On this day in New York · February 16, 1970
Frazier Drops Ellis, Takes the Crown
At the Garden, Smokin' Joe put Jimmy Ellis on the canvas twice in four minutes and walked out of the ring as the closest thing boxing had to a real heavyweight champion.
The facts
- Date
- February 16, 1970
- Venue
- Madison Square Garden, New York City
- Attendance and gate
- 18,079 fans, a gross gate of $647,997
- Result
- Frazier by technical knockout after Angelo Dundee refused to send Ellis out for the fifth round
On February 16, 1970, Joe Frazier fought Jimmy Ellis at Madison Square Garden for a heavyweight title that had been split in two since Muhammad Ali was stripped of it in 1967. Frazier, undefeated at 25-0 and a 6-to-1 favorite, staggered Ellis with a left hook in the fourth round and put him down again before the bell. Ellis, who had never been floored in a heavyweight fight, made it back to his corner, but trainer Angelo Dundee had seen enough and would not let him answer the bell for round five. The win handed Frazier the WBA and vacant WBC titles to go with the New York recognition he already held, though it would take a win over Ali himself, a year later in that same ring, to settle the argument for good.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
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I'm okay. I was only down once.
Jimmy Ellis, to trainer Angelo Dundee in his corner after the fourth round, February 16, 1970
Source: The Fight City
Why it still matters
The win made Frazier the closest thing the sport had to an undisputed heavyweight champion while Ali sat out his exile, and it set the stage for the Fight of the Century against Ali in that same Garden ring thirteen months later.
Sources
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