It was such a hot ticket even Frank Sinatra pleaded to be a photographer to get ringside
ALI v FRAZIER, NEW YORK, 1971
IT would have been the easiest $15,000 Bob Arum ever made.
It was $15k for six $150 tickets to see Muhammad Ali face Joe Frazier in the Fight of the Century. But there was no way Arum was going to part with the hottest tickets in sporting history
– the Super Bowl, World Series and
World Cup final rolled into one.
Monday marks half a century since Ali and Frazier clashed at
New York’s Madison Square Garden and Arum says the world wanted to be there.
“Because I was Ali’s lawyer I was able to buy six ringside seats, the best seats in the place,” the Top
Rank chief told Mirror Sport.
“They cost me $150 each and I remember being offered $15,000 for them. Lawyers in New York weren’t making $15,000 a year so that was an enormous amount of money. That’s the equivalent now of $50,00-60,000 and I turned it down – that shows the frenzy that surrounded the fight.”
Anyone who was anyone was among the 20,455 crowd, including Gene Kelly, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Ted Kennedy, Sammy Davis Junior and Woody Allen. Burt Lancaster was the guest commentator, while Frank Sinatra (below) persuaded Life magazine to allow him to be their ringside photographer because he was so desperate to be there.
A record 300 million people watched in 50 countries and fights broke out in some venues when the coverage went down.
Arum (above) says the fight was so colossal because it reflected the division in America over the
Vietnam War. Ali had been stripped of the world heavyweight title in 1967 and barred from fighting for three years for refusing to serve in Vietnam.
“The country was politically polarised,” said Arum, who celebrates Top Rank’s 55th anniversary this year.
“Ali was the representative of the anti-Vietnam War movement and those speaking out for black equality.
“Frazier’s people, and not Joe, tended to be proVietnam War.”
Ali portrayed Frazier as a compliant Uncle Tom figure, kowtowing to the white establishment, even though the champion had supported him during his ban and given him money. “Ali was just selling the fight, but Joe took it very personal,” said Arum.
This bitterness ensured the fight lived up to its massive hype. While Arum thought Ali would beat Frazier with ease, his three years out of the ring had taken their toll. Ali no longer floated like a butterfly and Frazier gradually took control.
The showreel moment came in the 15th round when Frazier detonated a left hook on Ali’s chin and down he went. Although Ali, his jaw badly swollen, survived to hear the final bell, he was beaten.
Frazier won by a unanimous decision, The Greatest had been humbled, boxing’s immortal had been made mortal.
Arum has seen everything since his first show promoting Ali in 1966 and says nothing tops the Fight of the Century.
“The Rumble in the Jungle doesn’t compare, nothing compares with that night,” he said.