Just outside of Madison Square Garden's 7th Avenue doors are soaring, decorated, celebratory columns of Garden historical splendor. A center one is plastered with a photograph and these words of a transcending boxing event that soon reaches 40 years old:
``THE FIGHT OF THE CENTURY _ MARCH 8, 1971.''
Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier.
It was the first of their trilogy of blazing boxing dances, a Garden bash with the nation plus corners of the world all bopping too, transfixed. Ali vs. Frazier. The Greatest vs. Smokin' Joe. Louisville's lip vs. Philadelphia's pride. Peace vs. war. The anti-establishment vs. the establishment.
Ali lost.
But he would win both rematches -- "Ali-Frazier II'' in 1974 and the "Thrilla in Manila'' in 1975.
In losing, Ali gained droplets of mercy and understanding. In losing, he became more than a light of hope. This loss would continue the comeback narrative that marked his heavyweight boxing career, the comeback narrative that has served as the brushstroke of his life. He was knocked down. He got up. He flew.
The Fight of the Century, approaching anniversary 40, proved a grand essential in the larger, more blazing footprints of Muhammad Ali.
A HISTORY LESSON
Ali was born in Louisville, Ky., on Jan. 17, 1942.
He once said of his childhood: "In my heart, I always felt I have a special purpose. I've always wanted to be more than just a boxer. When I was young, I used to have this dream that I was running down the street and all of the people were standing around waving at me and cheering me on. Then I just took off flying. I dreamed that dream all of the time."
He won a boxing Gold Medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics and won his first pro fight later that year. In 1964, he changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali and joined the Nation of Islam, later becoming Muslim. In 1967, he refused to fight in the Vietnam War.
At that time he was age 25, he was 29-0 as a pro and he was a controversial topic in an era of hotbed issues, among them the war and women's and civil rights.
Boxing authorities stripped Ali of his world title because of his war stance. He was suspended from the sport and absorbed a nearly four-year ban. His last fight before the suspension was March 22, 1967. His first afterward was Oct. 26, 1970.
After his layoff, he boxed only twice in tune-ups before The Fight of the Century. That first clash with Frazier would prove to be Ali's first pro loss.
"It had been building for several years while Ali was in exile,'' said Larry Merchant, a boxing analyst who has covered the sport for more than half of the last century. "Two unbeaten Olympic champions who were crowd-pleasing in their own ways. Contrasting in their personalities and styles. Ali not supporting the war, Frazier supporting it. This fight, coming at a time of war and racial revolutions that were happening -- it was all a crescendo. If you were breathing on this planet, you knew about the fight.''
Merchant covered his first pro fight as a reporter in 1957 in Yankee Stadium.
But the Fight of the Century, the first of Ali-Frazier, he said, "is the greatest event I've ever covered in boxing. You could not have a buildup to any higher expectations. And then the fight itself exceeded those expectations.''
FIGHT NIGHT
Celebrities helped fill The Garden on March 8, 1971, including singer Frank Sinatra, who, minus tickets, gained a press pass and took photographs for Life Magazine. There were dark suits and dark ties contrasting colorful '70s garb. The political world was there. The underworld was there.
Celebrities helped fill The Garden on March 8, 1971, including singer Frank Sinatra, who, minus tickets, gained a press pass and took photographs for Life Magazine.
And Ali had stoked Frazier's fury by calling him ignorant, his looks "gorilla" and his pro war stance "Uncle Tom."
Each fighter was guaranteed $2.5 million, an unheard of purse in those times.
The Garden sizzled.
"The atmosphere was really wonderful and you knew you were at an event that would be remembered for lifetimes,'' said Howard Bingham, Ali's best friend for the last 49 years, an Ali photographer and biographer who has chronicled much of Ali's life. Bingham photographed The Fight of the Century and most of Ali's fights beginning in 1962 until Ali's last fight in 1981.
"All of the big names were there, '' Bingham said, "from Barbra Streisand to the hustlers and pimps. Ali's father and mother and family were there. He didn't say much that night before the fight. But he was amazed at the people that showed up. The outfits. I would travel with him all over the world, but that night stands out. The fight -- it didn't go too well.''
It went this way:
Ali won the first three rounds, but he suffered welts to his face. Frazier won the fourth round, displaying his robust left hook and piercing body blows. It appeared an even fight until late in Round 11 when Frazier connected with another blunt left hook. And then early in Round 15, the final round, Frazier decked Ali with a zinging left hook, swelling Ali's jaw. But Ali got up.
He finished.
Frazier wins by unanimous decision.
Ali loses.
New York Times fabled columnist Red Smith wrote of the fight: "If they fought a dozen times, Joe Frazier would whip Muhammad Ali a dozen times; and it would get easier as it went along.''
But Ali -- who proved Smith wrong, who became a three-time world heavyweight champion, who would sit with presidents and meet with kings, who arguably became the most recognized man in the world -- instantly after the fight used it to transform his image, his life.
"One of the happily perverse things about the fight was Ali fought so bravely and took the loss so well that many fans who had reacted in a negative way to him in one way or another -- to his style, his political reform, his religious beliefs, his self-promotion antics, his trash talking and whatever else it was that turned them off to Ali -- were won over,'' Merchant recalled.
"He gave Frazier full credit. Ali was on TV laughing at himself, pointing to his swollen jaw where Frazier's left hook had landed, smiling and giving credit to Frazier. That set up his comeback. Many other aspects of that night and that fight, books and parts of books have been devoted to it to provide documentation of how huge it was, and all of those things are evidence of that.''
FAST FORWARD
Muhammad Ali is 69 now. He is battling Parkinson's disease, a progressive degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. He spends most of his time where he lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.
He has nine children -- seven daughters and two sons -- and is especially close to his sixth child, Hana, who has written two books about her father, the last one in 2004 titled "The Soul of a Butterfly.''
"My father is a spiritual man and every day is different,'' Hana said. "He speaks sometimes in a voice more like a whisper. He is never bedridden. He is not in pain. He gets up, showers, has breakfast, watches an old Western movie or an old Elvis movie, has his physical therapy and likes to go for a ride. He hasn't stopped, just slowed down a bit. Parkinson's is a part of his journey in life and he knows it.''
"He always told me that a boxer must have will and skill and the will must be greater than the skill. In that loss to Joe Frazier, his character was further formed."
-- Hana Ali
Just one more part of his comeback narrative.
"In order to be the champion he became, he had to lose the Fight of the Century; it was a part of his destiny,'' she said. "He always told me that a boxer must have will and skill and the will must be greater than the skill. In that loss to Joe Frazier, his character was further formed. He had heart and developed tolerance and patience with so many people who did not have that for him. Other people who have Parkinson's are often not as spiritual as him but he gives them hope. He likes to read their mail. People have different experiences with it. It is moment by moment rather than day by day.''
The Fight of the Century on March 8, 1971, was a detour for Muhammad Ali. It was a lesson of humility. It served as a genesis for one of his many comeback narratives in his flight toward unspeakable gifts and greatness.
"His plan did not always work out the way he chose, but in his silence ....'' said Hana, her voice trailing. "He came back many times over, including from the Fight of the Century, to show the world how great he was with a grandiose purpose in life. He never thought small.''
Tomorrow: David Steele speaks to Joe Frazier for his side of the Fight of the Century
sports basement bikes sports basement coupon sports basement locations sports games
No comments:
Post a Comment