The Fight of the Century: Ali vs. Frazier March 8, 1971 [Hardcover]

Michael Arkush (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 26, 2007

Advance Praise

"The Fight of the Century brings back memories of a different and troubled time both in sports and in our country. It is vividly reported and a perfect example of the old saying that the genius is in the details."

--John Feinstein

"The Fight of the Century just floats like a butterfly and sings like a canary. Arkush recaptures the period of the late '60s when America was in a quandary about Vietnam, Ali's refusal to be drafted, about Smokin' Joe Frazier's claim on the heavyweight title, and the amazing build-up to this great fight. I saw the fight and remember the intensity in Madison Square Garden; people were fainting in the aisles. The electricity of that fight buzzes through this book."

--Phil Jackson

"Ali-Frazier I was the greatest sports event I ever saw or ever expect to see. With his landscape portrait of the men and their times, Michael Arkush takes us again to that historic moment in Madison Square Garden when two of boxing's proudest warriors began their blood feud."

--Dave Kindred, author of Sound and Fury: Two Powerful Lives, One Fateful Friendship

"Arkush not only gives us the inside story on one of the century's signature sporting events, he frames it politically and socially. I was there, and now I know much more about what happened. This is flesh and blood and history."

--Robert Lipsyte

"The Fight of the Century transcends the mere sports story. In Michael Arkush's capable hands, this classic duel and its surrounding pressures and personalities show us where we have been as a society and where we are going. It is a story that truly stands for a place and time. It is a fully engrossing read."

--Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Never is a long time, but there'll never be another cosmic boxing event like Ali-Frazier I. Michael Arkush brings alive that melodrama with all its political-social implications, wheeling and dealing, hyping and hitting."

--Larry Merchant, author and boxing commentator

"A richly detailed history of Ali and Frazier's first big fight and the social and political forces at play. A great read."

--Ron Shelton, director of Bull Durham and Tin Cup

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...an enthralling and meticulous account of genuine sporting rivalry...Brilliantly capturing the unprecedented grandiosity of the occasion... must be recommended" (The Independent, October 27th 2008)

Review

"Arkush not only gives us the inside story on one of the century's signature sporting events, he frames it politically and socially. I was there, and now I know much more about what happened. This is flesh and blood and history."--Robert Lipsyte

"Ali-Frazier I was the greatest sports event I ever saw or ever expect to see. With his landscape portrait of the men and their times, Michael Arkush takes us again to that historic moment in Madison Square Garden when two of boxing's proudest warriors began their blood feud."--Dave Kindred, author of SOUND AND FURY: Two Powerful Lives, One Fateful Friendship.

"The Fight of the Centurytranscends the mere sports story. In Michael Arkush's capable hands, this classic duel and its surrounding pressures and personalities show us where we have been as a society and where we are going. It is a story that truly stands for a place and time. It is a fully engrossing read."--Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestelling author

"Never is a long time but there'll never be another cosmic boxing event like Ali-Frazier. Michael Arkush brings alive that melodrama with all its political-social implications, wheeling and dealing, hyping and hitting." - Larry Merchant, author and boxing commentator.

"A richly detailed history of Ali and Frazier's first big fight and the social and political forces at play. A great read."--Ron Shelton, director of Bull Durham and Tin Cup

"Fight of The Century brings back memories of a different and troubled time both in sports and in our country. It is vividly reported and a perfect example of the old saying that the genius is in the details."--John Feinstein

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470056428
• ISBN-13: 978-0470056424
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #765,518 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #48 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( A ) > Ali, Muhammad

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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "WHERE WERE YOU ON MARCH 8, 1971??", December 10, 2007

By 

Rick Shaq Goldstein "*SHAQ*" (Danville, Ca, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Fight of the Century: Ali vs. Frazier March 8, 1971 (Hardcover)

Any boxing fan or true sports fan who was of a cognitive age on March 8, 1971 knows where they were on that fateful day. That was the day of the unchallenged "FIGHT OF THE CENTURY" BETWEEN "SMOKING JOE" FRAZIER AND MUHAMMAD ALI! Never before in the history of boxing had two undefeated, untied, Heavyweight Champions faced each other in the ring. Ali was undefeated in 31 fights, 25 of them knockouts. "Smoking Joe" was undefeated in 26 bouts, 23 of them knockouts, a .885 percentage. No top heavyweight fighter in the history of boxing had ever recorded a higher knockout rate, not even Rocky Marciano, the only Heavyweight Champion in history to retire undefeated. Of Frazier's 23 victims, 18 were knocked out in the first 5 rounds.

Not even the historic Joe Louis and Max Schmeling bout on June 22, 1938 which had worldwide implications with Hitler rising to power and his persecution of the Jews which led to the Holocaust, put into motion an event of this magnitude. And an event is definitely what it became. It transcended what a mere Heavyweight Championship bout was capable of becoming. During the last few weeks prior to the fight Ali and Frazier "were everywhere: On the cover of "Life" and "Time" magazine, on a television commercial for Vitalis hair products. On the minds of those who knew everything about the sport, and those who knew nothing." As current HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant so aptly said: "I don't know how you could have been in America and not have cared about that fight!"

What was the ingredient in this matchup that propelled this fight into such rarefied air? Was it simply the combatants' records? If not, what was the catalyst that triggered a tsunami-like reverberation throughout the world? The answer to this question is "The Viet Nam War"! There were two wars going on that effected America, the one in Viet Nam and the one on our streets and in our homes "about" Viet Nam.

On April 28th 1967 Muhammad Ali, formerly known as Cassius Clay, despite being drafted, refused induction into the Army and was stripped of his Heavyweight Title. That's where this intricately researched story finds its nexus, and elegantly educates the reader of everything before, during, and after, what was undeniably the "FIGHT OF THE CENTURY!" From that point forward the author provides exacting historical narratives of how Ali and Frazier though starting on two separate roads wound up together at this turbulent historical crossroad.

As a lifelong boxing fan, some of the information provided in this book regarding the lesser known fighters that the two champions had to beat to keep this upcoming event worthy of its title, was meticulously delightful. Thirty five years after the fact, I learned things about fighters such as Jerry Quarry, Jimmy Ellis, George Chuvalo, Buster Mathis, Scrap Iron Johnson, and others, that I didn't know, and I actually had seen some of them fight in person. But the "EYES OF THE STORM" that made the world stop and watch (Madison Square Garden sold out all 20,455 seats immediately and there were over 1,000,000 closed circuit viewers.) had more tentacles than an octopus. Ali, to many people was a draft dodger and a coward. To others he was a man of the people who was standing up for what he believed in. Despite both men being African-American, it became about race. Ali made cutting derogatory remarks about Frazier being an Uncle Tom and Frazier wouldn't call Ali anything but Clay, which Ali said was his slave name. To this day Frazier holds deep animosity towards Ali, and Ali finally in the late 1980's told his biographer Thomas Hauser he was sorry for the things he said about Frazier. He said: "Joe Frazier is a good man. I couldn't have done what I did without him, and he couldn't have done what he did without me. And if G-d ever calls me to a holy war I want Joe Frazier fighting beside me."

Where was I on March 8, 1971? I was on active duty in the United State Military. In my barracks there were white men, black men, brown men, yellow men. Some had been to Viet Nam, some might be going. What went on in that barracks between America's military melting pot, in March of 1971, history and this book shows, that we were an absolute microcosm of the chasm that existed in the entire United States. But despite all the fury and passionate fervor regarding Ali's military draft status; after all, we were all active duty military... the day of the fight it came down to the most basic, essential argument.. A "slugger" or a "boxer", who would prevail? That's the question... that's the argument that almost (or did) brought Uncle Sam's finest boys to blows! And that's why this was... "THE FIGHT OF THE CENTURY!"

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost Like Being There....., February 15, 2008

By 

jorge abaroa (Bartlett, IL USA (Chicago)) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Fight of the Century: Ali vs. Frazier March 8, 1971 (Hardcover)

This is a very good book about "The Fight". It really takes the reader behind the scenes as to what it took to put this together. You can relive the build up all over again. The chapters on the technical aspects of the closed circuit setup was really interesting. Very well written. A piece of sports history! Recommended...I wish I could have been there.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lived it, Loved it, February 12, 2010

By 

Marc Axelrod (Potter, Wi USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Fight of the Century: Ali vs. Frazier March 8, 1971 (Hardcover)

Great fight, great book. Michael Arkush places you in the arena for the Fight of the Century between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Ali was the exiled, undefeated heavyweight champion of the 1960s coming back to reclaim his crown from Frazier, the undefeated reigning champ of the early 1970s.

You read about State senator Leroy Johnson's hard fought efforts to desegregate the Georgia Senate cafeteria and his efforts at getting Ali a license to box again. Ali defeats Jerry Quarry in Georgia and Oscar Bonavena in NYC, but it is clear that he does not have the stamina and footwork that he had in the 1960s. He is still good enough to beat just about everyone, and his losing effort against Frazier was in retrospect one of his finest moments, because he displayed guts and courage and heart that we never knew he had.

The story is told through the eyes of those around the gladiators, as Ali and Frazier were unavailable to be interviewed. But Arkush revives important and revealing quotes that the warriors gave in their respective autobiographies.

Ali would go on to beat Frazier in two successive rematches in the years to come. But this first fight in Madison Square Garden in NYC will always be known as The Fight of the Century, where two unbeaten heavyweights squared off in a tumultuous time in America history. Read this book and you will be there!