Ali-Frazier: The Fight of the Century

Forty years ago today, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier squared off at Madison Square Garden in one of the most anticipated fights in boxing history. Both men earned $2.5 million, an unprecedented purse.

The media, frothing at the mouth, dubbed it the Fight of the Century. Every celebrity attended, however they could. Burt Lancaster broadcast the fight on closed-circuit television. Frank Sinatra assisted Life magazine photographer John Shearer. Hubert Humphries, the Democratic party's recent candidate for vice president, sat in the cheap seats. It was an event.

I've written about this before. Frazier beat Ali, but Ali won the 1974 rematch and the third-- and final-- fight, the "Thrilla in Manila."