Fight of the Century
| Date | March 8, 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue |
Madison Square Garden New York City |
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| Title(s) on the line | Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship WBC/WBA Heavyweight Championship |
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| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Frazier won in 15 rounds via unanimous decision |
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| Boxer |
 Joe Frazier
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Muhammad Ali
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| Nickname | Smokin' Joe | The Greatest | |
| Hometown | Beaufort, South Carolina | Louisville, Kentucky | |
| Pre-fight record | 26–0 (23 KOs) | 31–0 (25 KOs) | |
| Height | 5 ft 11.5 in (1.82 m) | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | |
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg) | 215 lb (98 kg) | |
| Recognition | WBC/WBA Heavyweight Champion | Lineal Champion |
The Fight of the Century (also known as The Fight) is the title boxing writers and historians have given to the boxing match between WBC/WBA heavyweight champion Joe Frazier (26–0, 23 KOs) and Ring magazine/lineal heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali (31–0, 25 KOs), held on Monday, March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Frazier won in 15 rounds via unanimous decision. It was the first time that two undefeated boxers fought each other for the heavyweight title.
In 1971, both Ali and Frazier had legitimate claims to the title of World Heavyweight Champion. An undefeated Ali had won the title from Sonny Liston in Miami Beach in 1964, and successfully defended his belt up until he had it stripped by boxing authorities for refusing induction into the armed forces in 1967. In Ali's absence, the undefeated Frazier garnered two championship belts through knockouts of Buster Mathis and Jimmy Ellis. He was recognized by boxing authorities as the World Champion. Unlike Mathis and Ellis, Frazier was plausibly Ali's superior, which created a tremendous amount of hype and anticipation for a match pitting the two undefeated fighters against one another to decide who was the true heavyweight champ.
Ringside seats were $150 (around $880 in 2016 dollars) and each man was guaranteed 2.5 million dollars. In addition to the millions who watched on closed-circuit broadcast screens around the world, the Garden was packed with a sellout crowd of 20,455 that provided a gate of $1.5 million.
Prior to his enforced layoff, Ali had displayed uncommon speed and dexterity for a man of his size. He had dominated most of his opponents to the point that he had often predicted the round in which he would knock them out. However, in the fight preceding the Frazier fight, Ali struggled at times during his 15th-round TKO of Oscar Bonavena, an unorthodox Argentinian fighter who was prepared by Hall of Fame trainer Gil Clancy.
Frazier had an outstanding left hook, and was a tenacious competitor who attacked the body of his opponent ferociously. Despite suffering from a serious bout of hypertension in the lead-up to the fight, he appeared to be in top form as the face-off between the two undefeated champions approached.
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