RIP Joe Frazier

He did OK.

 

Mark Kram's name came up earlier and his book Ghosts of Manila is essential reading about both men and their epic third fight, which remains the most brutal fight I have ever seen.

A guy like mrbio buys into all that phony shit about staredowns and the incessant hype that"these two guys don't like each other" but in the case of Ali and Frazier it was real and when you add into that all the other shit surrounding the fight (Ali calling Frazier a gorilla - among other things, Ali's wife storming to the Phillipines to confront him about his cheating) it created a unique situation rarely seen in sports.

Years ago NBC showed the fight as part of its Greatest Fights Ever series and had interviews with a number of those involved in the fight. (Frazier might have been there, but I am sure Ali wasn't.)

Futch said he began getting worried about Joe after the 11th round when he started coming out of his crouch - and right into the path of Ali's punches - because he couldn't see. (I think it was in the 12th when an Ali right knocked Joe's mouthpiece into the crowd.) He was afraid Joe was going to be really hurt if the fight went on. He had sent enough guys in against Ali to know he might be able to go to the well one more time, he knew his guy had nothing left.

 

Having never seen any of their fights in their entirety, I would love it if ESPN would run the original broadcasts one night.

 

God, that's hard to watch. Iron will in that man.

 

The first fight is fantastic too, the first time two undefeated heavyweight fighters each with a legitimate claim to the title, met in the ring. Sinatra at ringside taking pictures for Life magazine because he couldn't get a ticket.

Joe was a real wrecking machine that night, that showed what a truly great fighter he was. I have seen some of his fights from the 60s when he was a wrecking machine and beating some pretty good fighters like Bob Foster, Jimmy Ellis and Jerry Quarry. He was one of two guys to stop George Chuvalo, destroying his orbital bone.

The second Ali fight wasn't that great, referee Tony Perez seemed content to let Ali hold Frazier's head down any time he got close enough to him.

 

BigPern, I'm sure ESPN Classic will rerun the fights tonight. They'd damn well better.

 

What? That sounds like a great story. Can you tell me more or provide a link?

 

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/08/8698572-frank-sinatra-photographs-joe-frazier-for-life-magazine

 

Cool. Thanks.

 

YF: Not only did Sinatra take pictures, but Burt Lancaster was one of the color announcers on the theater TV broadcast of the event, which cost $15 to get into (a pretty considerable sum in 1971 for a college kid) and was worth every penny and then some.
Lancaster was better than Tony Siragusa, but not by much.

 

If I remember right, after the fight, Ali stayed in bed for the whole night and the entire next day, while Frazier went out and partied.