Feting Fight of the Century

Legacy of Frazier and Ali lives on as statue unveiled to mark 50th anniversary of legendary bout

Smokin' Joe Frazier stood fearsome in bronze, his frozen left hook on the brink of connecting with Muhammad Ali, much as the power punch did 50 years ago in the Fight of the Century.

Linked forever by a trilogy of bouts, it's the first meeting－won by Frazier when he slugged his way to the heavyweight title on March 8, 1971 by becoming the first boxer to defeat Ali－that defined Frazier's career and helped his legacy live on in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia nearly 10 years after his death.

"It's the still biggest event that has ever happened in the history of sports," Joe Frazier Jr. said on Monday.

Frazier, naturally, has good reason to believe a fight that transcended boxing and touched on political and social themes of the day－and left both fighters hospitalized－could stand as the greatest.

He's not alone in that opinion.

The 15-round spectacle between undefeated Olympic champions is at least on the shortlist of the 20th century's most enduring sporting events.

His fans－new and old－family and friends in Philadelphia are determined not to let anyone forget his legacy.

Frazier was feted throughout the area on Monday on the anniversary of his decision victory with both a 9-foot-tall, 1,600-pound (2.74-meter, 726-kilogram) statue－earmarked for a planned Pennsylvania sports museum－and a mural in North Philly.

The statue was unveiled at a new gym owned by Joe Hand Promotions, whose founder had helped bankroll Frazier early in his career. Hand and his family, who long had a vested interest in Frazier, spoke of the champ who "had the biggest heart" at the gym in lower Bucks County, just north of Philadelphia.