The Fight of the Century



Boxer Muhammad Ali, right, and Joe Frazier fought at Madison Square Garden 40 years ago today. (AP Photo)

From Sporting News:

Joe Frazier was at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, taking in a Knicks-Jazz game inside the building that calls itself The World’s Most Famous Arena. That affectation had drawn plenty of catcalls in the previous decade, when Stephon Marbury and Eddy Curry were upholding the legacy. This time, however, since Frazier was half of the reason the building earned that nickname, it seemed appropriate.

It’s hard to believe that 40 years have passed since Muhammad Ali and Frazier commanded the world’s attention inside the Garden, facing off on March 8, 1971, in the one and only Fight of the Century that lived up to the hype.

It’s just as hard to believe that, besides Smokin’ Joe getting a courtside seat for Knicks home game No. 31, not much else in and around the arena and the city was happening to commemorate that anniversary.....

Yes, that’s a lot of handlers doing business on behalf of two of the most significant sporting figures of all time, hardly unusual in boxing at any time in its history. They’ve done what they can do, though, to keep the memory of the Fight of the Century alive for those who need the refresher course, or the history lesson.

“Three hundred million watched on closed circuit around the world,’’ Wolff pointed out recently. “The Vietnam War took a break for a day because everybody in the military wanted to watch it. They stopped fighting in Northern Ireland. Literally, they stopped wars.’’