Its who he was & it is what it is I suppose, at least Joe got his chance to even the score in the best way HE knew how, in the fight :good
WE don't know anything as Ali was totally exhausted. He could barely move and collasped on his stool. It was that close.
Ali won because he stopped joe None of this bitterness the point is joe quit first regardless of whether Ali was going to quit or not!
Joe didn't quit his corner stopped it.Big difference. And Ali would've answered the bell for round 15 and anyone who says otherwise is a sap who buys into that false modest "you had me but didn't know it" bonhomie that boxers are notorious for.
Tomayto/Tomato Fraziers corner pulled Frazier out before Ali's Corner pulled Ali out Ali deffo would have found a way to get through 15 thats just who the man was
everytime i watch that fight i'm still shocked by the brutality of it. they were both finished as great fighters after manila. both shoulda called it a day.
Its a mindset thing, marathon runners often collapse seconds after the finish line because the mind screams `YES, Ive did it, now I need a fkn rest` but if that finish line was another mile, guess what, they would go that other mile & collapse after that finish line. Oh yes, its true.
Big difference but same result - Ali TKO14 Frazier. They never pulled him out because he was in good health & they didnt pull him out because he was ahead on the cards :good
Ali obviously. He we was ahead on points and was the fresher of the two. There was no way Ali would have retired on his stool with one round left in the fight. Even if he took the round off Frazier would have needed a KO to win the fight. Joe had very little left in the tank and was willing himself to keep fighting. Joe may have won our respect but in terms of the fight, Ali won the fight, the event and kept his title.
If Dundee had thrown in the towel in the 14:th it would have been one of the worst decisions ever made by a cornerman. Since Dundee is widely considered as one of the absolutely best cornermen the sport has ever seen, its' not very likely he'd make himself guilty of such an error.