Originally published March 13, 2006.
IT WAS NEARLY 35 years ago, and the visiting bishop stood at the front of the church and looked out among the elementary school students of Immaculate Heart of Mary. He had just read a story from the New Testament about a miracle Jesus had performed, and he wanted to engage the students during his homily. "Who was the most powerful man who ever lived?" he asked us. A hand shot up among the first-graders.
The bishop pointed to the boy, and I saw that it was my little brother Pat. "Tell us young man," the bishop said. Pat confidently replied, "Joe Frazier! "
That story is now legendary in my family, and we always have a good laugh when we recall it, but his answer was understandable.
Just a few years earlier, my uncle's friend had given me and each of my five brothers a photo of a promising young Philadelphia heavyweight. Handwritten on the photos were the words: "Keep on smokin'. Joe Frazier. "
We all believed that Smokin' Joe had personally written those words just for us, and he quickly achieved near-divine status in our home. The photos adorned the walls above our bunk beds, and when he finally fought for the title and beat Jimmy Ellis, we were ecstatic. But we also all knew there was one great fighter that Joe had to defeat before he was universally recognized as the true heavyweight champion.
Last Wednesday marked the date 35 years ago of what many regard as the greatest fight in boxing history. At Madison Square Garden, for the first time, an undefeated heavyweight champ, Joe Frazier, would face an undefeated ex-champ, Muhammad Ali.
It was billed as "The Fight of the Century," and legendary boxing announcer Don Dunphy called it the greatest night in the history of sports. Luminaries from entertainment, sports and politics vied for ringside seats. Ali and Frazier received record purses of $2.5 million each, the Garden was sold out a month in advance, and an estimated 300 million watched it on closed-circuit TV.
Before the opening bell, as they stood in the center of the ring for the referee's instructions, Frazier and Ali continued the bitter war of words that had started nearly two years earlier.
Ali said, "Don't you know that I'm God and can't be beat? " Frazier replied, "Well, God's gonna get his butt kicked tonight! "
The fight itself was riveting. Frazier charged out for round one in a crouch, vigorously bobbing his head to avoid Ali's jab.
Surprisingly, Ali, who had defeated big punchers before like Sonny Liston, Cleveland Williams and Jerry Quarry, wasn't intimidated by Frazier's power, and was uncharacteristically flat-footed.
This made for a great fight as Ali limited his dancing and landed straight rights and short hooks behind his pistonlike jab, while Frazier doggedly pursued him in his familiar crouched stance.
FRAZIER WAS relentless, rocking Ali with left hooks, but he was also absorbing a lot of punishment. The battered faces of both boxers testified to the ferocity of the fight, with Frazier's face a bruised, lumpy mass, and Ali's right jaw swollen like a balloon.
It became a dramatic war of attrition. Frazier was staggered by Ali in the 9th, and a dazed Ali was nearly out on his feet in the 11th.
By the 15th and final round, Frazier was ahead on all scorecards, and he floored Ali with a picture-perfect left hook. Ali courageously got off the canvas and finished the fight, but lost by unanimous decision.
Throughout the night, TV shows were periodically interrupted with news of the fight, and our house erupted in bedlam when we heard of Joe's victory. The fight was televised only on closed circuit at select locations, and my brother Mike was lucky enough to see it. He captivated us for hours with a blow-by-blow description when he returned. (Actually, his re-enactment was better than most of the fiascoes presented to us as championship fights these days. )
I've watched that incredible fight many times on tape, and I don't think anyone could have beaten Joe Frazier that night.
Well, maybe Jesus. Just maybe. *
Christopher Gibbons (gibbonscg@aol.com) is a local writer.
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