Ali vs. Frazier III "Thrilla' In Manilla" on espn

[mr_president]

......now showing on espn

[JayBee74]

I saw that fight at the Superdome(my first visit) on closed circuit TV and it was a thrilla. I didn't see a replay of it until the early 90s because they didn't show replays the next week or even the next year. I was a huge Ali fan and didn't see The Fight Of The Century between him and Frazier in 1971 until almost three years later when Wide World Of Sports telecast it as a prelude to Ali-Frazier 2. My father wouldn't take me to the Baltimore Civic Center to see the closed circuit broadcast of #1.

[Money99]

According to some people who attended the fight, Ali was heard saying to his corner that he wasn't going to go out for the 15th round. His exact words were "That man is crazy! I ain't goin' out there!".

But Frasier quit on his stool due to the issues with his left eye. Apparently he had a cataract that was so bad he could barely see out of it before Ali even started to pound it with right hands.

[bigmoe]

It would be cool if they programed this and other fights into some of the boxing games so we could watch the fight with "cyber renendered boxers" in their real moments.

[mr_president]

Quote: Originally Posted by JayBee74

I saw that fight at the Superdome(my first visit) on closed circuit TV and it was a thrilla. I didn't see a replay of it until the early 90s because they didn't show replays the next week or even the next year. I was a huge Ali fan and didn't see The Fight Of The Century between him and Frazier in 1971 until almost three years later when Wide World Of Sports telecast it as a prelude to Ali-Frazier 2. My father wouldn't take me to the Baltimore Civic Center to see the closed circuit broadcast of #1.

wow,i remember closed circuit broadcasts.....the last closed circuit fight i attended was hagler vs. mugabi, and i was able to sit next to lou duva during the broadcast....fun times.

[mr_president]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigmoe

It would be cool if they programed this and other fights into some of the boxing games so we could watch the fight with "cyber renendered boxers" in their real moments.

i wouldn't mind that at all...throw in different camera angles and some dramatic slo-mo effects...yeah that'd be cool.

[JayBee74]

Quote: Originally Posted by mr_president

wow,i remember closed circuit broadcasts.....the last closed circuit fight i attended was hagler vs. mugabi, and i was able to sit next to lou duva during the broadcast....fun times.

My last was Leonard-Hearns 2. My first PayPerView was the first Hearns-Barkley bout.

Quote: Originally Posted by JayBee74

I saw that fight at the Superdome(my first visit) on closed circuit TV and it was a thrilla. I didn't see a replay of it until the early 90s because they didn't show replays the next week or even the next year. I was a huge Ali fan and didn't see The Fight Of The Century between him and Frazier in 1971 until almost three years later when Wide World Of Sports telecast it as a prelude to Ali-Frazier 2. My father wouldn't take me to the Baltimore Civic Center to see the closed circuit broadcast of #1.

For the record Ali and Frazier joined Howard Cosell on Wide World Of Sports to comment on their first fight as many saw it for the first time. Then the famous Ali-Frazier wrestling match broke out.

[Hammerhunker]

Ironically, I am reading My View From the Corner, by Angelo Dundee (if you haven't read this book, it is a boxing fan's and Ali fan's treat) and I just read the part on Ali-Frazer III. According to Dundee in this book, when they saw Frazier's manager Eddie Futch wave that Frazier was done, Dundee commented whether Ali would have even been able to come out for the 15th round. Dundee and Bundini had to lift Ali up to receive his applause but then he collapsed back down. Frazier's corner had to keep him on his stool because he wanted to keep going, he just couldn't see out of either eye.

Ali looked at this fight as a walk-through. He thought Frazier was finished as a fighter. There was something about each fighter bringing out the best in each other. I would argue that Ali-Frazier is the premier antagonists in boxing history.