It's been 50 years since the Fight of the Century. Frazier-Ali, Ali-Frazier. The mere mention of those two names in the same sentence conjures up visions of blood-soaked canvases. How big was the fight? It was so big that not even Frank good get a ticket to it. To get into the arena, Ole Blue Eyes somehow conned Life magazine into hiring him as a photographer. Burt Lancaster scored a color commentator gig. How big was it? The appearance of an unknown Frank Lucas at the fight tipped off the narcs he might be the real "Mr. Big" as he sat in front of the mobsters. Sit back and enjoy some boxing history.
Here is a pretty good analysis of the fight. This guy has a pretty good Youtube channel that dissects the great fights in boxing history.
8 comments:
Was this one where Cosell coined "Down Goes Frazier, Down Goes Frazier!"
It was this fight that revealed Ali's greatest talent even though he lost. He could TAKE a punch. Throughout his career people extolled his speed and grace but never his greatest asset, his ability to absorb punishment and keep fighting. When the great Smokin' Joe, and the invincible George Foreman were being counted out, somehow Ali was still throwing punches. That is what separates the great ones from the greatest.
9:46 No that was when George Foreman damn near killed Frazier.
No. Frazier won. Knocked Ali down in the 15th. Ali never knocked down Frazier in any of their fights.
“Down goes Frazier” was in 1973, when Foreman knocked down a then undefeated undisputed champion 6 times in a 2 round demolition.
9:46: Why don't you watch the fight and find out because it's obvious you didn't.
Ali was allowed to cheat in the Zaire fight. He only took a couple of clean punches from George and he said one of them he felt down to his toes.
Cheat? Watch it. He held George's head down during the entire fight and the Don King ref allowed him to do it. Unable to see because of the illegal clinching, George swung wildly at Ali. His punches rarely connected or slid off his shoulders.
Ali did the same thing in the first two rounds of the Thrilla and pummeled Joe. However, Joe's camp had lobbied hard against the Don King ref and Marcos ordered them to use a Filipino ref, who went on to have a great career as this was his big break. In the third round, he made them separate and warned Ali about the illegal clinching. He was going to start docking points if Ali did it again. Suddenly Frazier could move at will and started fighting his fight. The fight was not the same after that warning.
KF Obviously you are a golf fan. Boxing is not self-officiated. ALL boxers learn to clinch and butt and use their elbows as part of their arsenal of tactics. It's up to the ref to be the policeman. Some are very strict, some are very lenient. It's part of the sport. Some refs let guys fight until
one is almost killed while other refs jump in too quick. It's part of the sport. You hope you get a ref who favors your style. Even better if you can politic into getting a favorable ref. It ain't cheating, it's part of the sport. Ever been to a baseball game KF? The ump matters. It's part of the sport. Sorry.
Didnt I read recently that Frazier threw the bout for the mob
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