Muhammad Ali made his return to boxing on October 26, 1970, and stopped Jerry Quarry in 3 rounds in Atlanta, Georgia. It was the ex-champ’s first bout in 3 1/2 years and he followed that up with a 15th round stoppage of Oscar Bonavena two months later at Madison Square Garden. Those two wins set up the March 8, 1971 fight dubbed “The Fight of the Century”, between Ali and Joe Frazier.
At the time, I was 10 years old and remember reading Sports Illustrated every week as they built up and hyped the “Super-Fight”. Seeing the $2.5 million checks each of them would receive was mind boggling to a young kid like me, who got a 50 cent allowance every Friday. Frazier had been the champion for 2 1/2 years, and was undefeated at 26-0, with 23 knockouts, while Ali was 31-0, with 25 knockouts. A bout between two great undefeated heavyweight champions made it the greatest in the history of the sport.
I was voting for Ali at the time, and went to bed early while my older brother listened to the round by round description of the fight on the radio of our stereo console in our living room. When I woke up, I was disappointed to learn that Muhammad had lost, and would have to wait until August of 1971 before I saw the actual whole fight on television.
Of course I’ve seen it so many times now I can’t remember, and it was definitely an all-time classic. Both men spent every ounce of energy they had, and threw punches for 15 rounds straight until they couldn’t hold their arms up anymore. Joe won a fair unanimous decision, and despite getting knocked down in the 15th round and being hurt badly in the 11th, Ali did nothing to disgrace himself.
In the annals of professional boxing, there is not a doubt in my mind that the March 8, 1971 fight between Ali and Frazier is the greatest ever. Nothing even comes close, when you look at historical aspects and the generation in which it occurred. I’m glad I was old enough to have an interest in it, rather than just looking at in on YouTube like younger people are forced to do. Both men would fight two more times, in 1974 and 1975, but their first meeting was definitely the most memorable of the three.
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