This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 5/11/2001.
This intriguing photo signed by Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier evokes the melodrama that abounded in the weeks before and during the first Ali-Frazier fight on March 8, 1971. Ali is seen in the photo in a quintessential Ali pose, verbally jabbing at Frazier through a chain-link fence, on which is a sign that reads, "Training Hdqts for Joe Frazier, heavyweight champion," while the stoic Frazier seems to turn a deaf ear. Smokin' Joe had the last word in the fight, when he dropped Ali in round 12 en route to winning a 15-round decision. Because these two gladiators will always be linked in history, their dual signatures here lend this item stately significance. Both men signed in blue Sharpie, Ali in an area above the fence sign and Frazier to the lower right of the sign. The signatures are clear and strong and rate solid 9s.