Product Description

Advance Praise

"The Fight of the Century brings back memories of a different and troubled time both in sports and in our country. It is vividly reported and a perfect example of the old saying that the genius is in the details."

--John Feinstein

"The Fight of the Century just floats like a butterfly and sings like a canary. Arkush recaptures the period of the late '60s when America was in a quandary about Vietnam, Ali's refusal to be drafted, about Smokin' Joe Frazier's claim on the heavyweight title, and the amazing build-up to this great fight. I saw the fight and remember the intensity in Madison Square Garden; people were fainting in the aisles. The electricity of that fight buzzes through this book."

--Phil Jackson

"Ali-Frazier I was the greatest sports event I ever saw or ever expect to see. With his landscape portrait of the men and their times, Michael Arkush takes us again to that historic moment in Madison Square Garden when two of boxing's proudest warriors began their blood feud."

--Dave Kindred, author of Sound and Fury: Two Powerful Lives, One Fateful Friendship

"Arkush not only gives us the inside story on one of the century's signature sporting events, he frames it politically and socially. I was there, and now I know much more about what happened. This is flesh and blood and history."

--Robert Lipsyte

"The Fight of the Century transcends the mere sports story. In Michael Arkush's capable hands, this classic duel and its surrounding pressures and personalities show us where we have been as a society and where we are going. It is a story that truly stands for a place and time. It is a fully engrossing read."

--Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Never is a long time, but there'll never be another cosmic boxing event like Ali-Frazier I. Michael Arkush brings alive that melodrama with all its political-social implications, wheeling and dealing, hyping and hitting."

--Larry Merchant, author and boxing commentator

"A richly detailed history of Ali and Frazier's first big fight and the social and political forces at play. A great read."

--Ron Shelton, director of Bull Durham and Tin Cup

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #168817 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780470056424
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"...an enthralling and meticulous account of genuine sporting rivalry...Brilliantly capturing the unprecedented grandiosity of the occasion... must be recommended" (The Independent, October 27th 2008)

Review
"Arkush not only gives us the inside story on one of the century's signature sporting events, he frames it politically and socially. I was there, and now I know much more about what happened. This is flesh and blood and history."--Robert Lipsyte

"Ali-Frazier I was the greatest sports event I ever saw or ever expect to see. With his landscape portrait of the men and their times, Michael Arkush takes us again to that historic moment in Madison Square Garden when two of boxing's proudest warriors began their blood feud."--Dave Kindred, author of SOUND AND FURY: Two Powerful Lives, One Fateful Friendship.

"The Fight of the Centurytranscends the mere sports story. In Michael Arkush's capable hands, this classic duel and its surrounding pressures and personalities show us where we have been as a society and where we are going. It is a story that truly stands for a place and time. It is a fully engrossing read."--Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestelling author

"Never is a long time but there'll never be another cosmic boxing event like Ali-Frazier. Michael Arkush brings alive that melodrama with all its political-social implications, wheeling and dealing, hyping and hitting." - Larry Merchant, author and boxing commentator.

"A richly detailed history of Ali and Frazier's first big fight and the social and political forces at play. A great read."--Ron Shelton, director of Bull Durham and Tin Cup

"Fight of The Century brings back memories of a different and troubled time both in sports and in our country. It is vividly reported and a perfect example of the old saying that the genius is in the details."--John Feinstein

From the Inside Flap

It was more than the long-awaited showdown between two superb athletes in their prime, more than the ultimate test of speed and artistry versus power and endurance. It was more than a boxing match, much more. The first meeting between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden on March 8, 1971, transcended the world of sports to become a major international media spectacle with tremendous social and political overtones.

In The Fight of the Century, sportswriter Michael Arkush delves behind the scenes to explore the richly textured history and the ongoing impact of one of the most important sporting events of all time, a battle not only between two undefeated champions, but between two competing views of a nation still reeling from the turbulent 1960s.

Arkush draws from interviews with Ali's trainer, Angelo Dundee; his doctor, Ferdie Pacheco; and more than 100 others to examine how the fight, watched by more than 300 million viewers around the world, ushered in a new era of sports marketing. From then on, every game would be turned into an "event," powered by over-the-top hype and carefully staged pageantry.

This sweeping real-life saga features insightful portraits of both fighters. The outspoken Ali, coming back to boxing after a three-and-a-half-year ban for evading the military draft, was already one of the best-known human beings on the planet—a hero to millions, though certainly a thorn in the side of America's power structure. Frazier, by contrast, did not feel compelled to constantly weigh in on the political issues of his time, though he did?refuse to call his opponent by his adopted Islamic name, instead referring to him as Cassius Clay.

Among many telling details in this fascinating account, you'll discover why Ali's favorite foil, Howard Cosell, who had defended the champ passionately during his exile, did not call the fight, and how a prominent Hollywood agent and a California businessman teamed up to promote the event. You'll also learn how a little-known Georgia legislator helped make Ali's comeback possible.

Complete with photos of both fighters at the peak of their careers, The Fight of the Century is very likely the most dramatic, compelling, and moving sports story you will ever read.

Customer Reviews

RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "WHERE WERE YOU ON MARCH 8, 1971??"
Any boxing fan or true sports fan who was of a cognitive age on March 8, 1971 knows where they were on that fateful day. That was the day of the unchallenged "FIGHT OF THE CENTURY" BETWEEN "SMOKING JOE" FRAZIER AND MUHAMMAD ALI! Never before in the history of boxing had two undefeated, untied, Heavyweight Champions faced each other in the ring. Ali was undefeated in 31 fights, 25 of them knockouts. "Smoking Joe" was undefeated in 26 bouts, 23 of them knockouts, a .885 percentage. No top heavyweight fighter in the history of boxing had ever recorded a higher knockout rate, not even Rocky Marciano, the only Heavyweight Champion in history to retire undefeated. Of Frazier's 23 victims, 18 were knocked out in the first 5 rounds.

Not even the historic Joe Louis and Max Schmeling bout on June 22, 1938 which had worldwide implications with Hitler rising to power and his persecution of the Jews which led to the Holocaust, put into motion an event of this magnitude. And an event is definitely what it became. It transcended what a mere Heavyweight Championship bout was capable of becoming. During the last few weeks prior to the fight Ali and Frazier "were everywhere: On the cover of "Life" and "Time" magazine, on a television commercial for Vitalis hair products. On the minds of those who knew everything about the sport, and those who knew nothing." As current HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant so aptly said: "I don't know how you could have been in America and not have cared about that fight!"


What was the ingredient in this matchup that propelled this fight into such rarefied air? Was it simply the combatants' records? If not, what was the catalyst that triggered a tsunami-like reverberation throughout the world? The answer to this question is "The Viet Nam War"! There were two wars going on that effected America, the one in Viet Nam and the one on our streets and in our homes "about" Viet Nam.

On April 28th 1967 Muhammad Ali, formerly known as Cassius Clay, despite being drafted, refused induction into the Army and was stripped of his Heavyweight Title. That's where this intricately researched story finds its nexus, and elegantly educates the reader of everything before, during, and after, what was undeniably the "FIGHT OF THE CENTURY!" From that point forward the author provides exacting historical narratives of how Ali and Frazier though starting on two separate roads wound up together at this turbulent historical crossroad.

As a lifelong boxing fan, some of the information provided in this book regarding the lesser known fighters that the two champions had to beat to keep this upcoming event worthy of its title, was meticulously delightful. Thirty five years after the fact, I learned things about fighters such as Jerry Quarry, Jimmy Ellis, George Chuvalo, Buster Mathis, Scrap Iron Johnson, and others, that I didn't know, and I actually had seen some of them fight in person. But the "EYES OF THE STORM" that made the world stop and watch (Madison Square Garden sold out all 20,455 seats immediately and there were over 1,000,000 closed circuit viewers.) had more tentacles than an octopus. Ali, to many people was a draft dodger and a coward. To others he was a man of the people who was standing up for what he believed in. Despite both men being African-American, it became about race. Ali made cutting derogatory remarks about Frazier being an Uncle Tom and Frazier wouldn't call Ali anything but Clay, which Ali said was his slave name. To this day Frazier holds deep animosity towards Ali, and Ali finally in the late 1980's told his biographer Thomas Hauser he was sorry for the things he said about Frazier. He said: "Joe Frazier is a good man. I couldn't have done what I did without him, and he couldn't have done what he did without me. And if G-d ever calls me to a holy war I want Joe Frazier fighting beside me."

Where was I on March 8, 1971? I was on active duty in the United State Military. In my barracks there were white men, black men, brown men, yellow men. Some had been to Viet Nam, some might be going. What went on in that barracks between America's military melting pot, in March of 1971, history and this book shows, that we were an absolute microcosm of the chasm that existed in the entire United States. But despite all the fury and passionate fervor regarding Ali's military draft status; after all, we were all active duty military... the day of the fight it came down to the most basic, essential argument.. A "slugger" or a "boxer", who would prevail? That's the question... that's the argument that almost (or did) brought Uncle Sam's finest boys to blows! And that's why this was... "THE FIGHT OF THE CENTURY!"

Almost Like Being There.....
This is a very good book about "The Fight". It really takes the reader behind the scenes as to what it took to put this together. You can relive the build up all over again. The chapters on the technical aspects of the closed circuit setup was really interesting. Very well written. A piece of sports history! Recommended...I wish I could have been there.

Good book.
The information about the social climate at the time was very interesting. The insight into both fighters' approach to the fight was well-written and provided an inside view of each of their psyches going into this event. I would have like to have a little more information about their lives after the fight. Overall, this book was really good.