Fight of the Century against Joe Frazier
One of the major accomplishments of Muhammad Ali is that he had the fight of the Century against Joe Frazier. Due to the immense hype around a meeting between two undefeated fighters, both with a legitimate claim to be heavyweight champion, Ali and Frazier's first fight, held at the Garden on March 8, 1971, was dubbed the "Fight of the Century." John Condon, a veteran US boxing reporter, declared it "the greatest event I've ever worked on in my life." The fight was broadcast in 36 countries, and the promoters provided 760 press passes.
The extensive pre-fight theatrics and name-calling added to the atmosphere. Before the fight, Frazier referred to Ali as "Cassius Clay," which infuriated Ali and then Ali described Frazier as a "dumb tool of the white establishment." "Frazier is too ugly to win," Ali added. "Frazier is too dumb to be champ." Ali also commonly called Frazier an "Uncle Tom." According to Dave Wolf, who worked in Frazier's camp, he recalled that "Ali was saying 'the only people rooting for Joe Frazier are white people in suits, Alabama sheriffs, and members of the Ku Klux Klan. I'm fighting for the little man in the ghetto.' Joe was sitting there, smashing his fist into the palm of his hand, saying, 'What the fuck does he know about the ghetto?".
The battle on Monday night lived up to its expectations. A crouched, bobbing, and weaving Frazier aggressively harassed Ali, getting struck routinely by Ali jabs and combinations but relentlessly attacking and scoring repeatedly, particularly to Ali's torso. The battle was close in the early rounds, but Ali was taking more punishment than he had ever taken in his career. In the later rounds, Ali leaned on the ropes and accepted damage from Frazier, intending to tire him out. This was the first occurrence of the rope-a-dope strategy.
In the 11th round, Frazier wobbled Ali with a left hook, but because Ali appeared to be clowning as he staggered back across the ring, Frazier was hesitant to pursue his advantage, fearing an Ali counter-attack. Frazier knocked Ali down in the final round with a devastating left hook that referee Arthur Mercante described as hard as a guy can be hit. Ali was up and running again in three seconds. Despite this, Ali was defeated by unanimous decision, his first professional defeat.
