Joe Frazier's Big 5: The day he took Ali down for the first time

Joe Frazier's Big 5: The day he took Ali down for the first time

The first boxer to defeat Muhammad Ali in his professional career

Joe Frazier is not one of those boxers who can boast of hundreds of fights or a career that exceeds twenty years. "Smokin' Joe," as he's nicknamed, however, offers sports fans highly memorable encounters. The Olympic heavyweight champion of the 1964 Tokyo Games had 37 professional fights, of which he won 32, lost only 4, and one ended in a no-win. He achieved 27 of his victories by knockout and faced some of the biggest names in boxing between 1965 and 1981. Between 1970 and 1973, he was the undisputed heavyweight champion. It was at this time that some of his greatest victories came. And what are Joe Frazier's top five?

We begin with the "Match of the Century"! It's the fight pitting the greatest boxer at the time against the most in-form competitor, or Muhammad Ali vs. "Smokin' Joe." After the meeting between them, many more fights were given the same name, but this match was awaited with such great interest and did not disappoint fans of combat sports. The fight between Frazier and Ali is for the World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council and Ring magazine heavyweight titles held by Joe. Muhammad Ali stars as a contender who returns to the ring after refusing to serve in the Vietnam War.

This is the first meeting for the world heavyweight title between two boxers who are undefeated in their careers. Frazier has played and won 26 matches, 23 of them by knockout, and Ali has 31 fights, of which only 6 were not won earlier than the final gong. On top of all that, the fight pits the Asian country's pro-war supporters, who side with the champion, against those who see Ali's actions as more pacifist and support his opinion-turned-ideology.

Despite being out of the professional ring for a long time, Ali enters as a favorite due to the fact that he never lost the world titles won by Sonny Liston in 1964. Three years later, he was banned by a court in New York from participating in matches, and Frazier took advantage of the moment perfectly, grabbing the recognition of the absolute heavyweight champion of the world, knocking out Buster Mathis and Jimmy Ellis for the two championship belts. Despite his good form, people are of the opinion that the competitor, who has been out of the ring for at least four years, will return with new success and become the world champion in the division again.

The reasons for favoring Ali lie in the fact that everyone remembers his inhuman speed and mobility, atypical for his height. He outweighs his opponent by 9 centimeters and 5 kilograms. Only, a large part of these qualities are already missing in the actions of "The Great Ali".

The show at New York's Madison Square Garden starts even before the two boxers go out, and the event is packed with celebrities like Norman Mailer and Woody Allen, and the likes of Frank Sinatra can't even get a ticket to the fight because of the huge interest to her.

The fight itself exceeded even the wildest expectations as it lasted 15 rounds and it was difficult to determine who was the man who dominated his opponent. Ali starts the match more confident, stronger and certainly wins the first two rounds. He doesn't leave the shorter Fraser much of a chance to answer. In the closing seconds of the third round, however, Joe managed to land an incredible hook on the challenger's chin. From that moment on, he begins to hold events in his own hands, because Muhammad is shaken. A couple of left hooks had the former world champion against the ropes in the fourth, and the current number one landed plenty of hard shots to Ali's body as well.

In the sixth part, it becomes clear that the physical form of a boxer who has been absent from official meetings for four years is not the best possible, and Frazier looks the fresher of the two. There is now a distinct difference in Ali's pace compared to the first five rounds. Shortly before the end of the second minute of the eighth round, the referee has to break up the two boxers, who are engaged in a serious fight with each other after Frazier tries to set himself up for a finishing blow to the head of Ali, having previously rocked him with another left hook in his chin.

Still, the fight continues, but after only nine seconds in round number 11, it is already clear that the advantage is for the world champion and he will rather retain his titles. Another left hook to the head from Muhammad now gives Smokein Joe the lead as he manages to knock his opponent down, although the referee disagrees. Ali's search for clinches became more and more palpable, and he could barely stand the end of the eleventh round.

More relaxed events followed and Frazier simply tried to control the fight. Before the final part, all the judges are of the opinion that Joe will grab the victory. However, he is undeterred and starts with an aggressive left hook that sends Ali into the ropes. The former number one's jaw is visibly swollen from all the blows he's taken, but he manages to stay on his feet until the very end. The result after the final gong was Muhammad Ali's first professional loss. Frazier wins in emphatic fashion by unanimous decision.

This is Joe Frazier's greatest match, in which he manages to defend his moniker as the absolute heavyweight champion of the world against a competitor considered to be a man from another dimension. The judges' cards show: 9-6, 11-4 and 8-6-1 rounds in favor of the world champion against the challenger.   

.