Well, I saw the fight that night. To me it sure seemed like he had..
The experts say he didn't... It was just wishful thinking on my part I guess?
He shut him up, and knocked him down. Plus he gave him a big fat un-broken jaw. He got his 15 rounds of fame!

Now tell me he didn't smack the taste out' his mouth?

Give 'em flying lessons, then?

(Getty Images)
Joe Frazier, right, knocking down Muhammad Ali with a left hook in the 15th round of their heavyweight title fight. Frazier won a unanimous decision over Ali, who had returned from a four-year banishment for draft evasion.


Frazier Earns the Crown
By DAVE ANDERSON

March 8, 1971 NEW YORK-In a classic 15-round battle, Joe Frazier broke the wings of the butterfly and smashed the stinger of the bee tonight in winning a unanimous 15- round decision over Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden. Defying an anonymous "lose or else" death threat, Frazier settled the controversy over the world heavyweight championship by handing Ali his first defeat with a savage attack that culminated in a thudding knockdown of the deposed titleholder from a hammerlike left hook in the final round.
During the classic brawl, one man in the sellout throng of 20,455 died of a heart attack. When the verdict was announced, Ali, also known as Cassius Clay, accepted it stoically. Hurried to his dressing room rather than the postfight interview area, Ali remained there for about half an hour. Suddenly, he departed for Flower Fifth Avenue Hospital for X-rays of his severely swollen jaw. He was released from the hospital after 40 minutes and left unbandaged.

But even before Ali's jaw began to bloat, the unbeaten Frazier had dulled the vaunted weapons of his rival in recording his 27th victory, although he failed in his quest for his 24th knockout. Ali's defeat ended his winning streak after 31 triumphs, with 25 knockouts. "I always knew who the champion was," Frazier, his brow swollen above each eye, said later with a smile. The officials agreed with the Philadelphia slugger. Judge Bill Recht awarded him 11 rounds to four for Ali, while the other judge, Artie Aidala, had Frazier ahead by 9‚6. Referee Arthur Mercante had it the closest, 8‚6 for Frazier with one round even.

During his uncharacteristic postfight silence, Ali sent this word to newsmen through Drew (Bundini) Brown, his assistant trainer: "Don't worry, we'll be back, we ain't through yet." But regarding a possible return bout, Frazier said, "I don't think Clay will want one." Ali had predicted Frazier would fall "in six rounds" and he had maintained that there was "no way" the recognized champion could outpoint him. But the swarming Philadelphia brawler, battering his Cherry Hill, N.J., neighbor, ended the 29- year-old Ali's credibility as a prophet.

Claiming exemption as a Muslim minister, Ali refused induction in the armed forces on April 28, 1967. He promptly was stripped of his title and license to box by the New York State Athletic Commission and the World Boxing Association, which governs boxing in most of the other states. Not long after that, Ali was convicted of draft evasion (see April 28). His sentence was five years in prison, plus a $10,000 fine, but an appeal is currently before the Supreme Court. While his exile matured Ali's physique, it sabotaged his speed. Ali remained unscratched, except for a slightly bloodied nose, but his jaw began to swell on both sides in the late rounds from Frazier's persistent hammering.

In the final round, Frazier landed a wild left hook that sent Ali sprawling onto his back in a corer. But the 6-to-5 betting underdog was up almost instantly and took the mandatory eight-count on unsteady feet. It was only the third time Ali had been knocked down in a decade of competition. Sonny Banks floored him in 1962 during his 11th bout and Henry Cooper flattened him in 1963 during his 19th bout. But the knockdown by Frazier was the final embarrassment for the deposed champion, the sixth ex‚heavyweight champion to fail in an attempt to regain his title. The others were Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Jim Jeffries, Bob Fitzsimmons and James J. Corbett. Only Floyd Patterson has succeeded in regaining it. In his failure, Ali not only lost, but more embarrassing, he was silenced.


http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/sports/year_in_sports/03.08.html

Guaro:

Definitely one of the best fights ever!

I have a tape where Arsenio asks Ali who hit him the hardest and he said it wasa Ernie Shavers.

Glimm: Ali was an exceptional boxer, all around without a doubt; He fought the best of the Heavies: Shavers, Holmes, Spinks, Norton, Foreman, Frazier, and never gave Gerrie Coetzee a shot or take that Teofilo Stephenson dream offer. But, my favorite bout was that 1978 match against Leon Spinks, 15 rounds of toma y lleva; non-stop til the last few seconds when Leon pulled a last second flurrie to beat the King at his rope the dope by toe to toe game. I highly recommend you c/o if you enjoy a hard fought fight.... After watching these 15 jam packed rounds, I felt as if "I" had fought for 15.














Leon Spinks beats Muhammad Ali, 1978

The ageing Ali decided to fight almost unknown Spinks in February 1978, looking for an easy payday against a young boxer taking part in only his eighth professional fight.

But what should have been a straightforward payday for Ali turned into a nightmare as Spinks beat him in a 15-round decision to become, shockingly, the undisputed world heavyweight champion.