Mar 5, 2016 4 min read

Remember boxing?

I wonder how old you have to be to remember when boxing was a big deal. As I’m writing this, I could not tell you the name of the heavyweight champion of the world. I could Google it I guess, but I don’t care and I figure there’s a pretty good chance you don’t care, either.

Feel free to look it up.

I have no interest in MMA or UFC, and the only name I could give you from that sport is Ronda Rousey, and I have no interest in watching her or any other woman fight.

There was a time when the heavyweight champ was the most recognizable athlete (if not person) on the planet.

And if you were hosting a local radio talk show the week before a heavyweight title fight (or a welterweight fight involving Sugar Ray Leonard) then you spent 90 percent of your time talking about it.

Forty-five years ago this Tuesday, my college roommate, Dave, and I drove through a white-out blizzard from Kent, Ohio, to Cleveland in his Volkswagen Beetle to watch Muhammad Ali fight Joe Frazier.

In a movie theater.

I think we paid $15 for the tickets, which would be about $90 today.

Of course, Ali-Frazier was about a lot more than boxing. Ali had been prevented from fighting for 3 1/2 years because of his refusal to sign up for the military draft and he was a Black Muslim. Joe Frazier, who was every bit as black as Ali, was the white people’s champ because Ali was, let’s say, a little too loud about how proud he was to be black.

Also, the younger you were, the more likely it was you were rooting for Ali.

The crowd in the downtown theater watching on closed-circuit TV was mixed. The black fans were rooting for Ali and most of the white fans were rooting for Frazier.

It was promoted as the “Fight of the Century” and it was.

They fought at Madison Square Garden March 8, 1971. Tickets went from $150 at ringside to $20 in the balcony.

With boxing having become an afterthought, it’s hard to imagine a match creating more buzz than the Super Bowl and the World Series combined, but it did.

And not just in the United States.

Fifty countries bought the closed-circuit TV rights. It was broadcast in 12 different languages and was seen by more than 300 million people around the world.

The fight lived up to the billing, too.

Ali won the early rounds but Frazier, who was a relentless, charging, bobbing, weaving, left hook-throwing machine, wore down Ali in the later rounds.

Ali survived a knockdown in the 14th from a gigantic left hook that Frazier said he “Went all the way home to North Carolina” to get and lost by a unanimous decision.

They fought 15 rounds in those days.

The judges scored the fight, 9-6, 8-6, 11-4. The judge who saw it 11-4 was either blind or just didn’t like Ali’s personal story.

They would fight two more times and the third one, known as the “Thrilla in Manilla,” is still one of the greatest sports events I have ever seen.

And I saw it on television at the Civic Arena.

If I get some extra time today I might look up the name of the current heavyweight champion of the world.

• How far can the Penguins go in the playoffs? How healthy can they be? There is still a quarter of a season left and the Penguins are right in the middle of the league when it comes to man-games lost. Staying healthy is important in every sport but it seems to be much more of a factor for NHL teams.

The Penguins have been disappointing in the postseason the last several years but they also have been one of the most injured.

It’s probably safe to say the Blackhawks and the Washington Capitals are the favorites to make it to this year’s Stanley Cup Finals.

The Capitals are ranked 27th and the Blackhawks 29th in man-games lost. The Rangers are 30th. The Penguins are 14th.

Since they won the Stanley Cup in 2009, the Penguins have been one of the most injured teams in the NHL and the Blackhawks have been one of the healthiest. The Blackhawks have won three Stanley Cups.

There are lots of factors to consider when evaluating the Penguins’ chances of making a long playoff run. None is bigger than injuries. Not only their own, but their opponents’ as well.

John Steigerwald writes a Sunday column for the Observer-Reporter.