Help me understand: Thrilla in Manilla > Ali/Frazier I

Interesting point. Ali-Frazier I was, as you say, more about boxing and, for a lot of people, as you say, the 'wrong' guy won. I'm not sure that the Thrilla in Manilla was on the general public's radar in terms of politics and social attitudes 4 years later in 1975 - the Vietnam War had been fought, lost & ended, Nixon had been impeached & Ali had performed a miracle in beating George Foreman. I don't think this fight had the same hype until after it had happened - ie, until it became apparent what a classic fight it was. Ali-Frazier I was about more than boxing at the time, Ali-Frazier III was about blood, guts, courage and indomitable wills - in other words - the best of boxing. Good post.

 

. i am the biggest fan of ali but in my opinion frazier did deserve the victory in manilla, ali did not want to continue, joe wanted to continue, but eddie futch did stop the fight the first. moments before ali told dundee "i can not continue" ali was absolutely tired.

 

I prefer the fotc over the thrilla. Much better fight, the thrilla was more gruesome and it always hurts me seeing Frazier´s corner ending the fight.

 

Well, watch Thrilla in Manilla. You will never see more spirited, tough, gritty and dramatic fight at HW.

 

Very interesting post ... revisionism by the left to a degree ...

Thrilla was a brutal fight between two fighters past their primes. The difference was that Ali had more left in the tank than Frazier going into the bout but Joe's heart and hatred of Ali fueled his performance. When you consider that Frazier was blind in one eye since the mid 1960's you realize just how amazing a fighter he was ...

 

A lot gets made of this point. And not without merit. Thing is,I firmly believe that Ali said that stuff in the heat of the moment,like a kid wishing that it was Christmas time in mid-Summer ! If Dundee had started to cut the gloves off,Muhammad would have stopped him. As exhausted as he was,the fourteenth was Muhammad's most dominant round since the early ones,and he could n't miss Joe with his punches. There would have been no way in Heaven,Earth or Hell that Ali would have quit.

 

As is said,the FOTC was bigger than boxing,owing to the way things were. The Thrilla was a FIGHT,pure and simple. Both had their merits. The first one was better from a technical standpoint,while the third was the finale. It is often forgotten how good fight number 2 was,actually. Only because it was sandwiched between two epics.

 

FOTC is the most significant but all 3 count.

 

Exactly. Like all the best epics,it had a beginning,a middle and an end.

 

Because in Manilla they literally kicked the ever loving **** out of each other.

And I guess I'm a sadist and find that more exciting than the boxing display they both put on in FOTC.

 

Me too, FOTC was between two younger, faster fighters & showcased much more impressive skills.

 

ali won, case closed.

just like you're not allowed to point out what an ******* he was because of how he's remembered and is today.

 

I haven't seen FOTC since it was shown live in 1971, nor have I ever seen Ali-Frazier II- anyone know where, or even if, I can get a copy?