labels, to ghetto saloons with their own false labels.

AsGil Clancy,who was in Frazier's corner that night, would later comment:

The electricity in the air then was just unbelievable. If they would have dropped the bomb on Madison Square Garden that night, the country wouldn't have been able to run.

Fight

On the evening of the match, Madison Square Garden had a circus-like atmosphere, with scores of policemen to control the crowd of outrageously dressed fans, kids, and countless celebrities, fromNorman MailertoWoody Allen.Unable to procure a ringside seat,Frank Sinatratook photographs forLifemagazine instead.Nelson Mandela,who was in prison in South Africa during the event, spoke about how excited everybody was about this fight.ArtistLeRoy Neimanpainted Ali and Frazier as they fought.Burt Lancasterserved as acolor commentatorfor the closed-circuit broadcast. Though Lancaster had never performed as asports commentatorbefore, he was hired by the fight's promoter,Jerry Perenchio,who was also a friend. Perenchio enlisted sports ownerJack Kent Cookeas financial backer of the fight with a bank guarantee of $4,000,000 which provided the bulk of the fighters' $5,000,000 fee.The other commentators were famed bo xingplay-by-playannouncerDon Dunphyand former light-heavyweight bo xing champion and heavyweight competitorArchie Moore.The fight was sold, and broadcast by closed circuit, to 50 countries in 12 languages via ringside reporters to an audience estimated at 300 million, a record viewership for a television event at that time. Riots broke out at several venues as unresolvable technical issues interrupted the broadcast in several cities in the third round.And, although no live radio coverage of the fight itself was allowed under the terms of the promotion, the Mutual Radio Network did broadcast the fight the night of March 8, with announcers Van Patrick and Charles King, together with many other sports commentators, providing round-by-round summaries live as they came out over the UPI and AP wire services.

The referee for the fight wasArthur Mercante, Sr..After the fight, Mercante, a veteran referee of hundreds of fights, said: "They both threw some of the best punches I've ever seen."

The fight itself exceeded many fans’ expectations and went the full 15-roundchampionship distance.Ali dominated the first five rounds, peppering the shorter Frazier with rapier-like jabs that raised welts on the champion's face.

Ali was visibly tired after the sixth round, and though he put together some flurries of punches after that round, he was unable to keep the pace he had set in the first third of the fight. At 1 minute and 59 seconds into round eight, following his clean left hook to Ali's right jaw, Frazier grabbed Ali's wrists and swung Ali into the center of the ring; however, Ali immediately grabbed Frazier again until they were once again separated by Mercante.

At 2:10 of the eleventh round, Frazier staggered Ali with a left hook, Ali's knees buckling—only bouncing off the ropes keeping Ali from again hitting the canvas. For the remainder of the round, Ali stumbled around the ring backing again and again into the ropes and grabbing at Frazier as Frazier continued battering him until the fighters were separated by Mercante at 2:55 into the round.

Heading into round 15, all three judges had Frazier In the lead (7–6–1, 10–4, and 8–6), and Frazier closed convincingly. Early in the round, Frazier landed a left hook that put Ali on the canvas. Ali, his jaw swollen noticeably, got up at the count of four 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.

Scorecard

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Total
Artie Aidala (judge)	A	A	F	F	F	F	F	A	A	F	F	F	A	A	F	Frazier, 9–6
Bill Recht (judge)	F	A	F	F	A	F	F	F	A	F	F	F	F	A	F	Frazier, 11–4
Art Mercante(referee)	A	A	F	F	F	A	A	F	A	A	F	–	F	F	F	Frazier, 8–6–1

Viewership and revenue

The fight was broadcast livepay-per-viewontheatre televisionin the United States,where it set a record with 2.5million tickets sold atclosed-circuitvenues,grossing$45 million.It was also shown closed-circuit during the middle of the night inLondontheatres, where it set a record with 90,000 tickets,grossing $750,000.Combined, the fight sold 2.59million tickets in the United States and London, grossing$45.75 million(inflation-adjusted$300 million).

On both closed-circuit and free television, the fight was watched by a record 300million viewers worldwide.It was watched by a record 27.5million viewers onBBC1in theUnited Kingdom,about half of the British population.It was also watched by an estimated 5.4million viewers inItaly,and 2million viewers inSouth Korea.

Aftermath

Ali refused to publicly admit defeat and sought to define the outcome in the public's mind as a "White Man's Decision". Frazier lost the title 22 months later, when he was knocked down six times in the first two rounds byGeorge Foremanin their brief but devastating January 22, 1973, title bout inKingston, Jamaica.

Ali split two bouts withKen Nortonin 1973 and was viewed by many as on a downward slide before a win in a rematch—Ali–Frazier II—in January 1974. That October, Ali shocked the world with a victory inKinshasa, Zaire,over the heavily favored Foreman to regain the heavyweight title inThe Rumble in the Jungle.

Ali later went on to defeat Frazier in their third and final bout, TheThrilla in Manila.By the time of the rematches thesocial climatein America had settled down, with theVietnam Warhaving ended in early 1973. Many dismissed the notion that Ali was atraitor,and he was once again accepted as the heavyweight champion. People who had supported Frazier on political and racial grounds in the first bout so that they could see Ali get beat were less effusive and abandoned him after he lost his championship. Without the same social divide, with the unknown of whether Ali could ever regain enough of his former greatness to dominate post-layoff partially answered, and without the impetus of two unbeaten champions meeting one another for the first time, neither their second nor their third matchup would attain the unprecedented hype of the first.

COINTELPRO

The fight provided cover for an activist group, theCitizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI,to successfully pull off a burglary at anFBIoffice inPennsylvania,which exposed theCOINTELPROoperations that included illegal spying on activists involved with the civil rights and anti-war movements, on the basis that guards listening to radio coverage of the fight would be distracted from their duties. One of the COINTELPRO targets was Muhammad Ali, and the FBI's goals included their gaining access to his records as far back aselementary school.

See also

• Bo xing career of Muhammad Ali
• Jack Johnson vs. James J. Jeffries

Further reading

• Le Combat du sièclein French, byLoulou Dédola(abande dessinée)