By Lyle Fitzsimmons

It’s a week of Muhammad Ali celebration.

Forty years ago this past Thursday, in the Philippines, where he ended his trilogy with Joe Frazier by beating the rugged Philadelphian into a corner-orchestrated surrender.

But amid the nostalgic revelry, another awful anniversary has come and gone, too.

Oct. 2, 1980. Thirty-five years since the beating “The Greatest” need never have taken.

That night in Las Vegas – with television cameras extending front-row seating far beyond the Nevada desert – nothing less than a crime was committed against the best heavyweight who ever lived.

And rather than paying for it with the suspensions and lifetime bans circumstantially tossed around for other infractions, its perpetrators escaped punishment and got a free pass to act magnanimous while continuing to ride shotgun to the man who fed their families in his heyday.

The three-time ex-champion met a devastating career Waterloo at Caesars Palace – taking an unnecessary 10-round bludgeoning from a prime Larry Holmes in an ill-advised try for reign No. 4 as the division's best fighter.

He went on to lose a 10-round sleepwalk with a largely non-violent Trevor Berbick 14 months later, but it's the feeling of most that the beating suffered at the fists of an unbeaten Holmes is hugely responsible for worsening the post-Manila struggles “The Greatest” has faced ever since.

I won a lucky 10 dollars that night from my never-wise-wagering sister, Roberta. But as a wide-eyed 11-year-old, I could hardly consider myself privy to the real goings-on.

Sure, I knew all about the third grueling Frazier match. And I was aware of the unnecessary shots he'd taken in eight interim stops from Puerto Rico to Landover to Munich to New Orleans.

But I can't claim to have known how truly bad things had gotten. And I wasn’t alone.

Even an authority as respected as Sports Illustrated’s Pat Putnam was duped, penning these words for a Sept. 29, 1980 issue whose cover displayed a taut, sneering challenger:

“Once this figured to be the fight no one would want to see: Ali, flabby and floundering, would be stung into submission by the flashing jab of a man eight years younger; he would inevitably be hammered onto the canvas by a boxer who had 27 knockouts in 35 fights. It would be no more than a grotesque replay of the 28-year-old Rocky Marciano vs. the 37-year-old Joe Louis, of the tough young fighter against the venerated but vulnerable former champion whose comeback could end in nothing but the sad tolling of nine-ten-and-out.

“It won’t happen that way.”

I’ll concede that my bet on Holmes was simply the product of him being the first champion of my full-throttled fandom, not the result of any clue Ali had already slid as far as he had.

But an ESPN documentary released for the network’s birthday a few years back shed more light on his condition even as the fight approached – with several members of his entourage admitting that he'd already begun exhibiting signs of decline long before reaching the ring.

I watched it again when I realized October was again upon us.

And as angry as I was upon watching its premiere, it’s gotten even worse.

Because another 60-minute revisit reminded how it simply wasn't fair.

Given the fact Ali hadn't seen a ring in two years, was not at normal lucidity even in training camp and had gotten a dubious bill of health from a pre-licensing exam at the Mayo Clinic, there's zero excuse for Holmes having landed anything more on him than a handshake.

His management shouldn't have signed it. The commission shouldn't have sanctioned it.

And when push came to shove, trusted advisers like Angelo Dundee – who spent three decades before his death professing unwavering care for the man – should have stopped it before it started.

No reasons they offered before, during or since hold sufficient water.

Dundee's claim he didn't have Ali's ear rings hollow given their decades-long relationship, and the taped admission of Gene Kilroy that the fighter confided something "wasn't right" days in advance puts the business manager alongside the veteran trainer as an accomplice to the crime.

As hard-headed as Ali might have been… it makes no difference.

As much purse money as was being offered or betting money Nevada stood to gain… so what?

As difficult as it would have been to stop it all before it started… doesn't matter.

The job descriptions of Dundee, Kilroy, Wali Muhammad and others included a responsibility to prepare their man for battle, not just revel in his glow.

And in a scenario where nearly everyone believed success was no option, their mandate was to keep him safe from an awful one-sided beating that could leave permanent scars.

If Dundee had walked away from the camp, along with anyone else on the team who'd smelled what was occurring, the legs would have been taken out from under the event. And maybe it would have helped. But no one did. No one had the courage to stand up and call it what it was – an atrocity.

So by staying, they're all complicit with what unfolded.

And we're left with Howard Cosell's righteous bellowing when it finally was waved off, insisting Dundee "cared too much" to let the beating continue to round 11. Right. It took 10 rounds for him to realize that Ali had no chance? He had to watch him get beaten like a heavy bag for a full 30 minutes, when anyone else could tell long before that no victory was possible?

Nonsense. Plain and simple.

History now shows the depth of the scars that night caused.

And it shows undisputedly that each and every team member failed miserably.

With every interview transcribed or autobiography page they've written – featuring remembrances of earning a living with a 220-pound traveling circus – another layer of hypocrisy is added to a story that should have had a better ending.

Ali should be the one on the talk-show memoirs tour, tossing out flurries at ringside pay-per-view introductions and acting as the best possible ambassador for a game badly needing one.

Instead he's dwindled away to sympathetic figurehead, drawing cringes from fans and becoming a lasting symbol of brutality for the always-insistent abolitionist crowd. While his ex-caretakers present vacant rationale for failure and promote their latest books.

He’ll be gone someday, leaving a void it’ll take 10 men to fill.

And when still-healthy subordinates return for a share of the nostalgia pie, their slices should be accompanied by a note saying, “Eat well, it didn't have to be this way.”

While I concede punishment taken against the Fraziers, Nortons and Foremans would have left anyone worse for wear, it was clear the Ali who walked away after defeating Leon Spinks in 1978 was healthier than the one who turned away from Holmes but stubbornly refused to fall.

Too brave and too sturdy for his own good.

And too good a man to have this as his prolonged final chapter, no matter the inconvenience.

Shame on those who let it happen... and here's to 35 years, plus a few hundred more, of their own internal torture.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

This week’s title-fight schedule:

SATURDAY
WBC lightweight title -- Caracas, Venezuela
Jorge Linares (champion/No. 4 IWBR) vs. Ivan Cano (No. 10 contender/No. 69 IWBR)
Linares (39-3, 26 KO): Second title defense; Held WBC title at 126 pounds, WBA title at 130
Cano (23-6-2, 15 KO): First title fight; Second fight outside Mexico (0-1)
Fitzbitz says: Linares has shown dents in the aura in the past, but he’s been rock solid at 135 pounds so far and shows no signs of slowing against this opponent. Linares in 7

WBO lightweight title -- Manchester, United Kingdom
Terry Flanagan (champion/No. 12 IWBR) vs. Diego Magdaleno (No. 1 WBO/No. 45 IWBR)
Flanagan (28-0, 11 KO): First title defense; Second fight scheduled for 12 rounds (1-0, 1 KO)
Magdaleno (28-1, 12 KO): Second title fight (0-1); Second fight outside United States (0-1)
Fitzbitz says: I was onboard with Magdaleno when he tried for the 130-pound title in China, and I’m thinking he’ll make up for that near-miss with a clearer victory in this trip. Magdaleno by decision

Vacant WBO junior middleweight title -- Manchester, United Kingdom
Liam Smith (No. 3 WBO/No. 39 IWBR) vs. John Thompson (No. 5 WBO/No. 27 IWBR)
Smith (20-0-1, 10 KO): First title fight; Five straight wins by stoppage (28 total rounds)
Thompson (17-1, 6 KO): First title fight; First fight outside United States
Fitzbitz says: The American has skills and may ultimately be a better fighter, but he’s not as tested as his UK counterpart and might not enjoy the pond-crossing just yet. Smith by decision

Last week’s picks: 2-1 (WIN: Pedraza, Broner; LOSE: Matthysse)
2015 picks record: 63-18 (77.7 percent)
Overall picks record: 702-241 (74.4 percent)

NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.

Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.