Fight of the Century

Madison Square Gardens Arrangements

The celebrities still packed into the Garden as in the days of Ol' blue eyes Frank Sinatra when with his camera pretending to be a newspaper sports reporter, a sure way of guaranteeing a ringside seat every time. It is said that Frank Sinatra had once worked with a boxing news magazine as a sports reporter and his father was a good professional boxer back in the 1930's. Seating in the present Madison Square Garden is arranged in five ascending levels. The lowest one is referred to as rink-side for hockey games or court-side for basketball games at some events a still lower seating level, known as the Rotunda, is also provided; next above this is the First Promenade, followed by the Second Promenade, First Balcony and Second Balcony. The seats of these five levels originally bore the colours red, orange, yellow, green and blue respectively; however, this colour scheme has since been abolished, mainly because the blue seats had become synonymous with rowdy behavior by fans, particularly those attending New York Rangers hockey games.

Ali and Frazier in Showdown of the Undefeated Champions

The site of the first Madison Square Garden was formerly the Union Depot of the New York and Harlem Railroad. When the depot was moved to the current site of Grand Central Terminal in 1871. The MSG has been a place of great sports play but none can take the place of The Fight of the Century Showdown between Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazer, was a fighting match that was fought at furious pace right to the end, only seen in lightweight championship bouts. Of those who participated that evening, seven have been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York. They are Ali, Frazier, referee Arthur Mercante, matchmaker Teddy Brenner, Madison Square Garden's president Harry Markson, trainers Angelo Dundee and Eddie Futch and a broadcast team that included Don Dunphy and Archie Moore. Frazier's trainer Eddie Futch, exclaimed that he had never seen a night like it before or since. More than 700 working press credentials issued for the fight and at least 500 more were turned down. The fight was a happening with celebrities. Barbra Streisand, Bill Cosby, Sammy Davis Jr. and Hugh Hefner sitting at ringside.

The People's Champion vs. Joe Frazier

The fight was unique in that for the first time in history it there were unbeaten heavyweight champions in the same ring fighting against each other. In 1967 Ali was stripped of his title after refusing induction into the Army. Because Ali hadn't lost the heavyweight title in the ring, he declared himself, the People's Champion. Muhammad entered the ring against Frazier with a fight record that stood at 31-0 and 25 knockouts. The two boxers set the standards on the night that made history at the Madison Square Garden Arena on 8th March 1971. Both fighters would go on to fight twice more and their rivalry stood out as one of boxing's greatest trilogies. In the world of professional pugilistic fighting there will always be boxers against punchers. few fighters will ever do it Ali and Frazier did it with skill, courage and determination. This Showdown was the epitome of the Joe Louis and Max Schmeling 1938 rematch that took place at the Yankee Stadium in New York. Joe Frazier was 27 and was well in his prime. Ali was 29 and only had a couple of tune up fights after his 3½ years lay off from boxing. Muhammad did not have enough tune up fights to be challenging Frazier so early after his boxing license had been returned to him. During those 3½ years lay-of, Ali was not even allowed to do exhibition matches. The powers to be, wanted to damage the people's champion repertoire as a human being so that he was unable to earn a living.

Both Fighters Lit Up Madison Square Gardens With Their Furious Pace In The Ring

Muhammad Ali first returned to the ring with a third round TKO of Jerry Quarry on October 26, 1970 and then stopped Oscar Bonavena in the 15th round on December 7, 1970. Both opponents were formidable contenders. Following the Bonavena fight, Ali was yelling out for Frazier. The showdown between fighters was the only fight that mattered and the participants were each compensated with a guaranteed purse of $2.5 million, a record at the time. The Garden was sold out a full month before the fight and ringside tickets were going for a record $150. Instead of floating like a butterfly in his earlier days before his 3½ years forced lay off, Ali chose to stand flatfooted and go to war on the champion's terms. It might not have been the best strategy, but it made for awe-inspiring action all the way, it was 15 rounds of furious fighting. Frazier stalked Ali with his sweeping left hook while the people's champion countered by flashing his jab and rapid stiff left and right combinations. They fought at a pace that seemed more accustomed to lightweights boxing. Frazier and Ali was offered $1.7 million and 35% of the gross previously, and they both refused. Had they accepted the first offer, they would grossed $9 million instead of the $2.5 million.

Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier Set The Standards

The scoring by rounds was as follows: Judge Artie Aidala, 9-6 for Frazier. Judge Bill Recht, 11-4 for Frazier. Mercante had it 8-6, with one even round, for Frazier. That Fight Between the boxers was witnessed by 20,455 at the Madison Square Garden. Live gate generated $1.3 million, and it was estimated that a further 300 million boxing fans across the world on closed circuit television watched the match of two undefeated heavyweight boxing champions fighting it out in the ring at the Madison Square Gardens. Yes, indeed both Muhammad and Joe had set the standard in their fight of the century that night at the Madison Square Garden. It remains a night to remember.

Fight of the Century