A statue of Joe Frazier about to land his historic left hook to the jaw of Muhammad Ali was unveiled Monday in Philadelphia.
The image of Joe Frazier landing a perfect left hook to put Muhammad Ali down in their first fight is etched in the minds of many boxing fans. Now it has been immortalized in bronze.
Frazier handed Ali his first professional defeat 50 years ago Monday in the “Fight of the Century,” with the 15th-round knockdown punctuating his career-defining victory.
In honor of the event, a 9-foot-tall, 1,600-pound statue depicting the punch was unveiled at a gym near Philadelphia owned by Joe Hand Promotions, whose founder helped finance Frazier’s early career. The statue will be moved to a planned Pennsylvania sports museum.
A statue depicts Joe Frazier (right) about to land the left hook that put Muhammad Ali down in the “Fight of the Century.” AP Photo / Matt Rourke
A mural in North Philadelphia also was unveiled.
Two of Frazier’s sons and a daughter attended the ceremony at the gym.
“It just means so much just to see the accolades, the admiration, how much people revere not just Ali, but my father,” Joe Frazier Jr. said, per The Associated Press. “They both have a story. We loved Ali just as much as we love Frazier.
“At the end of the day, this was the one my father was victorious in.”
The mural includes one of Frazier’s favorite sayings: “There is no right way to do wrong and there is no wrong way to do right.”
A statue of Frazier already exists in a complex featuring Philadelphia’s sports venues. Philly was Frazier’s adopted hometown. He died at 67 years old in 2011.
“He just represents what Philadelphia is all about,” Frazier Jr. said. “Work hard. It’s not all about talking with your mouth. It’s speaking with your action. That’s what it’s about.”
A statue of Joe Frazier about to land his historic left hook to the jaw of Muhammad Ali was unveiled Monday in Philadelphia.
The image of Joe Frazier landing a perfect left hook to put Muhammad Ali down in their first fight is etched in the minds of many boxing fans. Now it has been immortalized in bronze.
Frazier handed Ali his first professional defeat 50 years ago Monday in the “Fight of the Century,” with the 15th-round knockdown punctuating his career-defining victory.
In honor of the event, a 9-foot-tall, 1,600-pound statue depicting the punch was unveiled at a gym near Philadelphia owned by Joe Hand Promotions, whose founder helped finance Frazier’s early career. The statue will be moved to a planned Pennsylvania sports museum.
A statue depicts Joe Frazier (right) about to land the left hook that put Muhammad Ali down in the “Fight of the Century.” AP Photo / Matt Rourke
A mural in North Philadelphia also was unveiled.
Two of Frazier’s sons and a daughter attended the ceremony at the gym.
“It just means so much just to see the accolades, the admiration, how much people revere not just Ali, but my father,” Joe Frazier Jr. said, per The Associated Press. “They both have a story. We loved Ali just as much as we love Frazier.
“At the end of the day, this was the one my father was victorious in.”
The mural includes one of Frazier’s favorite sayings: “There is no right way to do wrong and there is no wrong way to do right.”
A statue of Frazier already exists in a complex featuring Philadelphia’s sports venues. Philly was Frazier’s adopted hometown. He died at 67 years old in 2011.
“He just represents what Philadelphia is all about,” Frazier Jr. said. “Work hard. It’s not all about talking with your mouth. It’s speaking with your action. That’s what it’s about.”
Ali vs. Frazier I: A look back at the ‘Fight of the Century’ 50 years later.
The “Fight of the Century” was much more than a prize fight.
Sports and politics collided in dramatic fashion on March 8, 1971, 50 years ago this Monday. That was the date when Hall of Famers Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier met in the first of their three historic heavyweight battles.
The fight itself was significant. Ali and Frazier were both unbeaten former Olympic gold medalists who had legitimate claims on the heavyweight championship, which had even casual boxing fans clamoring for a showdown to settle the matter.
That was only half of the equation, though. The country was in upheaval at the time, bitterly divided by racial issues and the Vietnam War. And the fighters took the ideological battles into the ring with them, which added fire to an event that already stirred passions.
Muhammad Ali (left) and Joe Frazier gave fans an unforgettable night on March 8, 1971. AP Photo / John Lindsay
Ali had become a polarizing figure after joining the separatist Nation of Islam and then refusing induction into the U.S. Army, which cost him his boxing license, his title and 3½ of his prime years at the same time he become a symbol of both the civil rights and anti-war movements. That made him a martyr in some circles, a villain in others.
The apolitical Frazier became an unwitting symbol of the white establishment, in part because that’s how Ali defined him. Frazier had lobbied for Ali to regain his license and helped him financially during the lean years of his hiatus only to become the target of nasty barbs in the lead-up to the fight.
The worst? Ali referred to him as an “Uncle Tom,” a label that cut Frazier and his family deeply.
As a result, fans backed one or the other fighter as much for what they symbolized as their abilities in the ring, which created a combustible event.
“I’ve never seen an athletic event divide the country like this one,” said journalist Jerry Izenberg, who covered the events leading up to the fight. “… The country was completely split. Part of it was Ali saying that he wasn’t mad at the Vietcong. Everyone just had an opinion on it.
“And it just built to a crescendo by the time of the fight. It was very emotional.”
The 20,000-seat Garden was packed on fight night. An arena executive said later that “we could’ve sold out 10 Madison Square Gardens.” A parade of celebrities was there to be seen, including Frank Sinatra, who was hired as a photographer by Life Magazine. More than 2,000 journalists from around the world applied for 600 credentials. An estimated 300 million people watched on TV.
An obsessed Frazier (left) kept pressure on Ali from beginning to end. AFP via Getty Images
And the fighters didn’t disappointment once the opening bell rang.
Ali (31-0, 25 KOs) had knocked out Jerry Quarry and Oscar Bonavena since he regained his license as a result of a court decision. Those fights allowed him to shed some rust, but he wasn’t quite as quick and fluid at 29 as he had been in his early years. The older Ali relied as much on guile and toughness as athleticism.
As his trainer Angelo Dundee once told me with great pain, “Muhammad lost his best years as a boxer when he was away.”
Frazier (26-0, 23 KOs) had picked up the heavyweight championship after Ali was stripped. And he was on a roll, overwhelming one elite opponent after another with his bobbing, weaving aggression and a left hook from hell.
The key to the fight was Frazier’s relentless pursuit of his prey and Ali’s inability to slow him down, at least long term. Ali, fighting more flatfooted than he had in the past, landed quick, accurate shots to dissuade Smokin’ Joe temporarily but he was stoppable this night.
By the late rounds Frazier had edged ahead of Ali and saved his best for last.
Ali was pushing the action in a bid to rally in the 15th and final round when Frazier connected on the greatest punch of his career, a perfect left hook that knocked Ali flat on his back. He got to his feet immediately and survived to hear the final bell but his fate seemed sealed.
All three judges (including referee Arthur Mercante) scored it for Frazier, 11-4-1, 9-6 and 8-6-1, which settled the debate – at least for the moment – over who was the best heavyweight in the world.
“I always knew who the champion was,” Frazier said.
Frazier (left) put Ali down with this left hook in the 15th and final round. AP Photo
Ali handled his first setback with dignity. And he made a promise: “Don’t worry, we’ll be back. We ain’t through yet.”
That turned out to be an understatement. Some of his greatest moments lay ahead, including his stunning knockout of George Foreman – who had taken the title from Frazier – to regain the heavyweight championship in 1974. He also would defeat Frazier in the second and third installments of their trilogy, including the unforgettable Thrilla in Manila, one of the great prize fights in history.
And, perhaps unthinkable in 1971, Ali would evolve into one of the most beloved sports figures in history. He would distance himself from radical organizations and his stand against the unpopular war eventually was embraced.
The only one who wouldn’t forgive Ali was Frazier, at least not completely. The two became cordial over time but he never forgot the manner in which Ali treated him before all three of their fights.
I interviewed Frazier about 30 years after the “Fight of the Century.” The moment that stood out most was his response when asked about Ali’s deteriorating health, a result of Parkinson’s disease and the punches he had taken in his career.
“How do you think he got that way? It was me,” Frazier said, as if he took pride in the damage he might’ve caused.
