Joe Frazier UD 15 Muhammad Ali, March 8, 1971

No sporting event in history has had the kind of anticipatory buildup, popular culture significance and lasting iconic resonance that the first fight between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali generated. This was a clash between two dominant and undefeated heavyweight champions.

Beyond that, each fighter was assigned an emblematic role representing opposing sides in the political and cultural conflicts tearing apart the nation.

Ali had spent the 1960s transforming himself from an Olympic hero to a controversial symbol for the most radical elements of the civil rights and anti-war movements. In 1967, he was stripped of the heavyweight title for refusing induction into the United States Army.