It was an overpowering modus operandi that led to versions of the heavyweight crown from 1968 to 1973. Known as Smokin’ Joe, Frazier stalked his opponents around the ring with a crouching, relentless attack - his head low and bobbing, his broad, powerful shoulders hunched - as he bore down on them with an onslaught of withering jabs and crushing body blows, setting them up for his devastating left hook. An announcement over the weekend that Frazier had received the diagnosis in late September and had been moved to hospice care early this month prompted an outpouring of tributes and messages of support. His business representative, Leslie Wolff, said the cause was liver cancer. And I’m grateful to call it my home.Joe Frazier, the former heavyweight champion whose furious and intensely personal fights with a taunting Muhammad Ali endure as an epic rivalry in boxing history, died Monday night at his home in Philadelphia. “Madison Square Garden brings out another side of me. “Not only do you feel the crowd, you also feel the history behind it and how many legends have been up on the big stage,” the lightweight champion continued. “The atmosphere is so much different from any other venue,” New Yorker Teofimo Lopez said after beating Richard Commey there in 2019. “It’s a much more earthy, and frankly, loud and more exciting one than you get in Vegas.”Ĭlearly, history counts for many and the Garden still has its prestige. “You know, you’re in here with the God tonight,” he asked Frazier, who replied: “If you are God, you’re in the wrong place tonight.” In reality, he was equally representative of working class black America and would point out he had arguably a tougher and poorer upbringing than Ali.Īccording to referee Arthur Mercante, Ali attempted his legendary mind games when it was just them between the ropes. Going into the fight, both had legitimate claims on the heavyweight title with Ali returning from years in exile having had his crown stripped from him during which time Frazier ascended to the throne.Īli was seen as the face of more liberal America and was cast as the representative of the oppressed black people, while Frazier was forced into the role of being the corporate champion. RESULT: Joe Frazier beat Muhammad Ali via UD after 15 rounds It was the first time two unbeaten heavyweights met in the ring.
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Wilder’s former trainer, Mark Breland, actually turned pro in the arena in 1984 on a card that incredibly also saw Evander Holyfield, Pernell Whitaker and Tyrell Biggs do the same.Īt some point along the line, though, there was a shift in power allowing Las Vegas to move in and usurp New York’s crown as fight capital of the world. How he got up, only Tyson Fury will know as he did something similar against Deontay Wilder.” “I shan’t forget the left hook that put Ali down in the 15th and final round. “The fight itself was magnificent,” Hart continued. Ol’ Blue Eyes was so good with the camera that one of his snaps made the cover of Life Magazine. Joe Louis was clapped to his seat when he entered the arena, Burt Lancaster was on hand to provide colour commentary in between rounds, while a fight was on between the rich and famous to be near to the action.įrank Sinatra couldn’t even command a ringside seat, but desperate to see someone else swinging for a change, got himself a photographer’s accreditation so he could watch from ringside. Sinatra took a job as a Life magazine photographer for Ali vs Frazier as it was the only way he could get ringside “Today, the heavyweight champions would see that as tipping money,” journalist Colin Hart, who was among at least 700 reporters in attendance, told talkSPORT.
“For a person to fight in Madison Square Garden, they had to be a very special individual,” his legendary trainer Angelo Dundee once remarked.Īli had many of his defining moments there, including the ‘Fight of the Century’, which took place 50 years ago on 8 March, 1971 against Joe Frazier, a fight he lost after 15 gruelling rounds of boxing.īoth collected $2.5m for their troubles, which was unheard of at the time.
Where gladiators once had the colosseum, ‘The Greatest’ had Madison Square Garden to lap up the applause. MSG is not shy about letting you know this place has history running through its winding corridors and it’s impossible to talk about the place without mentioning Muhammad Ali. MSG III: 1925-1968 (the first to be built away from Madison Square) It's a New York City landmark and has hosted everything from basketball, ice hockey to concerts, but Madison Square Garden epitomises boxing's glory nights
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