MARCH 8, 1971...THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

[neverlast]

MARCH 8, 1971...THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH Mar 7, '07 11:27 PM
by Jim for everyone


neverlast
There are certain dates that will stick with you as long as you live. Your birthday, the birthdays of family members, anniversaries, the day that you got your divorce ( s ), etc...Happy and important days that mark milestones in your life.

One such date I'll always remember is March 8, 1971. The " Battle Of The Century ", it was so aptly named.Two undefeated boxers who each had a legitimate claim to being the heavyweight champion of the world would collide. When Muhammad Ali first won the title in 1964 his name was Cassius Clay. He would shortly thereafter change his name and then proceed to change the face of boxing. He dominated the scene until 1967 when he refused induction into the US Military due to his religious beliefs. Then came the Eight Man Elimination Tourney that was won by Jimmy Ellis. The powerful New York State Athletic Commission would recognize the winner of a match up between unbeaten boxers Joe Frazier and Buster Mathis. A bout in which Joe won. In 1970 Frazier stopped Ellis to claim the vacated title. Later that year Muhammad Ali returned to ring wars and halted highly ranked contenders Jerry Quarry and Oscar Bonavena. The stage was now set. Ali and Frazier would clash for the undisputed title.

The first Ali - Frazier bout was the epic that all others are compared to, even today. There is no reason in this article to describe the bout itself. Reams of print have appeared documenting the action that took place in the ring that magical night. What I would like to share is the impact that fight on me and probably millions of others. I have never before or since March 8, 1971 felt the same way about a prize fight. Yes there were a few that stirred my anticipation like Duran-DeJesus II and III, Leonard-Duran I, Leonard-Hearns I, Pryor-Arguello I, Hagler-Hearns and Leonard-Hagler. Still to this day Ali - Frazier I tops them all.

Was Ali - Frazier I the best action fight of all time ? I would have to say no but for sheer anticipation, drama and excitement, this fight was the whole package. You had movie star Burt Lancaster as a commentator and Frank Sinatra as a photographer. Each boxer would receive $ 2.5 million for their nights work. That was an unheard sum of money for one fight in 1971.

I have never been so wound up with anticipation for a boxing match in my life. I was a few months shy of my seventeenth birthday and had been a boxing fan from the time I was ten.I had closely followed all the events leading up this day in boxing history.

On fight night I was at a party and we gathered around the radio listening to the round by round summary. We were pretty much split on the outcome of the fight but almost all of us were rooting for " Smokin' Joe ". From the round by round reports we could sense that this was a bout with shifting momentums. The ever proud Ali realized that Joe had come to fight this evening. Maybe Ali took Frazier too lightly. Maybe Muhammad rushed too soon to get back in the ring after his lengthy layoff. Maybe, just maybe the Joe Frazier of March 8, 1971 was one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. I've never seen a boxer who laid it all out for one fight like Joe did that night. You've heard it said that a boxer would rather die then be defeated. On this night Joe would have died a hundred deaths before giving in to Ali.

Round after round went by and as we listened to the radio. In the eleventh Frazier rocked Ali and we as a collective group cheered. Even the ones who had bet on Ali to win. As the bout moved into the " championship " rounds, we were all on the edge of our seats. Then it happened. It was announced on the radio the Joe had decked Ali in the fifteenth round. More cheering and now the wait. Finally it was time to render the decision. The winner and still heavyweight champion of the world...Joe Frazier !

Oh what a night. Thirty six years later I can remember it like it was yesterday. Ali, Frazier, my friends and myself are now entering the twilight of our lives. Still when I think of that night it takes me back to my youth and to the ultimate excitement that probably the greatest single sporting event of all time brought me. Thanks Joe and Muhammad.

[actjac]

Ali-Frazier I has been called the biggest event of any kind in the history of New York City. That is saying a lot. It was probably the most anticipated and publicized sporting event in U.S. history as well. Every newspaper in the world had it on the front page and all of the networks were covering it in the evening news. Possibly only Louis - Schmeling II may have surpassed it but that is only my opinion.

[Expug]

Ali-Frazier I has been called the biggest event of any kind in the history of New York City. That is saying a lot. It was probably the most anticipated and publicized sporting event in U.S. history as well. Every newspaper in the world had it on the front page and all of the networks were covering it in the evening news. Possibly only Louis - Schmeling II may have surpassed it but that is only my opinion.

Whoever said it was the biggest event in the history of NYC needs to think that one through a bit.
Or ,he or she must have said it before Sept.11 2001.

[cultus]

Ali-Frazier I has been called the biggest event of any kind in the history of New York City. That is saying a lot. It was probably the most anticipated and publicized sporting event in U.S. history as well. Every newspaper in the world had it on the front page and all of the networks were covering it in the evening news. Possibly only Louis - Schmeling II may have surpassed it but that is only my opinion.

Whoever said it was the biggest event in the history of NYC needs to think that one through a bit.
Or ,he or she must have said it before Sept.11 2001.

I don't care how big it was.. the fight sucked.

[actjac]

Ali-Frazier I has been called the biggest event of any kind in the history of New York City. That is saying a lot. It was probably the most anticipated and publicized sporting event in U.S. history as well. Every newspaper in the world had it on the front page and all of the networks were covering it in the evening news. Possibly only Louis - Schmeling II may have surpassed it but that is only my opinion.

Whoever said it was the biggest event in the history of NYC needs to think that one through a bit.
Or ,he or she must have said it before Sept.11 2001.

9-11 was not a scheduled and anticipated event but rather a shocking tragedy.

[overhand_right]

I don't care how big it was.. the fight sucked.

Eh? Its one of the greatest fights ever?

Whats up? Not enough body slams, boston crabs and suplexes for you?

[Expug]

Ali-Frazier I has been called the biggest event of any kind in the history of New York City. That is saying a lot. It was probably the most anticipated and publicized sporting event in U.S. history as well. Every newspaper in the world had it on the front page and all of the networks were covering it in the evening news. Possibly only Louis - Schmeling II may have surpassed it but that is only my opinion.

Whoever said it was the biggest event in the history of NYC needs to think that one through a bit.
Or ,he or she must have said it before Sept.11 2001.

9-11 was not a scheduled and anticipated event but rather a shocking tragedy.

I get your point.
But the post said "biggest event of any kind".
And 911 was a gutless scumbag terrorist attack.

[cultus]

I don't care how big it was.. the fight sucked.

Eh? Its one of the greatest fights ever?

Whats up? Not enough body slams, boston crabs and suplexes for you?

I just find it booring.. , just an oppinion. ... Fraziers and Alis's styles didn't work sparks. .. im not even taking a piss.

[overhand_right]

Fraziers and Alis's styles didn't work sparks. .. im not even taking a piss.

Im speechless... There is nothing to say....

What on earth do you find exciting in a fight? Death? A complete bloodbath?... Its near impossible to think of any better fights than Frazier/Ali I and III.....

[actjac]

Fraziers and Alis's styles didn't work sparks. .. im not even taking a piss.

Im speechless... There is nothing to say....

What on earth do you find exciting in a fight? Death? A complete bloodbath?... Its near impossible to think of any better fights than Frazier/Ali I and III.....

The entire country stopped that evening. Everyone who didn't go to a theatre to watch closed circuit was listening to the round by round reports on the radio. The fight maybe was not all time memorable but the event was unforgettable.

[ringsider]

I just find it booring.. , just an oppinion. ... Fraziers and Alis's styles didn't work sparks. .. im not even taking a piss.

To say that and mean it, a person has to be a fuking idiot. Or just pulling his middle leg...

[cultus]

I just find it booring.. , just an oppinion. ... Fraziers and Alis's styles didn't work sparks. .. im not even taking a piss.

To say that and mean it, a person has to be a fuking idiot. Or just pulling his middle leg...

the great historycal principle of logic greated by ringsider tells us that when one disagrees with ringsider, one is autmaticly an idiot.

just accept the oppinon and go to bed.

Im sure it was a big night in boxing.. .but me who knew the result before he watched the fight finds it booring. One guy who hit other at will and had no power and other fighter who threw the same damn punch trough 15 rounds of vibrating side to side. I never even finished the ALI vs Frazier III .. cose it was so booring.

[Eric the Viking]

So, Uncle Cultauskus, care to give us some examples of fights you *didn't* find boring? Love to hear what counts as excitement in your household.

[granberry]

Ali-Frazier I has been called the biggest event of any kind in the history of New York City. That is saying a lot. It was probably the most anticipated and publicized sporting event in U.S. history as well. Every newspaper in the world had it on the front page and all of the networks were covering it in the evening news. Possibly only Louis - Schmeling II may have surpassed it but that is only my opinion.

Whoever said it was the biggest event in the history of NYC needs to think that one through a bit.
Or ,he or she must have said it before Sept.11 2001.

I don't care how big it was.. the fight sucked.

It certainly sucked for Ali.

[granberry]

Ali-Frazier I has been called the biggest event of any kind in the history of New York City. That is saying a lot. It was probably the most anticipated and publicized sporting event in U.S. history as well.

Yeah,there was no interest in Dempsey's fights.

Especially no interest in the 2nd Tunney fight.

And no one was interested in the Johnson-Jeffries fight.

Nothing ever existed before Ali.

At least that's what the "experts" in the current media seem to think.

[actjac]

Ali-Frazier I has been called the biggest event of any kind in the history of New York City. That is saying a lot. It was probably the most anticipated and publicized sporting event in U.S. history as well.

Yeah,there was no interest in Dempsey's fights.

Especially no interest in the 2nd Tunney fight.

And no one was interested in the Johnson-Jeffries fight.

Nothing ever existed before Ali.

At least that's what the "experts" in the current media seem to think.

Certainly those fights were huge in their day but as opposed to 1971 and the age of media saturation the 19teens and 20's had vast parts of rural America still without electricity. No radios and certainly no TV. There were only newspapers perhaps once a week in many parts of the U.S. and through out parts of North America people didn't hear about the results for days and even weeks afterwards. There were no AP Wirephotos and no Howard Cosell on ABC pumping the hype every Saturday for weeks ahead. The Ali-Frazier I fight was the most broadly covered sports event ever up to that time. I would argue that Louis-Schemeling II was the most antiticipated though.

[granberry]

"There were no AP Wirephotos and no Howard Cosell on ABC pumping the hype every Saturday for weeks ahead."

Sorry, but you have a lot to learn about earlier-than-Ali boxing.

The photos of the 1906 Gans-Nelson Goldfield Nevada fight in the newspapers across the country were as clear as a bell.

Go look them up sometime.

The results round by round were put up on telegraphic reading boards in many US cities with huge crowds gathered to see them.

Jim Corbett was a worldwide celebrity after he beat John L Sullivan in 1892.

As for your mention of incompetent gasbag Howard Cosell, that speaks for itself.

The garbage of ABC TV, Cosell, Sports Illustrated, and company was the destruction of boxing.

[actjac]

"There were no AP Wirephotos and no Howard Cosell on ABC pumping the hype every Saturday for weeks ahead."

Sorry, but you have a lot to learn about earlier-than-Ali boxing.

The photos of the 1906 Gans-Nelson Goldfield Nevada fight in the newspapers across the country were as clear as a bell.

Go look them up sometime.

The results round by round were put up on telegraphic reading boards in many US cities with huge crowds gathered to see them.

Jim Corbett was a worldwide celebrity after he beat John L Sullivan in 1892.

As for your mention of incompetent gasbag Howard Cosell, that speaks for itself.

The garbage of ABC TV, Cosell, Sports Illustrated, and company was the destruction of boxing.

As I said..."The Ali-Frazier I fight was the most broadly covered sports event ever up to that time." Ali was probably the most famous person in the world. With the vast coverage how can any other fight compete? Louis-Schmeling II was probably more socially important and at least equally anticipated if not more so.

[actjac]

Will tonight's event match the anticipation of Ali-Fraziet I ?

[Andrew]

Will tonight's event match the anticipation of Ali-Fraziet I ?

Way before my time.

But no chance.

Weren't even bigger than May PAC IMO and that would have been significantly bigger if it happened in early 2010

[elmersalsa]

Will tonight's event match the anticipation of Ali-Fraziet I ?

No way. There was nothing like The Fight of the Century and nothing will ever be matched. Ali vs Frazier I is the one for the ages.