1971 Muhammad Ali gloves to sell at Goldin Auctions

The gloves the late Muhammad Ali wore in his 1971 Fight of the Century against Joe Frazier are to sell at Goldin Auctions.

Bidding closes on August 13.

The bout is one of the most famous of all time - it's often referred to definitively as The Fight.

Ali Frazier gloves
Muhammad Ali died on June 3 this year

The excitement in the run-up was palpable. It pitted two undefeated heavyweights against one another but also had broader connotations.

Ali had been banned from the ring for four years following his refusal to fight in Vietnam and had returned just a couple of months earlier.

The fight is often described as acting as a kind of pressure valve for tension between the left and right in America.

In the end Ali lost by unanimous decision, although he would go on to beat Frazier in 1974.

The gloves come with a letter of provenance from Angelo Dundee, Ali's former trainer.

He writes: "The Ali-Frazier gloves have been in my family's possession from the time I cut them off Ali's hands.

"My wife and son brought them home from New York the day after the fight. I labelled the gloves inside the laces"

The gloves last sold for $388,375, at Heritage Auctions in 2014.

They're now expected to sell for in excess of $1m.

The record for a piece of Ali memorabilia is $1.1m, set for the gloves he wore in his 1965 fight against Floyd Patterson.

When an iconic figure dies the value of their memorabilia usually jumps dramatically in value.

This effect was evident earlier this month, when a jacket Prince wore in Purple Rain that had originally been valued at $8,000 while he was still alive sold for $96,000 after his death.

We have a signed drawing of Muhammad Ali for sale.

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