Joe Frazier vs. Buster Mathis ~ "Battle in New York"

[yancey]

Man, you bring back some great memories, Duce.

I was a 15 year old kid and really looked forward to that double header. Unfortunately, I was too poor to afford a ticket for any closed circuit broadcast and had to get the results when the sports news came on the radio.

This was the fight card that opened the new MSG.

Life Magazine did a pretty good piece on the fight before it went down and I remember they had a great photo of Joe and Buster posing in their robes with that unique MSG ceiling in the background. Wish I still had that old magazine.

[yancey]

Buster would have been better served to wait a year or two before he took on Frazier, but I guess the money was too enticing.

But he wasn't ever going to handle Joe over 15 rounds anyway.

[SolomonDeedes]

Also, there was a {January 1968} sparring-session where Buster took apart Cassius Clay in a 4-Round Exhibition,
and beat him badly in front of 600 spectators. This lead Cassius to say that Buster was 'The Man'.

A comically silly lie even by your standards.