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
Madison Square Garden (film) Madison Square Garden (film) Madison Square Garden is a 1932 American Pre-Code drama film directed by Harry Joe Brown and written by Thomson Burtis, Allen Rivkin and P.J. Wolfson. The film stars Jack Oakie, Thomas Meighan, Marian Nixon, William Collier, Sr., ZaSu Pitts, Lew Cody and William "Stage" Boyd. The film was released on November 4, 1932, by Paramount Pictures. Actual boxers like Jack Johnson, Billy Papke and Tom Sharkey and actual sports journalists like Paul Gallico, Grantland Rice and Damon Runyan appear in the story as themselves. Middleweight contender Eddie Burke needs to change managers after his, Doc Williams,