During that near four-year absence, Frazier rose to the top of the division and claimed the heavyweight titles months before Ali's return. It was the very first time two undefeated boxers faced off for the heavyweight championship of the world, with Ali striving to reclaim the title that was taken away from him when he refused to be inducted into the US Armed Forces for the Vietnam War. The 1971 encounter was dubbed 'The Fight Of The Century' and, while boxing fans are accustomed to fight cards being tacked with unrealistically-ambitious slogans on a regular basis, this moniker proved appropriate soon after the contest was over and even more so five decades later. Few fights in the history of professional boxing have left a legacy as big as the first of three encounters between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, and on March 8, 2021, the iconic showdown between two then-undefeated greats turned 50 years old.
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