Muhammad Ali defended his NABF heavyweight title against Joe Foreman

Date: January 28, 1974

Venue: Madison Square Garden

Ali stance: orthodox

Frazier stance: orthodox

Muhammad Ali suffered the first loss of his career when he challenged Joe Frazier for the undisputed heavyweight crown. Frazier had punctuated his win by scoring a knockdown in the final round. Ali then won his next ten bouts before defending his NABF belt against Ken Norton. Ali won the rematch, and a few weeks later he beat Ruddie Lubbers on points in Jakarta.

After Frazier successfully defended his titles against Ali, he had a couple of fairly easy wins over Terry Daniels and Ron Stander, stopping them both in the fourth round. His next defence was against George Foreman who destroyed him in two rounds in January 1973. Six months later, Frazier travelled to London and won a narrow points verdict over Joe Bugner.

For an in depth look at their respective records, visit:

Muhammad Ali - https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/000180

Joe Frazier - https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/147