A Silver Lining In The Cloud Over Ali’s Suspension

By Bobby Franklin

With the recent passing of former heavyweight champion George Foreman, we are hearing much said again about the 1970s being the Golden Age of Heavyweight Boxing. To be sure, it was an exciting time for the division, and boxing fans have a lot of fond memories of that time. But how and why did it happen?

Muhammad Ali was back on the scene after having been banned from the sport in 1967 for refusing induction into the United States Army. He was sidelined for three years before returning in 1970. In 1971 he took on Joe Frazier who now was recognized as the champ. Their epic battle lived up to its billing as The Fight of The Century. This started a decade of very interesting and exciting fights.

At first it appeared that the ban on Ali performing in the ring would hurt boxing. In fact, in a backwards way, it was a shot in the arm for the heavyweight division. Before he was denied access to the ring, Ali had been cleaning out the ranks of top heavyweights. His blinding speed and phenomenal reflexes were too much for the slower moving contenders. There was really no one left who was considered a serious threat to the champion. 

Ali was a very active champ. After defeating Sonny Liston for the title in 1964, he didn’t remain idle. He put the championship on the line nine times. He had five defenses in 1966 alone, and started 1967 with two fights by March before being suspended.

Ali had finished off most of the old guard of the division with his wins over Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, Cleveland Williams, Ernie Terrell, and Zora Folley. He traveled to Europe where he took on the best that continent had to offer in Brian London, Henry Cooper, and Karl Mildenberger. He crossed the border to Canada to win over George Chuvalo. Who was left?

Promoters would have had to start rushing the younger contenders into challenging the champ. None were ready to go up against Ali.

There were a number of young contenders on the scene at this time. These included Jerry Quarry, Thad Spencer, Manuel Ramos, Oscar Bonavena, Leotis Martin, Jimmy Ellis, and 1964 Olympic Champion Joe Frazier. Floyd Patterson and Sonny Liston were still active but there was no interest in seeing Ali face these two former champs again. Ernie Terrell was a bridge from the older contenders to the current ones, but Ali had also beaten him in a one sided fight, so again, not much interest in seeing a rematch. Promoters would have had to start rushing the younger contenders into challenging the champ. None were ready to go up against Ali.

This is where the three year exile of Muhammad comes into play. It allowed these younger fighters to gain experience. While a Joe Frazier/Muhammad Ali fight would have been a draw in 1968 or 1969, it would not have been a fight where Frazier would have been considered to have had much of a chance. By 1971 when the two did finally meet, it was a different story. 

Another thing happened during this time. The WBA (World Boxing Association) held a tournament to find a successor to Ali. Joe Frazier refused to take part, but the other leading contenders did. They were Jimmy Ellis, Floyd Patterson, Thad Spencer, Leotis Martin, Ernie Terrell, Oscar Bonavena, Jerry Quarry, and Karl Mildenberger.

The three men who had challenged Ali didn’t make it out of the quarter finals. Patterson lost to Quarry, Terrell to Spencer, and Mildenburger to Bonavena. In the other quarter final match  between two younger fighters, Jimmy Ellis beat Leotis Martin. The semi-finals became a battle of the rising stars with Ellis beating Bonavena and Quarry stopping Spencer.

In the final, Jimmy Ellis won a close 15 round decision over Jerry Quarry. This gave him the WBA Heavyweight Crown. The tournament, which had been broadcast live on home TV, gave all of these young fighters much public exposure. None of them embarrassed themselves, and they all gained fans.

Meanwhile, Joe Frazier had taken on Buster Mathis in a fight that was recognized as being for the title by the commissions in New York and Massachusetts. Frazier proved to be as active a champ as Ali had been. Joe defended his piece of the title six times between June of 1968 and November of 1970. In his fifth defense he fought a unification fight with Jimmy Ellis, stopping the WBA Champ when Ellis couldn’t answer the bell for the fifth round. 

At this point, Ali had announced he was retiring and giving up the title since he wasn’t allowed to fight. Ring Magazine, which had stood by Ali, now recognized Frazier as champion. The public also now pretty much accepted Joe as the one champion. 

But as with Ali, Frazier was facing a dearth of suitable challengers. He had already beaten Chuvalo, Ellis, Quarry, and Bonavena. Young contenders such as George Foreman and Mac Foster were not considered ready for a shot at the hard punching champion. 

Fortunately, in 1970 Ali regained his license to box. He took on Quarry and Bonanvena, defeating both. This led to the showdown between two undefeated men, both of whom had legitimate claims to the title. This had never happened before. Both men also received 2.5 million dollars for the fight, an unheard of sum at the time. 

Boxing was now entering a new age of exciting fights and huge paydays. More young contenders joined the current crop. Those who had lost fights were able to reestablish themselves. Often they fought one another in competitive battles. One of the things that made this era so exciting was the fact that with so many of these matchups, no one could be sure who would win before hand. It was the fact that so many of the fighters from that period were on a par when it came to ability that made so many of these contests interesting. 

It was a new day for the heavyweight division, one that would last over a decade. But could this have happened if Ali had not been exiled? I very much doubt it.

While not allowing the champ to defend his title while his case was being heard was morally wrong, it did allow for a break in which the division was able to grow. Normally, it would have been seen as a blow to the game, but it turned out better for all involved. Fans got to see competitive fights, the fighters got much bigger paydays, and we still ended up with one recognized heavyweight champion even though the title changed hands a number of times. 

I certainly am not trying to justify the taking of the title from Ali, but rather just reflecting  on what happened back then to find a silver lining.