The Greatest Fight of All Time

ThatOne · Sep 16, 2025 at 3:35 PM

Fifty years ago, Muhammad Ali met Joe Frazier in Manila.

It was oven-hot inside the arena, and that was before the fight began. The building’s air-conditioning had already lost the undercard against the tropical sun, and the air was thick with humidity. Still, almost 30,000 people waited with sweat soaking their shirts, standing on tiptoe to get a glimpse of the men walking toward the center of the arena. From one side, draped in a dark-blue robe and flanked by an entourage in matching work shirts, Joe Frazier walked slowly through the crowd, stern and granite-jawed. A ripple of applause passed through the arena.

From the other side of the arena, dressed in a white satin robe with his name embroidered on the back, walked Muhammad Ali. Even at age 33, approaching the twilight of his career, Ali was electromagnetic, drawing the crowd to its feet and polarizing its constituents all at once. The noise was raucous. When match officials placed a more-than-three-foot-tall trophy in the middle of the ring, Ali grabbed it and feigned running away with it. In the ring, after his name was announced, he pantomimed heartbreak as boos overcame the adulation. Frazier, whose ring demeanor generally toggled between glowering and frowning, glowered.

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Fifty Years After History’s Most Brutal Boxing Match - The Atlantic ON EDIT-The Atlantic changed the title and reminded me editors write the titles, not the authors. It's a great read.

Ioakeim Tzortzakis · Sep 16, 2025 at 6:56 AM

Wait, this isn't about Matthew Saad Muhammad vs Marvin Johnson 1!

thistle · Sep 16, 2025 at 7:02 AM

Usyk vs Crawford at Foreverweight.

Skins · Sep 16, 2025 at 7:16 AM

Ioakeim Tzortzakis said: ↑

Wait, this isn't about Matthew Saad Muhammad vs Marvin Johnson 1!
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My favorite too.

Yorbals · Sep 16, 2025 at 7:21 AM

I thought this was going to be about Tua v Ruiz

ThatOne · Sep 16, 2025 at 7:40 AM

Ioakeim Tzortzakis said: ↑

Wait, this isn't about Matthew Saad Muhammad vs Marvin Johnson 1!
Click to expand...

It's a super... long article. I posted the link before I read it entirely. It's not as much about the fight itself, though there's a lot of that, but about all the characters involved in the fight and putting it on. The author even goes back to the arena where it was held to try to recapture the magic.

White Bomber · Sep 16, 2025 at 7:46 AM

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This content is protected

Mike Cannon · Sep 16, 2025 at 7:52 AM

Hi Guys.
Of course there are many fights that could labeled as such including Ali/Frazier 1, Manila, the Rumble, a few oF Saads, Marciano / Walcott 1, Louis / Conn 1 ( maybe ) Duran / Leonard 1, one of my favs is Basilio/ Robinson 1, the small tenacious onion farmer posed but one problem for Robinson, to beat me you will have to take my heart out, then stamp on it, few if any gave the rough hewn, iron boned welterweight few if any gave Basilio a chance against a boxer who was already being touted as the best p4p of all time, when told at the weigh in that out of 32 reporters only 2 thought he could win, the gruff no nonsense body puncher replied " then 30 are wrong " Marciano aside has there ever been as assiduous trainer than Basilio, Dundee had him as the most intense fighter he ever worked with, meticulous in his preparation, honing his raw, taught, body in to a place where Carmen knew it would serve him well, he had a disdain for punishment, seemingly impervious to pain, cuts, swellings, bruises, meant little to this iron willed fighter, he wouldnt be able to withstand De Marcos left hook the scribes said, he did, not once but twice , Gavilan had a granite chin no one can put him on the canvas they said, Basilio did, he wasn't a great boxer, nor a Ko puncher, he wasn't flash, like his nemesis, the name of the game was fighting, and he loved to fight, his rib bending hooks are stuff of legend, De Marco no mean puncher himself, visibly wilted under the incessant body attack, add this to the equation, Carmen hated Robinson with a vengeance ( as did many foes ) shafting Carmen with the purse divide, just one of many concessions that Robinson insisted on be for he signed, Basilios normal thirst for battle was heightened when he glanced across the ring before the bell, to see the coiffured hair of the prim and proper middleweight champ, Carmen had vowed to make Robinson pay, and pay dearly for all the barbed insults hurled his way leading up to the fight, this was a fight where the matador lost to the bull.
stay safe guys, chat soon.
Mike.

kingfisher3 · Sep 16, 2025 at 8:12 AM

still hard to beat corrales castillo for me.

ali frazier 1 comes close.

hamed kelley comes close.

that fight between 2 thai guys was the best flat out war i ever saw. wongkajam? was one of them.

RockyValdez · Sep 16, 2025 at 8:16 AM

I prefer Ali-Frazier 1.

bboyrei · Sep 16, 2025 at 9:11 AM

FOTC had the bigger buildup, both fighters closer to their best conditions, and the better ending to the fight.

ThatOne · Sep 16, 2025 at 9:44 AM

Mike Cannon said: ↑

Hi Guys.
Of course there are many fights that could labeled as such including Ali/Frazier 1, Manila, the Rumble, a few oF Saads, Marciano / Walcott 1, Louis / Conn 1 ( maybe ) Duran / Leonard 1, one of my favs is Basilio/ Robinson 1, the small tenacious onion farmer posed but one problem for Robinson, to beat me you will have to take my heart out, then stamp on it, few if any gave the rough hewn, iron boned welterweight few if any gave Basilio a chance against a boxer who was already being touted as the best p4p of all time, when told at the weigh in that out of 32 reporters only 2 thought he could win, the gruff no nonsense body puncher replied " then 30 are wrong " Marciano aside has there ever been as assiduous trainer than Basilio, Dundee had him as the most intense fighter he ever worked with, meticulous in his preparation, honing his raw, taught, body in to a place where Carmen knew it would serve him well, he had a disdain for punishment, seemingly impervious to pain, cuts, swellings, bruises, meant little to this iron willed fighter, he wouldnt be able to withstand De Marcos left hook the scribes said, he did, not once but twice , Gavilan had a granite chin no one can put him on the canvas they said, Basilio did, he wasn't a great boxer, nor a Ko puncher, he wasn't flash, like his nemesis, the name of the game was fighting, and he loved to fight, his rib bending hooks are stuff of legend, De Marco no mean puncher himself, visibly wilted under the incessant body attack, add this to the equation, Carmen hated Robinson with a vengeance ( as did many foes ) shafting Carmen with the purse divide, just one of many concessions that Robinson insisted on be for he signed, Basilios normal thirst for battle was heightened when he glanced across the ring before the bell, to see the coiffured hair of the prim and proper middleweight champ, Carmen had vowed to make Robinson pay, and pay dearly for all the barbed insults hurled his way leading up to the fight, this was a fight where the matador lost to the bull.
stay safe guys, chat soon.
Mike.
Click to expand...

Mike read the article, a person as knowledgeable as you would really enoy it. It's not as much the fight itself that the author thinks is great, it's the characters involved, the cultural significance of the characters like Marcos, Ali, and Frazier, and the impact on the combants. The author even spoke to Carlos Padilla who refereed it and Jerry Izenberg who witnessed it. He even goes back to the arena where it was held to try and recapture the magic.

Mandela2039 · Sep 16, 2025 at 10:46 AM

The Brawl in Montreal will stand undefeated until the end of times.

KasimirKid · Sep 16, 2025 at 10:51 AM

Mike Cannon said: ↑

Hi Guys.
Of course there are many fights that could labeled as such including Ali/Frazier 1, Manila, the Rumble, a few oF Saads, Marciano / Walcott 1, Louis / Conn 1 ( maybe ) Duran / Leonard 1, one of my favs is Basilio/ Robinson 1, the small tenacious onion farmer posed but one problem for Robinson, to beat me you will have to take my heart out, then stamp on it, few if any gave the rough hewn, iron boned welterweight few if any gave Basilio a chance against a boxer who was already being touted as the best p4p of all time, when told at the weigh in that out of 32 reporters only 2 thought he could win, the gruff no nonsense body puncher replied " then 30 are wrong " Marciano aside has there ever been as assiduous trainer than Basilio, Dundee had him as the most intense fighter he ever worked with, meticulous in his preparation, honing his raw, taught, body in to a place where Carmen knew it would serve him well, he had a disdain for punishment, seemingly impervious to pain, cuts, swellings, bruises, meant little to this iron willed fighter, he wouldnt be able to withstand De Marcos left hook the scribes said, he did, not once but twice , Gavilan had a granite chin no one can put him on the canvas they said, Basilio did, he wasn't a great boxer, nor a Ko puncher, he wasn't flash, like his nemesis, the name of the game was fighting, and he loved to fight, his rib bending hooks are stuff of legend, De Marco no mean puncher himself, visibly wilted under the incessant body attack, add this to the equation, Carmen hated Robinson with a vengeance ( as did many foes ) shafting Carmen with the purse divide, just one of many concessions that Robinson insisted on be for he signed, Basilios normal thirst for battle was heightened when he glanced across the ring before the bell, to see the coiffured hair of the prim and proper middleweight champ, Carmen had vowed to make Robinson pay, and pay dearly for all the barbed insults hurled his way leading up to the fight, this was a fight where the matador lost to the bull.
stay safe guys, chat soon.
Mike.
Click to expand...

Basilio-DeMarco 1 and 2 were pretty good as well!

Ice8Cold · Sep 16, 2025 at 10:54 AM

Bowe V Holyfield 1 is up there.

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