On this day in 1975 the greatest boxing match I’ve ever seen- Muhammad Ali vs Smokin’ Joe Frazier. Their third match up. Frazier had won the first fight, Ali the second. They weren’t just fighting for the World Heavyweight Championship they were fighting for the Championship of Themselves.
This fight was brutal. The best and sadly the worst of boxing. Ali and Frazier were never the same fighter after this fight and they were never the same people. This fight took that much out of them. Ali would remark later that this was the closest to dying that he’d ever been. Ali won the fight when Frazier’s corner threw in the towel before round 15. Luckily for Ali who was about to quit the fight, he was telling his corner people to cut his gloves off.
ESPN in 1999 would rank Ali-Frazier III the 4th greatest sporting event of the 20th century. I cannot argue against that.
I remember that night well. I was 14. I didn’t see it live. It wouldn’t be shown on television until another week or so later. I had the radio on a station that would read out the press report after each round was over. It was exciting. I’ve since watched this fight countless times. Unreal. These guys were warriors.
slicethelife 
Reblogged this on shafiqah1 and commented:
One of the Best Fights in Boxing History, topped only by The Rumble in the Jungle in my honest opinion. My Dad has made me a boxing connoisseur over the years 😀
i wonder if this fight had killed both boxers if boxing is banned. these three fights were absolute career wreckers and life wreckers for these men. truly brutal.
We know how Ali-FrazierIII turned out. Ali wins 2 of the 3 fights including the last 2. What if Frazier had won this one? Would we look at these fighters differently than we do now?