Muhammad Ali – Joe Frazier epic battle at MSG 40 years ago today

Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier first bout remembered today

Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier fought the first fight of their legendary trilogy 40 years ago today at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Frazier, the champion, successfully defended his WBA and WBC heavyweight belt by defeating Ali through a unanimous 15-round decision.

The two fighters inflicted much damage against each other that they both had to spend some time in the hospital after the fierce bout.

In their rematch in New York in 1974, Muhammad Ali won over Joe Frazier via a 12-round unanimous decision. Their third and final fight, the "Thrilla in Manila" was also won by Ali.

On the anniversary of their first fight, Ali visited the Chicago White Sox pre-season training camp in Tucson on Tuesday. The team presented the boxer with a number 40 jersey with the word "Champ" stitched.

Meanwhile, in an interview with sports channel ESPN, Joe Frazier reminisced about his fight against Muhammad Ali and said it was the greatest win of his boxing career.

"He was going around saying how great he was, how pretty he was," Frazier said about Ali's incessant talking prior to the fight. "I got him to quiet down some. A little. Not much."

"I went out there and showed him what the country was all about and what Joe Frazier was all about," he added.

Now 40 years on, the rivalry lingers, but not without some sympathy for the man who called himself "The Greatest." Parkinson's disease has ravaged the once flamboyant, forever legendary Muhammad Ali.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Wednesday March 09 2011, 4:03 AM EST. Ref: AFP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0