Now Frazier and Ali are both gone, Ali being thee towering sports figure of the 20th Century, Frazier being an all-time great in his own right and the man who became Ali's chief rival, and on March 8, 1971 they gave us the fight of the century.
OT: Muhammad Ali has died (age 74)
- Thread starter Green Jets & Ham
- Start date
Oct. 30, 1974: Ali upsets the young undefeated monster, George Foreman, who had just annihilated Frazier and Norton.
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Oct. 1, 1975: Ali/Frazier III (Rubber Match) - The Thrilla in Manila
RIP champ..
Ditto Champ! He was the greatest... world citizen and good man.
A sad day.
I was thinking about how old you really need to be to have actually experienced Ali. I am nearing 50 and I really never got a chance to see him. The Spinks fight is my first memory, but that is vague and past his time. I was alive for all Frazier and the Foreman matches, but too young to appreciate. So many people celebrating him and so very few who actually lived it
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My earliest memory of Ali was was Ali/Frazier I (the fight of the century). The first video I posted is a terrific documentary of that fight and there is not an ounce of exaggeration in that documentary, it really was that political and that intense.
I was a 10 year old kid living on the lower east-side and my own neighborhood was divided, split right down the middle, there was no gray area, and who you rooted for (or hated) was directly tied to where you stood politically/culturally.
I knew who Ali was before that fight, knew he was the heavyweight champ who had been stripped of his title, though I didn't really understand the politics, but I had no recollection of actually seeing him fight. You have to remember, Ali was suspended from boxing in 67 or 68, I was 6 or 7, so I had no recollection of his fights prior to 71 when he was reinstated.
Well my neighborhood was one of the most racially diverse in NYC back then. Most neighborhoods at that time were ethnically divided; Little Italy, Chinatown, Irish Westies, Black Harlem, Spanish Harlem etc., there wasn't a lot of diversity, the closest blacks and whites came in contact was thru forced busing, but the lower east-side was one of the first areas in NYC that was really diversified, it was the precursor to what you mostly see in big cities now, so I had a real birds-eye view of the degree to which this fight separated people along racial, cultural and political lines, and it was intense!
I saw actual fistfights in my neighborhood during the buildup to that fight and after, and I don't just mean the kids, I mean the young adults too, guys in their late teens, twenties and even thirties, guys who were normally friends, going to blows in the street over that fight, just like NYC was rife with riots in those days too, the hard hats verses the hippies (look up, NYC hard hat riots). I mean the climate was already intense to begin with, and this fight almost served as a proxy war with Ali representing the counterculture and Frazier representing the hard hats.
Oh, and on fight night (March 8, 1971), my neighborhood was like a ghost town. You would have thought a nuclear explosion happened and everyone was killed. I never saw the lower east-side so desolate. Never before that night and never again after that night. Everyone was either at MSG (mostly the gangsters who had connections at the Garden), or at the closed circuit sites to watch that fight. The streets were empty ... and the fight itself was BRUTAL.
If you didn't watch that first video I posted, I highly recommend it, its dead on the money.
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For those who have never seen the full fight:
Ali/Frazier I (The Fight of the Century): The fighters start to enter the ring at 9:30
Ali/Frazier I (The Fight of the Century): The fighters start to enter the ring at 9:30
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Yeah, back then it was select movie theaters. But most of the guys from my neighborhood saw the fight live. There was a strong Mafia presence on the lower east-side back then, they had a lot of connections at the Garden, went to all of the big fights, and they made tickets available for the neighborhood guys. If I was a little older I would have been there too :-(
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The first Ali Frazier fight :
I listened to a recap of round by round on my Transistor radio. You guys know what that is?
They weren't allowed to broadcast the play by play live .
The other fights I watched at the Fabian movie theater in Paterson NJ.
I later met "Smokin Joe" at a Scott Frank fight in Ice Word.
Sat ring side ...hooked up from Lou Duva
I was also in Italy in 1975 and stayed at the same hotel Ali was staying at.
Didn't get to see him although I tried.
Agreed, that third fight (The Thrilla in Manila) destroyed both of them as fighters. It was so brutal, both men were close to death, and neither was ever the same again.
For those who have never seen it, I posted it in this thread and you ought to watch it. Its a very clear copy and you will be amazed by the sheer brutality of it. What those two men endured that day, its a miracle one or both didn't die in the ring.
Also, while you are watching it, bear in mind, it was outdoors and a hundred degrees, and felt hotter with brutal humidity.
In fact Ali said after the fight that he sincerely felt like he was going to die in the ring. He said if Joe's corner didn't throw in the towel, he was thinking about doing it himself, because he literally felt like he was going to drop dead in the ring.
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You could tell that by the look on his face. Just the audio of those blows is frightening
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I remember being a kid listening to the radio broadcast when he beat Sonny Liston. He was Cassius Clay at the time. And yes, they did used to broadcast the heavyweight championship for free. And yes, I am that old.
To the greatest in and out the ring. A true leader, warrior and champion. A man that stood for something when black people weren't really suppose to stand for anything. He belongs on the Mount Rushmore of all time great people of the human race. You were, are and forever will be a true inspiration and my idle CHAMP. Thanks and rest in peace!
I have mixed feelings about him.
He fought for America as Cassius Clay but refused to as Mohammed Ali.
I would imagine there were countless soldiers who were hugging the ground while bullets were flying over their heads who wondered "Why didn't I think of that?"
He could have just declared himself a conscientious objector, served his country in a non-combat role (cook, inventory clerk,etc), but didn't.
He became a Muslim because he was against violence, but then made his living trying to beat his opponents to a pulp. I felt that was hypocritical.
On the other hand, he took the penalty, missing three years in his prime, and went on to be a symbol for those who felt 'Nam was an unjust and unnecessary war.
He was principled and he stuck to his principles. He was generous to charities and worked hard to raise money to cure the horrible disease that affected him in the later half of his life. I feel he was a good person.
As I said, I have mixed feelings.
RIP
Later
He fought for America as Cassius Clay but refused to as Mohammed Ali.
I would imagine there were countless soldiers who were hugging the ground while bullets were flying over their heads who wondered "Why didn't I think of that?"
He could have just declared himself a conscientious objector, served his country in a non-combat role (cook, inventory clerk,etc), but didn't.
He became a Muslim because he was against violence, but then made his living trying to beat his opponents to a pulp. I felt that was hypocritical.
On the other hand, he took the penalty, missing three years in his prime, and went on to be a symbol for those who felt 'Nam was an unjust and unnecessary war.
He was principled and he stuck to his principles. He was generous to charities and worked hard to raise money to cure the horrible disease that affected him in the later half of his life. I feel he was a good person.
As I said, I have mixed feelings.
RIP
Later
Do you believe that people should be excused from serving due to religious beliefs? He could not serve, in any capacity, due to his beliefs. In my mind , this is a non-issue
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