The History of the Heavyweight Championship Yahoo Sport UK

At the start of 1970 Muhammad Ali was still in boxing exile, Joe Frazier was heavyweight champion of the world and he shared that title with a nice guy named Jimmy Ellis. The Heavyweight Championship of the World was in turmoil: the King was gone, the two champions were getting mixed reviews, and both needed a big fight or two.
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Joe Frazier was the unbeaten World Heavyweight Champion and Muhammad Ali was the unbeaten former World Heavyweight Champion. It was a unique fight, the world of sport demanded it – the boxing world needed it. The two boxers would make a guarantee of $2.5 million each. Never had a purse in the old game been anywhere near that excessive total.
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Frazier had vanished. In 1971, he had beaten Muhammad Ali in the Fight of the Century: dropping the former champion in the 15th and final round to confirm the win. It was a truly great night, a magical fight in Madison Square Garden in front of a sold-out crowd of 20,000 and a watching world. But where was he now?
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It was called the Sunshine Showdown and it took place in January 1973 at the National Stadium in Independence Park in Kingston, Jamaica. 36,000 people came out for the massacre – nobody in the fight game could believe what they saw in the ring.
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It was a year of quite ridiculous extremes in fights for the heavyweight championship of the world – there were exotic stops in Venezuela and Zaire – and the world watched a very special fight in late October, one that nobody will ever forget: the Rumble in the Jungle.
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What a year: Muhammad Ali was the world heavyweight champion and he made four defences. Every time he got in the ring there was a story: some mayhem, something funny, something absurd, something heartbreaking… always some drama. And there was a fight known then (and now) as The Thrilla in Manila. One that nobody will ever forget.
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