Boxing legend Muhammid Ali's gloves from the "Fight of the Century" is among the highlights at an auction that will be done during the 35th National Sports Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Texas-based Heritage Auctions will facilitate the sale at the I-X Center on Thursday. They previously auctioned a set of gloves that Ali wore when he won the 1964 World Heavyweight Championships against Sonny Liston for a hefty US$ 836,500.

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The Fight of the Century gloves is expected to fetch more than US$ 300,000.

The Fight of the Century was held in 1971 at the Madison Square Garden in New York against defending heavyweight champion Joe Frazier. It is the first of three fights between them in the 1970s brewing a rivalry between the legends.

It was Ali's first fight after his boxing license had been revoked in 1967 after he refused to be drafted during the Vietnam War. The New York State Boxing Commission reinstated his license in 1970.

Ali knocked out Jerry Quarry and Oscar Bonaveda in his first two comeback fights that earned him a shot against Frazier.

"The fight sold out a month before the event," recalled Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions for Heritage. "Even Frank Sinatra was unable to get his hands on one."

Sinatra was able to watch the fight ringside, however, since he received press credentials and shot photos of the fight for Life Magazine.

Ali lost the fight but won in a rematch in 1974. The third and more famous fight of the two was known as "The Thrilla in Manila" in 1975.

The auction is part of a five-day event at the I-X Center in Cleveland that will dedicate 350,000 square feet of space for over 600 distributors and dealers from around the country and is expected to draw between 40,000 to 50,000 attendees starting Wednesday.

Tagsjoe frazier, fight of the century, thrilla in manila, sonny liston, Auction