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
Aziz Ansari: Live at Madison Square Garden a digital screen, to demonstrate his ambition and imagination. Before he performed at Madison Square Garden, a large venue at which few standup comedians had performed, he sought advice from Chris Rock, a mentor who had performed there previously. Rock advised him to concentrate more on his jokes than the spectacle. Ansari attributed the change in the topics he addressed to maturing and growing older. In order to make the stadium show interesting for the audience, he was inspired by music tours, such as the Watch the Throne tour, and he recruited people who had worked on that production. Ansari