Muhammad Ali victory in federal court forced the New York State Boxing Commission to reinstate Ali's license. He fought Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden in December, an uninspired performance that ended in a dramatic technical knockout of Bonavena in the 15th round. The win left Ali as a top contender against heavyweight champion Joe Frazier. Ali and Frazier's first fight, held at the Garden on March 8, 1971, was nicknamed the "Fight of the Century", due to the tremendous excitement surrounding a bout between two undefeated fighters, each with a legitimate claim as heavyweight champions. Veteran boxing writer John Condon called
Johnny Cash at Madison Square Garden to even some folk rock. Similarly to the extended releases of both the "San Quentin" and "At Folsom Prison" that had been made available around the same time, "Johnny Cash at Madison Square Garden" includes numbers performed by Perkins, the Statlers and the Carters while Johnny was offstage. During this particular show, however, Cash introduced his father Ray and also Shel Silverstein, who wrote Cash's biggest pop hit, "A Boy Named Sue". Silverstein is the subject of some good-natured ribbing by Cash as he performs an uncensored version of "A Boy Named Sue". At the time of the recording, "The