Lot Details
Lot 1001
ALI, MOHAMMAD and FRAZIER, JOE Rare Stadium Poster for "The Fight of the Century" at Madison Square Garden.
Printed poster on card for the bout between Ali and Frazier held at Madison Square Garden on 8 March 1971. 22 x 28 inches (56 x 72 cm); with the number "240" and imprint of the Murray Poster Printing Co., NY at lower right. A few chips resulting in small losses and short closed tears to the margins, one touching the lettering in the top margin, a few scuffs, creases and small stains in the image.
Scarce on-site poster for the legendary 1971 Heavyweight Championship fight between challenger Muhammad Ali and Champion Joe Frazier. The fight was highly anticipated as it was Ali's first real challenge following the reinstatement of his boxing license following his refusal to be inducted into the armed forces in protest of the Vietnam War. Both the fighters were undefeated going in and the ribbing between them turned quite intense with racial overtones. The fight exceeded expectations, with Ali taking more of a pounding than usual but visually brushing it off to the crowd, and in later rounds Ali made the first appearance of the "rope-a-dope" strategy, taking blows against the ropes in an effort to tire out Frazier. Ultimately, Ali was knocked down in the 11th round and lost by unanimous decision in the 12th, the first defeat of his long career. Ali would get his revenge when the two met again in 1974 and at the Thrilla in Manila in 1975.
We trace few examples of this large poster sold at auction.
C
Additional Notes & Condition Report
No condition report? Click here to request one.