ALI vs FRAZIER

Treasured memories of The Fight of the Century, 50 years on

IT seems unfair that neither Muhammad Ali or Joe Frazier are still around for the 50th anniversary of their Fight of the Century that took place on March 8, 1971. Had they, Ali would be 79, Frazier 77. Of the 20,455 who were in attendance at Madison Square Garden, odds are that only a small percentage are still around. I am one of them having sat up in the rafters in the very last row, Ali’s back to me as he was felled by that famous Frazier left hook in the final round.

It was pure luck which allowed me to attend as I would learn many years later, when I became close friends with Tommy Kenville who worked at MSG’S publicity department at the time and was one of the people entrusted with dispersing tickets to the public.

It is a myth that all tickets were gone a few hours after going on sale. In those days, much of the ticket requests were done through the mail, the first batch of arriving envelopes being given priority. Tickets were scaled from $20-150, a mere pittance in today’s market but pricey for the time. My request for a $20 ticket in the balcony was mailed a couple of days after they had gone on sale. According to Kenville, I was able to get my ticket to the hottest event in the history of mankind only because the vast majority of requests were for multiple seats. Once those were filled MSG had only a few single seats scattered throughout the arena that they dispersed only to those who had requested a solitary seat, such as myself.

I was a high school senior at the time, but my youth did not prohibit me from realising it would be an event that would be talked about for the rest of my life. The desire to be at MSG was so great that I never told anyone I had a ticket to attend for fear that it might motivate a burglar to break into my home and steal my cherished ducat.

As the fight drew near the suspense was unbearable. The symbolic nature of what the fight represented far exceeded that of a sporting event. The players could not have been more opposite, not only in ring styles, but in personalities as well. It would be the first time in boxing history where two unbeaten heavyweight champions would square off, 26-0 (23) Frazier 26-0 and 31-0 (25) Ali. But more than just deciding an undisputed champion it would also pit warring factions

SOUVENIR OF A LIFETIME: Tickets for the first bout between Ali and Frazier were priced between $20 and $150 which was costly at the time but would be deemed a steal in today’s market