Ali Gloves Grab Big Bucks at Auction

Ali Gloves Grab Big Bucks at Auction

Everlast sells competition boxing gloves for $72.50 on Amazon. Heritage Auctions sold the pair Muhammad Ali wore in his first fight with Joe Frazier for $388,375.

The fight, Ali’s third since his reinstatement after his draft evasion suspension, sold out Madison Square Garden and captivated the sports world in March of 1971. But since Ali lost this installment of the trilogy with Frazier, the gloves didn’t grab as much as they otherwise might have. For instance, the pair Ali used to first defeat Sonny Liston in 1964 snagged more than double the amount fetched by the Ali-Frazier I gloves. Surely Ali’s gloves in his two subsequent victories over Frazier–particularly the ones worn in the brutal coda in Manilla–would win bids far in excess of what the Everlast pair sold for Thursday to an anonymous bidder. 

The Fight of the Century, rare among superfights, lived up to the hype. Though Ali looked like his old young self in the opening rounds, Frazier took command in the third frame. He put an exclamation point on his performance in the 15th round by sending Ali to the canvass. The unanimous decision improved Frazier’s record to 27-0 and handed Ali his first of six career defeats. 

The pair, both with claims on the heavyweight title, earned a record $2.5 million each for the slugfest.

 

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