Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

40 years ago today Joe Frazier (26-0, 23 KO coming in) beat Muhammad Ali (31-0, 25 KO coming in) in last century’s Fight of the Century. The fight was at the Garden, and was such a tough ticket that Frank Sinatra took a gig as a photographer just to be sure he could get in. They would meet twice more after that, with Ali winning in the Garden in 1974, and in the epic Thrilla in Manila in 1975.

Check the footage after the jump…

The “Fight of the Century” was the first of three bouts between heavyweight champions Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali in the 1970s. Held on March 8, 1971, the Fight of the Century pitted reigning undefeated heavyweight champion Frazier (26-0, 23 KO) against the challenger Ali (31-0, 25 KO), who’d never been beaten in the ring in his professional career but had been stripped of his title four years earlier. Frazier won the 15-round fight in an unanimous decision in front of a capacity crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York.
-ESPN