Thrilla In Manila...

Yes, Ali clearly rang Frazier's bell there at the end of the second round, but it really gets blown out of proportion at times, I think in part because of the controversy over the referee's blunder at the 10-second mark. Even if the ref hadn't screwed up, Frazier wasn't desperately hanging on or reeling around or anything, just calmly covering up against Ali's flurry, Ali wasn't really connecting solidly with much of anything, and there were only 10 seconds left in the round; frankly, it would be pretty generous to say Ali "almost had Frazier down," let alone "almost had him out."

 

The question is a little silly to a point. They would be using lighter gloves so they would not thrown such heavy punches, if they had, then the fight would not go 14 rounds, because both would of broken their hands and probably have broken jaws/cheekbones as well...

 

If they would've fought at the same pace, Frazier probably gets killed.

Just because Ali was happy he didn't need to fight for another round doesn't mean that he couldn't. Let's face it, he still threw a lot of punches in the 14th, it wasn't asif he was slumbing around like Robinson against Maxim. Frazier couldn't see **** and was reduced to a human punching bag that no and then throws a hook that misses its target.

 

Joe was Ali's mandatory defence, the only one he fought in his second reign. He'd been installad as #1 due to Foreman's absence.

 

I believe ali was a decent favourite to beat joe, who was seen as more past his prime due to the foreman fight & a couple of not-like-himself wins since then.

I remember it had a bit less hype than their 2nd but much much less than their 1st bout but still seen as a not to be missed fight simply because of who they were & their rivalry.

Finally, I think the thrilla was better than the 1st mainly because ali stood toe to toe more.
I think the 3rd ali frazier fight was 1 of the top 5 fights of all time & also the no1 hwt fight of all time, different level from even todays legendary hwt fights like bowe holyfield 1.

The thrilla in manilla kicks ass.

 

How much did Ali and joe get paid for the second fight?

 

In Manilla, Willie "the worm" Monroe was sitting in Ali's corner at ringside. After the 14th round, he heard Ali say "cut these things off, I ain't goin' back out there, that man's crazy." Dr Pacheco proceded to rub him down while pleading with him for one more round even though Ali continued to protest. Angelo Dundee completely ignored Ali wanting to quit and both men continued to revive him. Willie Monroe ran around the ring to Frazier's corner to tell Futch not to stop the fight but Futch already signalled the end. Carlos Padilla, is a good referee who smartly went to Frazier's corner first. Protecting the fighters is the first and foremost rule of boxing and Frazier lost the fourteenth round badly. Who knows, if Padilla went to Ali's corner first, he might have heard Ali quit. Either way, this was one of the all time great fights.

 

This is exactly how I saw it too.

It is telling that even after the excellent chopping right that does the initial damage, Ali struggles to land something clean afterwards - which is unusual for Ali.

It seems unlikely to me that Frazier would have sustained any more damage in the 'extra' 10 seconds, and almost certain that he would have stayed on his feet.

 

TKO or not, a fighter's cornerman could still quit. Which is what happened in Manilla.

 

I've only seen FotC once, but have the Thrilla on tape.

I can honestly say I find it hard to watch, a great fight but probably the only one (and I KNOW this sounds very stupid) where I just wish they'd stop hitting each other by the time we're midway through the fight.

 

Very interesting:think.

 

I seem to recall that one of the American boxing mags predicted the same.

 

Hard to split the two fights in terms of preference. The first was better skill wise. Frazier was never better than on that night,and Ali in spite of a bit of lingering ring rust,was pretty damn awesome too.


The third was all about sheer brutality and both men acted like they knew that this was the last time they'd meet in the ring. Frazier was shot to bits after this one and Ali was never quite the same.

 

Technically, Manilla was not the best, but the most dramatic of the three fights. Both showed a lot of heart.