Thrilla in manila documentary

A lot is made of Ali not wanting to continue, but had Frazier come out for the 15th, I'm certain Ali would have also. He also wanted to quit in Liston 1, but it didn't stop him coming out and doing a demolition job. Ali was no quitter.

Thriller In Manila was incredibly bias. Frazier apparently dominated the FOTC, and the last quote is of Ali apologizing to Frazier for the build-up. Ridiculous.

 

i thought he wanted to quit after the 10th rnd, not the 14th...he started regaining control in the 11th.

 

Apparently in both rounds, but Ali would have come out for the 15th and there is no controversy whatsoever in Manila, as far as I'm concerned.

Frazier was getting brutally beat down for rounds 13-14, to the point where even I wanted the fight stopping.

 

It was on Channel 4 last night, and sounds like it may have been on More4 as well, although cant see it repeated in any listings?


Will definitely make a point of watching and scoring the full fight at some point :good

 

Thats the way I see it whenever I watch it too.

Ali got the better from 1-5 - Joe might have took 1 rd
Joe got the better from 6-10 - Ali took 1 or 2 rds
11 was give & take
12 went to Ali as joe looked tired
13 & 14 was target practice in favour of Ali

It wasnt a complete blow out but Ali definitely had too big a lead going into rd 15 IMO.... rds 13 & 14 - especially 14 - would have been 10-8 rds for Ali today but Im not sure what score system they used in 1975.

:good

 

There was more chance of Frazier answering the bell and knocking Ali out with a right hand, than there was Ali quitting. Of course, the documentary is mainly portraying Frazier as a character we should sympathize. In a way, we should, because Ali did give him a lot of stick. But it's only as poignant as it's made out to be because the man doing the talking was not just anybody, but a man universally recognized as a great man.

The Thriller in Manila was a fight, and irrespective of what was said before and after, Frazier had no business answering the 15th. If he had, he would have risked getting knocked out. Why would Ali had not answered the bell, he took practically nothing in round 14, and was hitting Frazier with every one-two he could muster. It's a credit to Frazier's will and determination that he wanted to answer the bell, not because he was dumb, like that idiot Doctor was basically saying.

I just hope people watch the documentary, enjoy it, but don't read to much into the Muhammad Ali bashing. He said hurtful things, most of us laughed after he said them, but he proved himself in the ring just like every other champion has, before and after him.

Had the fight taken place today, I would say it would have been stopped in either the 13th or 14th round. Frazier would have had no opportunity to talk Futch into anything.

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I watched this last night. You know, when you watch a documentary you have to understand someone is telling a story from a certain point of view. At the very beginning the narrator stated that this documentary was about Frazier, indicating it would be told from his side of things. Thats exactly what a good documentary of this sort should do.
I really enjoyed seeing things from the Frazier camp's side. We have seen so much from the Ali side this was kind of refreshing in a way. Having said that, I take it for what it was, a point of view of the director and producer... but an interesting one that made me understand how Frazier felt and still feels.

I got to say, the voice mail greeting on Frazier's cell phone made me laugh. I hope he learns to get past the whole thing some day.

 

Thread resurrection of sorts.

Saw this doco recently. Really enjoyed it. As others have said, refreshing to see one of Ali's greatest fights through the eyes of his protagonist.

The courage and determination Smokin Joe displayed in that fight was nothing short of amazing. As his cornerman Georgie Benson stated:

"Joe got hit with some hell of a shots, but he kept coming, he kept coming. God damn!"

I don't buy into the argument that Ali would have quit on his stool and not come out for the 15th. He was in front on points and annailhated a virtually blind Frazier in the 14th.

I do believe though that Frazier was one of the toughest heavyweights to ever enter the ring. With a heart to match.