The Fight

By Randy De La O

I'm trying to find some kind of way todescribe to a younger generation just how big the first fight betweenJoe Frazier and Muhammad Ali was. If ever there was a fight thatcould accurately be deemed “The Fight of the Century” this wasthe one. It is often, just simply called “The Fight”. Noexplanation is needed.

Oh, there were other so called“Fights of the Century” but in terms of historic epic heavyweightfights, only Joe Louis vs Max Schmeling II, and perhaps Jack Johnsonvs James J. Jeffries come close. But this fight had something that noother heavyweight fight before it had; two undefeated heavyweights,each with a legitimate claim to the heavyweight title, the biggestprize in all of sports, perhaps the biggest prize anywhere. Add tothat all the media attention that was not available to those otherfights. The timing was right.

So big was the fight across the worldthat countries shut down and a war was put on hold – Joe Frazierand Muhammad Ali were going to fight. Celebrities, politicians,anyone and everyone wanted to be part of the act. Frank Sinatrahimself was to cover the fight as the photographer for Life magazine(I have that issue).

I was a junior in high school when thisfight took place. When I think, talk or write about this fight, oreither fighter, it is always through the eyes of a 16 year old boy, Ican't help it. As I write this my eyes are welling up with tears as Iremember. Both of these guys were my boxing heroes. It was hard forme to think of them fighting each other.

If you have read anything I havewritten before you know that my heart sometimes-No, make thatalways-overrides my head. I wear my heart on my sleeves. There is nohiding who I like and who I dislike. So when it was announced thatFrazier and Ali were going to fight, I was besides myself, trying todecide where to place my loyalty. Ultimately, I put my $5.00 weeklylunch money on Smokin' Joe (I didn't tell my parents).

My father, a fighter in the army, wasan old school fight fan and came from a time when fighters fought,not talked, and so he was not a fan of Ali. His guys were; Joe Louis,Rocky Marciano, Jerry Quarry and of course, Joe Frazier. Many fromthat generation could never quite warm up to Ali's bombastic style ofboasting. Me? I ate it up. I knew it was all an act. Still, JoeFrazier; stoic, fierce and with a determined scowl, pacing back andforth like a wild cat, anticipating his prey, really grabbed me.

Ali had a way of getting inside afighter's head. He would find out what another fighter's button wasand than push it, and no one could push it like Ali. Frazier hadbuilt a wall around himself and Ali was never able to penetrate it. What we know now, that we didn't know then, or at least I didn't, wasthat Ali's words did hurt Joe. The “Uncle Tom” and “Gorilla”tags hurt Joe to the core of his being and he carried that resentmentand anger throughout his life.

Somehow, Joe was able to channel thatanger inside the ring. Relentless, forward moving and constantlythrowing punches, but always in control.

Ali, as almost everyone already knows,was coming back from a three year exile. His last fight before he wasstripped of the heavyweight title was a 15 round title defenseagainst Zora Folley, stopping Folley in the 7^th round anddefending his WBA title.

It would be three years before Aliwould fight again. In his comeback Ali had taken on a new persona. Hewas now a genuine folk hero. He had taken a stance against the U.S.Government and the Viet Nam War and he won. As much as he was hated,or disliked before the exile, the political and social change thathad swept the country made him bigger than ever. Not to say thatthere were no longer any Ali haters, but they were no longer themajority.

Ali fought again on October, 1970 whena fight was finally secured in Atlanta, Georgia against popular andever tough West Coast favorite, “Irish” Jerry Quarry. Ali would stop Quarry in the 3^rd round. Officially the fight was aTKO due to cuts.

His next bout was with Argentina'sOscar Bonavena in December of 1970, at Madison Square Garden, NewYork. Ali stopped Bonavena in the 15^th round afterknocking the Argentinian down three times in the final round. Ali haddominated the fight. Next up: Joe Frazier.

In June of 1969, Frazier defeated JerryQuarry – in Ring Magazine's fight of the year- to win the New Yorkversion of the heavyweight title by stopping Quarry in the 7^thround of their scheduled 15 round fight.

Next on Frazier's hit list was JimmyEllis, for the vacant WBC title, as well as the WBA heavyweighttitle, also at stake was Joe's NYSAC heavyweight title. Ellis had wonhis version of the heavyweight championship by defeating Jerry Quarrya year earlier to win the heavyweight tournament. Ellis would beTKO'ed in 5 rounds. The fight was scheduled for 15 rounds. JoeFrazier was now the Heavyweight Champion of the world. Joe made quickwork of his next opponent, light heavy king, Bob Foster, as Fosterattempted to take the crown from Frazier. Foster was knocked out inthe 2^nd round. Next up: Muhammad Ali.

Back at school, as the fight wasapproaching, those that followed boxing, and even those that didn'ttypically follow the sport, were broken into two camps: Frazier orAli. It wasn't just school though, it was like that everywhere. Istayed out of any arguments. Despite the fact that I had pickedFrazier to win, I was still a fan of Ali. I picked Frazier because,at that time and from what I had seen. I thought him invincible. Asfar as my heart was concerned, I was loyal to both. I would saynothing bad about Ali. Both were the heavyweight champions.

This was all taking place before cableand PPV television. So we had to depend on the news from the radioand of course, from the paper the next day. The fight took place atMadison Square Garden, in New York. The Garden and New York werestill the epicenter of boxing in those days. The referee was ArthurMercante. Joe Frazier beat Ali by unanimous decision and was now theabsolute undisputed heavyweight champion of the word. Ali was downin the 15^th round as a result of a Frazier left hook. Istill have the newspaper from that day, forty plus years later. It'swrinkled, fragile and yellow now. It's in a box somewhere. The fightwas front page news all across the globe.

I had bragging rights at school, butreally as happy as I was that Frazier had won the fight I was equallyunhappy that Ali had lost. I was going to feel that way regardless ofwho won and lost. It's the price you pay for loving your fighters.

Over the years I have seen the fight onrebroadcasts and later on Youtube (a boxing fans best friend). Aliseemed in control in the early rounds but Joe was smoking and he justwas not going to lose. I never tire of watching it.

They fought three times in total. Theirlast fight , in 1975, was “The Thrilla in Manilla” which mighthave even surpassed the first fight. That fight ended in the 14^thround when trainer and cornerman, the late and great Eddie Futchrefused to let Joe come out for the final round. It's said that bothmen were near death that day. Whether that's true or not, I couldn'tsay. What I do know is that both men damaged each other. They foughteach other with every fiber of their beings. They took each other toa place that most of us will never see or imagine. Neither of themwere never again the same. Their fights with each other were of epic,almost mythical proportion. They were giants.

Their rivalry and trilogy was one forthe ages. Their feud transcended the ring. In the last couple ofyears, they finally made peace with each other. Joe forgave Ali forthe words, and belittlement. God Bless him for that.

I was lucky to be a fight fan whengiants still fought in the ring. Smokin' Joe Frazier, a fighter'sfighter and a man's man. Goodbye Joe, I'll miss you!