{"id":60106,"date":"2021-10-05T14:25:22","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T19:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/?p=60106"},"modified":"2021-10-05T14:38:53","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T19:38:53","slug":"boxing-symbiosis-muhammad-ali-vs-joe-frazier-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/boxing-symbiosis-muhammad-ali-vs-joe-frazier-iii\/","title":{"rendered":"Boxing Symbiosis: Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier III"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boxing Symbiosis: Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier III<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Manila, Philippines, October 2, 1975.-<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0I don\u2019t know how much time I have been sitting here in my bedroom with my open window. I have a pen in my hand and a white sheet, I was deeply touched, trying to put in a semblance of \u00a0order all the things that happened, understanding what just occurred and the pent up and then released emotions of what was \u201cThrilla in Manila.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Great, exhausting, dramatic, frantic, passionate, thrilling and\u00a0 super human willpower\u00a0… I think those are the words to the world I will use to describe the\u00a0conflict \u00a0between the two greatest heavyweights, Ali and Frazier.<\/em><\/p>\n

I remember I wrote this fight will surpass everything I could imagine, and it happened exactly that way. The battle was even more brutal than I imagined. <\/em><\/p>\n

Utterly unique and unrepeatable! No matter what the rivalries of the coming years, this will be an unforgettable fight for the ages. Two men with all their hearts and souls, fighting for keeps.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

A radically different\u00a0happening \u00a0to the ones that have gone before. In January, 1974, they fought. After Frazier defeated Ali in 1971, Ali then got revenge. One- One, so this was the\u00a0ultimate and supreme\u00a0encounter, the final battle.<\/em><\/p>\n

In an unusual match celebrated at 10am, the Coliseum was filled in minutes, all the seats were occupied, there was no extra place for a single\u00a0soul. \u00a0Hundreds were left languishing outside, cooking their heels, as 28,000 packed the sweltering stadium \u00a0ready and excited. Soon the morning heat gained furnace force. A surreal moment arrived , humidity and “repressed anger” combined, seething in the simmering, shimmering environment.<\/em><\/p>\n

Immersed in the beating of my heart, that silent wall that I had achieved, was decimated when they announced Frazier and then Ali, who had the confident conviction that \u00a0he was facing a done rival…a spent force.\u00a0\u00a0However \u00a0he quickly understood\u00a0 he was totally wrong with this assumption. Joe Frazier was there and ready to smash him.<\/em><\/p>\n

With an extreme temperature at the Coliseum, the bell rang, and my heart, along with those of thousands, was trying to\u00a0depart from \u00a0my chest. This was the moment we had all been waiting for.<\/em><\/p>\n

What happened next is real hard to explain.\u00a0 As always Frazier\u00a0initially, patiently and methodically \u00a0\u00a0took his time, seeking rhythm, while Ali tried to employ his unique style immediately.\u00a0 He almost succeeded.\u00a0 Frazier\u00a0was hit by\u00a0 many punches in the first round.\u00a0 We believed, I believed,\u00a0 that everything would end fast.\u00a0 Ali mentioned before the fight he was going to dance inside the ring, but he flattered to deceive, standing bolt upright there in the middle\u00a0of the ring going \u00a0toe to toe with Joe for three blood and guts rounds. Ali was not only landing big punches, but also conducting statecraft physiological warfare, as he kept talking to Joe.<\/em><\/p>\n

Then, in the 5th<\/sup> round, a great right hand \u00a0landed\u00a0 flush in the face of Ali and everything changed.\u00a0For the first time his \u00a0superiority was in real doubt. In the frenzy,\u00a0I almost \u00a0forgot why I was there. My job was to relate everything, but in that moment I was jumping out of my seat, I was telling the boxers what to do, I was like a little boy\u2026 a complete madness.<\/em><\/p>\n

It is very hard to describe this, but after that round, the look of Joe changed.\u00a0He had\u00a0tapped into a reservoir of \u00a0strength to progress with literally everything\u00a0 he had, surging ever forward. Muhammad did all he could to stem that riptide. It\u00a0 was an unreal, surreal fight of epic proportions!\u00a0 I thought these impressive men\u00a0must be \u00a0from other planets. Why? Because\u00a0no mortal \u00a0man could withstand \u00a0all of that punishment.<\/em><\/p>\n

The punches even stunned us!\u00a0 \u00a0And \u00a0battle raged within me.\u00a0\u00a0On the one hand \u00a0I wanted to someone\u00a0to stop the fight, as I knew it \u00a0was too much\u00a0 for both of them, \u00a0and that neither would quit. On the other hand I didn\u2019t wanted it to be finished,\u00a0 as I wanted to know the \u00a0full capacity of their courage, passion and sheer bravery.\u00a0 \u00a0We were confronted by two men\u00a0who were banging with all their might on the gates of hell.\u00a0 A fight descending into Hades, which neither would abandon.<\/p>\n

It was the 14th<\/sup> round, and they returned to the middle of the ring, tired, physically spent , but\u00a0determined to empty every last pocket and vestige of fight currency. \u00a0 Their valiant willpower only just holding them up on their feet. I guess this was the moment I finally understood boxing was capable of producing such a galaxy of emotions.\u00a0 Joe and Muhammad, make me\u00a0shed \u00a0the only tears that have fallen from me as a fan. It was the most brutal round\u2026both of them were virtually out on their feet.<\/em><\/p>\n

The round concluded and the fighters returned to their respective corners. Joe\u00b4s left eye was completely closed and bloodied\u2026 but he cared not!\u00a0 Joe Frazier was ready and so willing to go out yet again.\u00a0 Ali was\u00a0exhausted. \u00a0We all were wondering if we\u00a0could possibly \u00a0have yet another epic\u00a0 round. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In that fateful moment, Eddie Futch, the trainer of Joe took a courageous decision that would change history. Even though with every fibre of his being Frazier wanted to keep fighting, Eddie was implacably determined: \u201cEverything is over, no one will forget what you have done today\u201d<\/strong>, he told Joe, as he threw in the towel. <\/em><\/p>\n

In that exact some instant Ali\u00b4s trainer Angelo Dundee , was considering\u00a0and facing\u00a0the same option.\u00a0\u00a0And that`s when \u00a0he noticed that the other corner had ended the bout. The Coliseum was erupting,\u00a0 but I paid careful attention to see how Ali would get to his feet. <\/em><\/p>\n

I returned to my seat almost automatically. For me everything was pure silence. MY mind\u00a0 HAD put everything away\u2026for instants I was lost , with my perception focused on\u00a0 the ring, where one of the most incredible fights in all history had come to pass.\u00a0 \u00a0No one deserved to lose!\u00a0 Not after what they had been through! I repeated this to myself over and over again.<\/em><\/p>\n

I left the arena, the heat was no longer a\u00a0factor.\u00a0 \u00a0I was hugged by a chilly pall , produced by the cascade of emotions \u00a0I`d \u00a0experienced in that place. I walked questioning all of those things. Does it end this \u00a0way? What if Eddie Futch had waited a few seconds more? I tried to\u00a0order my\u00a0thoughts. \u00a0I wanted to thank those unique fighters. For\u00a0 making me discover the passion and honorability of the sport.\u00a0\u00a0Their titanic \u00a0punches ingrained the most pure essence of two champions plus that survival instinct we all have within us.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Muhammad and Joe laid bare their hearts\u00a0 in this \u201cBoxing Symbiosis.\u201d Apart but together they created this genuine history, a\u00a0chronicle \u00a0I`m sure will be discussed for eternally.\u00a0\u00a0A tale, a saga, a legend \u00a0that will inspire so many generations apart from just mine, with all my love for this extraordinary and amazing sport.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Boxing Symbiosis: Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier III Manila, Philippines, October 2, 1975.- \u00a0I don\u2019t know how much time I have been sitting here in my [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n

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