March 8 1971: A Day Boxing Fans Cannot Forget

The match everyone was waiting for: Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali. Not only was it a battle between two undefeated heavyweight champions that have never lost a match, it was also a battle between the nation’s different views of the Vietnam War. Taking place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, this battle was known as the “Fight of the Century.”
Ali, held a record of 31-0 before his match with Frazier. Having no losses, Ali earned the nickname, “The Greatest.” In 1964, Ali declared he converted to Sunni Islam at the end of a match in which he beat Sonny Liston by a knockout. Three years later, Ali refused the participate in the Vietnam war due to religious purposes and therefore was banned from boxing. "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong," Ali was quoted on Wikipedia.org. Ali returned to boxing after three years and won his first match against Jerry Quarry. Ali, tough and confident as before, wanted to reclaim his heavyweight title and believed the match against Frazier would help to do so.
Frazier, was pro-war and believed that a man should fight for his country. He, however, did not fight in the war because he was a father and did not want to leave his child. Similar to Ali, Frazier entered without a loss against 26 wins.
The day finally arrived on March 8th, 1971 when the two champions finally met on the ring and fought against each other. Many people including Frank Sinatra went to see the match. Lasting 15 rounds, the first half of the fight belonged to Ali. Frazier took over the second half catching Ali’s left hooks and body blows and Ali began to slow down. At the end of the 15th round, Frazier hit a left hook leaving Ali with his first defeat.
The “Fight of the Century” was the most significant fight in boxing history. Ali was left with a loss, however Frazier won the heavyweight championship. The fight left Ali forever linked the Frazier. "One cannot underestimate the contribution Smokin' Joe and Ali made to progress and change by creating the space, through their talent, for black men to be seen, visible and relevant. [This] helped make America better," said Ed Schuyler Jr on Espn.com