The ‘Fight of the Century’ that divided America – 50 years on

It is 50 years since Muhammad Ali faced Joe Frazier – pictured with George Foreman – for the first time (PA Archive)

Fifty years ago as America seethed, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier prepared to engage in their own private war which came to encapsulate the raw emotions of an increasingly divided nation.

It would come to be known as the ‘Fight of the Century’, and if it lacked the rhyming epithet of some of the epic heavyweight contests to follow, it was clear that for the pair’s first meeting there was plenty more than poetry at stake.