Legendary Mohammad Ali’s gloves up for auction

Opening bid of ‘Fight of the Century’ memorabilia set at $1.25k.

WASHINGTON: The gloves that boxing legend Muhammad Ali wore in his fabled 1971 ‘Fight of the Century’ against Joe Frazier are on the block, said a US auction house late Tuesday.

The opening bid will be $125,000, said Heritage Auctions, and can be made at www.ha.com through July 30.

Ali was born Cassius Clay and was still using that name when he had his first fight with Frazier. Though he lost, Ali would get his revenge in rematches in 1974 and 1975. Frazier was world heavyweight champion at the time.

The ‘Fight of the Century’ marked Ali’s big return to the ring after coming out against the Vietnam War and converting to Islam.

“It was a controversial fight at a controversial time in America and the bout took on distinctly political and cultural overtones,” said Chris Ivy, who handles sport memorabilia for Heritage. “These gloves are more than sports memorabilia; they’re artefacts of early 1970s American pop culture.”

“The country was polarised around the match: those who supported the Vietnam War and the failing cause of racial segregation versus the anti-war crowd and those who favoured the Civil Rights movement.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2014.

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