<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One of the most anticipated sports events of all time, the so-called </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-8-what-happened-on-this-day/2662b45f-51f5-4611-bcb8-d68a79f49be5" rel="" target="" title='"Fight of the Century"'><span>"Fight of the Century"</span></a><span> took place on </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" rel="" target="" title="March 8, 1971"><span>March 8, 1971</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/muhammad-ali-s-other-fight-for-civil-rights/f20325ef-81c1-451d-a3ab-fc52a0c0f35f" rel="" target="" title="Heavyweight champ Joe Frazier"><span>Heavyweight champ Joe Frazier</span></a><span> was looking to retain his title against </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/boxing-legend-muhammad-ali-dies-at-74/c3e270ca-1161-4a1e-9be2-284c28d32a30" rel="" target="" title="Muhammad Ali"><span>Muhammad Ali</span></a><span>, who had been stripped of it for refusing the draft for the Vietnam War several years earlier.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ali had the early advantage but Frazier took the upper hand in the sixth round, ultimately winning with a unanimous decision.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Tickets were in such high demand for the fight that </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-november-27-what-happened-on-this-day-frank-sinatra-arrest/508c524f-c62f-4d52-8025-abb39fcc0a8d" rel="" target="" title="Frank Sinatra"><span>Frank Sinatra</span></a><span> was unable to get a seat.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-february-21-what-happened-on-this-day/46577e25-d624-4baa-9930-cae7637a36f4"><strong><span>President told 'under no circumstances' to drink from third glass</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Instead, he was hired by </span><em><span>Life </span></em><span>magazine to take photos from the ringside.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Four of Sinatra's photographs were later used in </span><em><span>Life's </span></em><span>report of the famous bout won by Frazier, who knocked down Ali in the 15th and final round.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-8-what-happened-on-this-day/7f0ab619-7783-4557-b863-837e706951c9" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Shockingly, Ali was on the canvas. He managed somehow to get up and finish the round and the fight.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Frazier would win on a unanimous decision.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>The loud coat that raised police suspicions</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-november-27-what-happened-on-this-day-frank-sinatra-arrest/508c524f-c62f-4d52-8025-abb39fcc0a8d" rel="" target="" title="Frank Sinatra"><span>Frank Sinatra</span></a><span> wasn't able to get a seat, just about everybody in the ringside seats was a big deal.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But police at the event were baffled by one man in the front row in a very loud outfit.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Frank Lucas attended the event in a large Chinchilla coat that would have cost an eye-watering price.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Everyone around him was rich and famous. But detectives had no idea who he was. So they started to investigate.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-november-1-what-happened-on-this-day/24c396e0-d9d3-41ed-a651-d431d5f7746f" target="" title="Failed actress turned dictator's wife takes revenge on star who outshone her"><strong><span>Failed actress turned dictator's wife takes revenge on star who outshone her</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Four years later, Lucas was arrested after an elaborate sting operation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lucas had been importing immense quantities of drugs into the United States, hidden in the coffins of American troops killed in the Vietnam War.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>By skipping the middlemen, Lucas was making $1 million a day selling heroin.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was given a 70-year sentence but after cooperating with authorities, he was released only a few years LATER. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>The heist during the fight</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>All around the world, people were glued to their screens watching the fight.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Assuming the police and security guards would be distracted, an activist group broke into an FBI office in suburban Philadelphia during the bout.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The documents they stole revealed the FBI had been spying on and actively undermining civil rights groups for 15 years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The FBI had been infiltrating anti-Vietnam War groups, the Black Panthers, the Nation of Islam as well as countless others.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prominent people who had their private lives investigated because of their politics included Ernest Hemingway, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Jane Fonda and </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-may-25-what-happened-on-this-day/2cf3365c-da27-4da7-ad3e-a9648f60d9a7" rel="" target="" title="Muhammad Ali"><span>Muhammad Ali</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The burglars were never caught, but continued to post incriminating documents about the FBI's schemes to prominent media outlets.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-1-what-happened-on-this-day-beatrice-nebraska-church-explosion/fd03639d-976f-430e-a62c-a05ba2954780"><strong><span>Everybody was running late when explosion destroyed church</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" target="" title="For more from our Today in History archive, click here."><strong><span>For more from our Today in History archive, click here</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple App Store</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>.</span></em></strong><span></span></div></div>