Apogee: Muhammad Ali's Quest to Win Back the World Title

Return from Exile
By 1970, both the civil rights climate and attitudes towards the Vietnam War were changing, which gave Ali the opportunity to exploit a loophole in his suspension from boxing. With the help of a state senator and the mayor of Atlanta, Ali was granted a license to box in Georgia, the only state in the Union that did not have a boxing commission. The governor protested, but was powerless to prevent Ali's first comeback fight, which ironically took place in the Deep South that October against top contender "Irish" Jerry Quarry. Ali was rusty and Quarry gave him a hard contest for a short time, but Ali still had his hand speed and gave Quarry a very bad cut with a slicing right hand, stopping the fight in the 3rd Round. Shortly thereafter, the New York State Supreme Court overturned the revocation of Ali's boxing license. The second fight of his comeback was for the NABF title (a North American belt) in Madison Square Garden against Argentine contender Oscar Bonavena. Ali outboxed the Argentine, but as with the Quarry bout, the fight was harder for him than anything he had done in the mid-1960s. He was leading on all scorecards when he caught Bonavena in the 15th Round, knocking him down 3 times to win a dramatic TKO victory in the final round.

Fight of the Century
The stage was set for Muhammad Ali to challenge "Smokin" Joe Frazier. Frazier had long sought the bout with Ali, both out of sympathy for Ali's financial plight (a bout between them would have earned Ali a huge payday) and a desire to meet the best and secure his own legitimacy. He appeared before boxing commissions on Ali's behalf, and even loaned Ali money from time to time. He therefore felt betrayed and was enraged when Ali took center stage and used it to label Frazier as an ugly, stupid Uncle Tom and the champion of an oppressive, white establishment. Ali has since that time always maintained that the mudslinging was to promote the fight, while Frazier has always responded that it was the biggest fight in history, with the biggest purse guarantees to date, and it simply never needed all the trash talk to promote it. Frazier has never forgiven Ali for the slanders running up to their classic 1971 engagement. Ali's gargantuan ego and yapping mouth laid the foundation for the greatest rivalry in the history of sports.

Frazier was certainly right about one thing: the fight would have been huge even if Ali had sequestered himself in a monastery under a vow of silence, and it certainly earned them both a big payday. Each man was guaranteed $2.5 million, an unheard of purse at the time. The fight transcended not only boxing; it transcended sports in a way few events ever have, embedding itself in Americana. None other than Frank Sinatra was famously unable to secure a ringside seat, so he took a job taking pictures for Life magazine instead. In boxing terms, it was the first ever meeting between two undefeated heavyweight champions, as Ali had not lost his title in the ring and was still widely considered the legitimate champion.

Ali controlled the first 3 rounds, showing flashes of his youth, sticking and moving beautifully. Frazier, a notoriously slow starter, kept going forward, slowly building up "smoke," as he settled into his rhythm and applied his trademark pressure. He bullied Ali back on to the ropes, pitching hook after hook at the body. The fight was roughly even going into the 11th round, when Frazier pushed Ali into a corner and nearly knocked him down with a left hook. Only the ropes held Ali on his feet. He survived the 11th, but from that point forward the fight was all "Smokin'" Joe. In a dramatic conclusion, Frazier caught Ali in the 15^th Round with another smashing left hook that floored him. Ali got right back to his feet, legs steady but with his jaw rapidly swelling. Frazier pounced on Ali, looking to finish him, but Ali's head was clear and he survived the round. Frazier won the fight by clear unanimous decision, handing the great Ali his first loss. The fight was The Ring's Fight of the Year for 1971, and remains a classic not just of boxing, but of world sports. Finally, Joe Frazier held the most precious crown in sports: the undisputed, undefeated world heavyweight championship.

Did Muhammad Ali challenge for the world title too soon? Defenders of Ali have always claimed that he was still rusty going into the fight. There are two points of evidence to the contrary. One is that he had beaten Jerry Quarry and Oscar Bonavena, two top heavyweight contenders. Second is that after the fight, Ali began campaigning for a rematch with Frazier, running up a 10 fight winning streak until he met Ken Norton. Norton gave Ali all he could handle in two back-to-back fights (see below), and by then "rust" had nothing to do with it: Ali met Norton after 13 post-exile fights. The first two Norton bouts suggest that a couple of extra tune-up fights would not have helped Ali with Frazier.

However, it is noteworthy to compare Ali's first effort at a comeback with that of the only other heavyweight forced into a premature retirement in his prime, but who also returned in his prime. Mike Tyson spent four years out of the ring because of his rape conviction, and when he returned he fought two tomato cans and two journeymen, not facing a real contender until he was manhandled and upset by Evander Holyfield. Ali's first two return bouts were against legitimate Top Ten heavyweight contenders, and he then challenged the undisputed, undefeated world champion in what was competitive contest. Even in defeat, the sheer quality of the mountain Ali had tried to scale helped cement his greatness.

Comeback
Three months after his defeat at the hands of Frazier, Ali won a moral victory that was perhaps more important than the world heavyweight championship: the US Supreme Court overturned his draft evasion conviction. A month later, he met former sparring partner, former champion and fellow Louisville native Jimmy Ellis for the vacant NABF title, defeating him in a 12th Round TKO. His second attempt at a comeback was off to a good start.

After Ellis, Ali built up his winning streak by fighting a string of bouts in the US, Canada, Ireland, Switzerland, and Japan in 1971 and 1972. He defended his NABF title eight times, including rematches with Jerry Quarry, Floyd Patterson, and George Chuvalo, as well as a fight with ever-overweight fringe contender Buster Mathis and the great light heavyweight champion Bob Foster. He extended his winning streak into 1973, meeting British-Hungarian contender Joe Bugner and outpointing him over 12 rounds. Ali was now sitting on a 10 fight winning streak with six knockouts, well on his way to forcing a rematch with champion Joe Frazier. Then he hit a speed bump in the form of unheralded Ken Norton.

In his last fight before taking on Ali, Norton fought 7-6-1 tomato can Charlie Reno for a paltry $300. To call Norton an obscure fighter would have been an understatement, and no one in the Ali camp expected much from him; they were focused on a rematch with Joe Frazier for the world title. However, they overlooked a couple of things: both Norton and Frazier were trained by the great Eddie Futch, and Norton had been sparring with Ali's rival Frazier regularly. In the process, he improved rapidly. As a great athlete, Norton had plenty of room for growth.

Futch was becoming as much Ali's rival as any boxer was. He instructed Norton to back Ali up with his jab, and Norton did exactly that. Snapping the jab, Norton pushed Ali into a corner, and nailed Ali on the jaw with a hard right. The blow struck exactly where Ali had recently had a pair of teeth pulled, snapping the jawbone. Bravely, Ali continued to fight, but lost a split decision and his NABF title.

Along with his jaw, Norton the Nobody had broken Ali's 10 fight winning streak. The critics immediately piled on Ali, describing him as over-the-hill. The series of prior victories over solid contenders apparently didn't matter anymore, but when have pundits ever cared about pesky facts? Regardless of what the press said about him, getting back in the ring and avenging the loss was critical to Ali's future, so the rematch took place less than six months later. This time Ali knew that Norton was the real deal, so he trained hard. Even in fighting trim, Ali had a very hard time as Norton proved the first fight was no mere fluke. Ali was forced to change his tactics against the mixture of Norton's awkward defense and his aggressive style, turning slugger in the final rounds. Norton, who was always at his best when moving forward, was stymied by the switch, and the brawling won Ali the final round. That was enough to squeak by with a split decision victory.

In the meantime, Frazier had lost the world title in Jamaica to George Foreman. Now with only Ali's NABF belt on the line, the two arch-rivals finally met again in Madison Square Garden in January 1974. The result was anti-climactic, as Ali outboxed Frazier to a rather ordinary unanimous decision victory. Having avenged his defeats to both Norton and Frazier, the stage was set for Ali's third world title challenge in what would become the legendary Rumble in the Jungle.

The Rumble in the Jungle
An early Don King promotion, Ali's fight with Foreman was scheduled to take place in Zaire. While training there, Foreman was cut over the eye in sparring, postponing the fight. Ali made good use of the time stirring the emotions of the local people (they were already on his side), and taunting Foreman in his traditional style of psychological warfare.

Foreman was a heavy favorite, and widely considered invincible. He had destroyed Frazier and Norton, two men that had held Ali to 2-2 in their fights. No one except Ali really expected Ali to win, and there were some who were concerned that with his massive pride Ali would take an even worse beating than Joe Frazier had. However, it is axiomatic that styles make fights, and both Frazier and Norton had vulnerabilities that a massive powerhouse like Foreman could exploit. Ali had no such vulnerabilities, as he had shown in the fight with Liston. While he had lost some of the quickness that had previously characterized his footwork and head movement, Ali had discovered that he could take a punch and adjusted his style accordingly. He got hit more often, but in terms of winning a fight it made little real difference.

Ali had talked up the "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" game of dancing and out-boxing Foreman before the fight, so the first surprise on that October 1974 fight night was when the former champion came out at the bell and attacked Foreman with a series of lead right hands. Leading with anything other than a jab can be risky, as all of boxing's other punches either have greater travel time or open the boxer's guard wider, thus increasing the risk of being hit with a counter. By leading with his right repeatedly, Ali was in effect saying "You are so slow, I can nail you with this... and that... and even this... and you won't even touch me." And Foreman didn't, but Ali's lead rights were doing little except anger him.

Ali retreated to the ropes and began his famous "rope-a-dope." Ali, at 6'3" was the same height as Foreman. He leaned back on the ropes, keeping his head out of reach and his elbows pinned to his sides, protecting his body. Norman Mailer, sitting at ringside, described it as being like "a man swinging in the rigging." Foreman pounded away, as Ali covered up, slid along the ropes, and occasionally bounced back with either a sharp counterpunch or an equally sharp insult.

Foreman came out for the 8^th Round in unfamiliar territory: it had been 4 ½ years since he had last fought beyond 8 rounds. He was mentally and physically tired, with Ali waiting for his opportunity. In many ways, the punch that leveled Foreman was not really that much of a bomb. Watching it makes it look more like Foreman, after he got clocked and stumbled to the canvas, simply did not have the will to get back up. Either way, Ali saw his opening, pounced on him, and sent him to the canvas. He had regained his title in much the same way he had first won it: by defeating the monster who knocked out everybody, and who no one but him thought he could beat.