The Ritz Theater in Elizabeth, N.J., was built in the mid-1920s and served as a place for live entertainment for much of the 20th century. In the ’70s, however, live theater had waned in popularity and the Ritz was mostly a movie theater, an aging, tattered one, but an extremely large one with 2,700 seats.

I saw movies elsewhere but I was at the Ritz twice when it was overstuffed with humanity for two of Muhammad Ali’s most historic fights. Watching from the balcony both times, I saw the “Rumble in the Jungle’’ against George Foreman and the “Thrilla in Manila’’ against Joe Frazier. I’m positive the capacity for the building had been exceeded.

Sporting events were consumed differently back then. Ali’s fights were once on free TV, and I mean free. They came in over the air through an antenna on your roof and onto your TV screen, most likely a black-and-white one. I even remember listening to the first Ali-Sonny Liston fight on the radio in my bedroom. Eventually, Ali’s fights became such huge events that they were shown in theaters in what was called a closed-circuit presentation. It was, of course, the forerunner of the present-day pay-for-view cablecasts. The Ritz was a logical site.

These fights were shown with a projection system that sent the picture up on the movie screen. The picture was huge, taking the entire screen, but also fuzzy, sometimes out of synch, and at least several times during the night it shut off. The over-capacity crowd would lose its collective mind with people standing, pointing, screaming, and pleading for its return. Eventually it came back, but it was a fragile system. The next day there were usually reports from around the country where the system failed to work and angry crowds had to be controlled.

There was sound and it was presented like a true sporting event with a top announcer such as Don Dunphy. You could hear none of it over the din of the crowd. During the fight, the crowd reacted like it was at ringside, roaring when the fighters connected. People shouted out advice. “Move, Champ!’’ “Punch, Champ!’’ and, of course, they chanted “A-li, A-li, A-li.’’

The only time I remember the theater being silent was during the interview with Ali following his victory over Foreman, in which he had absorbed multitudes of seemingly deadly blows during the early rounds, only to spring off the ropes and punish Foreman as the rounds ended. Ali won in a knockout and in the interview he told everyone to listen to him — no one else — when it comes to boxing. He then revealed his famous line about how he won, using the rope-a-dope strategy.

In a change from his early career, these crowds were decidedly pro-Ali. I don’t remember any group of people shouting for Frazier or Foreman. Maybe that’s why I don’t remember any violence among the fans; just wild exuberance. And when it ended, everyone filed out politely.

In these days of satellite dishes it seems strange, but it was our connection to two of the greatest sporting events of the 20th century.

Joe Sullivan can be reached at jtsullivan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeSullivan