In 1989, with Muhammad Ali Sitting next to me, I watched the tape of the historical triumph Ali over Joe Freyser in Manila, which took place 50 years ago this week.
For several months, Ali and I examined his battles for the book, which I wrote as his authorized biographer. We would look Henry Cooper knocks Cassius Clay to the boundary of oblivion with the perfect left hook. From the point of view of my living room, which amused Muhammad.
We saw how Joe Fraser laid Ali on a cancer cancer their first meeting at Madison Square GardenAnd Ken Norton will break the jaw of MuhammadThe field these blows were safely rooted in the annals of history, as well as the blows that hit, which George Forman landed in ZairField
Watching Ali Frequencies III, widely known as Thrilla in Manila, There was another experienceField
Despite the fact that this was one of the greatest triumphs of the Muhammad Ring, there was no joy on his face, as Trillus unfolded in Manila. Sitting next to me, he shuddered when some of Freyser’s blows landed. He seemed to repeat the pain. When the tape ended, he turned to me and said: “Fraser left shortly before I did it. I didn’t think I could fight more. ”
Fifty years have passed since Ali and Fraser fought in the stuffy heat and humidity of this hour late in the morning in one of the most famous, brutal prize battles of all time. “What this happened was not the championship of the world in heavyweight,” said Jerry Izenberg, leading sports writer of that era Jerry Izenberg. “Ali and Fraser fought for something more important than it. They fought for each other's championship. I have never witnessed anything like that. Both fighters won that night, and both fighters lost. “
Not a single person has never completely recovered from the physical damage that they caused to each other that day. Let's place what many consider to be the greatest prize battle in context.
Ali in 1975 was the most famous and possibly the most beloved person in the world. The hatred, which was aimed at him for his views on the race and his refusal to accept the joining the United States in the midst of the War in Vietnam, was largely weakened. His Knock Forman in 1974 in Zair, to restore a heavyweight throne, gave rise to joy around the world.
Fraser did not share these good feelings. March 8, 1971 at their first meeting, Fraser defeated Ali in “Battle of the century” in Madison Square Garden To earn an indisputable championship in heavyweight. But the victory came with a heavy price.
The first struggle of Ali Frasius was considered in the United States as a metaphor for the struggle between racist warlike elements (which took Fraser as anti-ali) on the one hand, and those who are looking for peace and social justice (mainly partisan Ali).
Fraser did not want to be a symbol. He was not interested in politics and rarely spoke of religion or race. He grew up as the son of Shareropper in the most vile circumstances that rural America could offer. All he wanted to do is fight.
“Clay got into boxing when he was 12 years old because his bicycle was stolen,” Fraser said. “I did not have a bicycle when I was 12 years old. I worked in the fields. “
But the popular narrative formulated Ali as an outsider and Joe as a representative of the white establishment of America. And Ali immortalized this myth, attacking the blackness and character of Freyser. He humiliated Joe as “Uncle Tom” and deprived him of dignity in a public mind.
“Joe was almost a stereotypical black, for whom Ali fought for,” said writer Dave Wolf, who was later a member of the environment of Fraser. “And yet Ali humiliated Joe at every step. Look at the perception that many people have that Joe is stupid, because he is not excited with the tongue and because his specific brand of English in South Carolin is not so easy for people who did not come from that part of Southern Carolina. Joe is not stupid. But Ali got stuck that the saddle is on him, and Joe would have to wear it forever. Joe was not that he was not, but he was not, but he was not, but he was not. Same.
Fraser wanted to be a hero. After the beating of Ali, he received condescending approval from most of the White America. But he was never a hero where it was of greatest importance for him – for his own people.
Three years later, in the framework of preparation for Ali Frequencies II, which Ali won by decision, Muhammad called Joe “ignorant”. In Manila, he called him a “gorilla.” Just as his ring battles with Ali defined Freyser as a fighter, Joe and Muhammad's relationship defined him, unfairly, in the eyes of the world.
“I do everything right.” Fraser complained. “And this is how people look at me from him.” Later he would add to this opinion, saying: “I know that everything will be different for me if Clay was not there. I received much more respect. I got more gratitude from my own appearance. “
Unlike Ali Befedia I, Manila was not about Ali's social and political beliefs. The narrative had calmed down by that time. In a sense, Ali began to represent the status -kvo and the institution, while Joe was thrown aside. But for both men, and especially for the Joe-Ali-Fradier III, it was very personal. Freyser's hatred of Ali grew to huge proportions. Manila was his last opportunity to restore dignity, which, in his opinion, felt that Muhammad stole from him.
Ali was a great artist in the ring, as the world saw against opponents, such as Cleveland Williams and Zora Folly. But his biggest points in boxing came when he had inquisitors, such as Sonny Liston and Forman in front of him. Fraser was the greatest inquisitor Ali.
Joe loved to fight. No one has ever liked to fight Joe.
“Fraser never took a reverse step in the ring,” said Don Turner, who later trained Larry Holmes and Evander Holifield. “Not to anyone. He did not come to dance. He did not come to hold on. He did not come to boxing. He came to battle. “
Fraser repeated this topic, speaking of Ali: “He is not a fighter. He is a boxer. I am a fighter. “
But in Manila Ali, without a doubt, he showed that he was also a fighter.
The author of the boxing Associated Press Ed Shailer later recalled: “Thrilla in Manila was the best struggle that I saw when I saw. Since everyone unfolded, everyone in the ring understood that they were watching greatness. The pace never weakened. It was hell. I have never seen two people never give more. ”
The early rounds belonged to Ali. He expelled Fraser, landed on sharp clean blows and staggered his enemy several times. Fraser continued to go forward. The tide turned in medium rounds. Ali was tiring. Fraser swooped him with thunderous blows. Muhammad's hands went down when Fraser hit him on the ropes, knocking. Ali restored the initiative in the 12th round, the Fraser swayed and measured it for more. Once later, a throwing left hook shot down a fraizer's mouthpiece into the crowd. He was shocked, but finished the round. In the 14th round, Ali resumed his attack.
“The 14th round,” Richard Hoffer later wrote: “The last three minutes of their common agony were a kind of scientific experiment, an investigation of the extremes of human behavior. Exactly exactly what a person is capable of, in fact, did not know what he could achieve? How deep could he achieve?
The left eye of Fraser was completely closed. The vision in his right eye was limited. He spat blood. Ali’s blow landed cleanly. Fraser could not see how they came. Both fighters inflicted so many clean blows that the laying inside their gloves separated. More and more, it was like a blow and get into non -colorful fists.
The coach of Fraser, Eddie Full, stopped the massacre after the 14th round.
Fraser is now considered in some circles, first of all, as part of Ali's legend. But this concept is unfair. He was much more. It is true that without three battles, the Ali Fraud of the Joe's career is not enough in historical gravity. But these three fights occurred.
Fraser won Ali Fraud I and came very close to the victory in Ali Frequencies III. Some of Ali's greatness suffered him? Absolutely. But some of the greatness of Fraser also suffered on Ali. Joe deserves to be remembered by themselves.
In subsequent years, Ali and Fraser from time to time communicated, almost always for an economic incentive. But Joe's hatred of Muhammad remained. He gladly believed that the punishment he had inflicted, Ali in Manila, contributed to the physical difficulties that Muhammad survived at the end of his life.
“He shook me in Manila,” Fraser admitted, “he won. But I sent him home worse than him. Look at him now. It is damaged by goods. I know that. You know that. Everyone knows this. They just don't want to speak. He always ridiculed me. I am a mannequin; I was one of them in the head.
Later, adding this feeling to the ugliness, Fraser said: “I will survive him. I dance on his grave. “
It was not. Fraser died in 2011 at the age of 67.Field five years later, Ali died at the age of 74They were not old by the field by ordinary standards. But Muhammad's health has been in ruins over the past decade of his life. Fraser was the main among the fighters, whose blows forever damaged him physically. And Ali forever damaged Freyser, both physically and psychologically.
In Manila, they saw the future and what would become with them.
I am sad that Fraser carried all this anger and hatred of him. It threw a shadow on his life. But I will give the last word Ali, who told me a decade ago.
“I do not think that two large men once fought like me and Joe FraserThe field is one battle, maybe. But three times; We were the only ones. Sonny Liston was the worst. Forman was the most powerful. Floyd Patterson was the most experienced as a boxer. But Joe Fraser was the coolest and worst. He brought me the best, and the best battle we fought with was in Manila. This battle, I felt that something was happening to me. Something different from what I felt in battles before. And God blessed me that day. He blessed me many times, and this fight in Manila was one of them. As if I took myself as far as I could, and then God took me to the end of the path.
“So I'm sorry, Joe Fraser is angry with me. I am sorry that I hurt him. Joe Fraser is a good person. I could not do what I did without him, and he could not do what he did without me. And if God ever calls me to the Holy War, I want Joe Fraser to fight next to me. “
