“We’re just two colored boys from the ghetto, but the whole world is watching us in the biggest event of all time!”
50 years ago this week, at Madison Square Garden, just hours before the two champion boxers faced each other in a long-awaited rematch, the second in the iconic slugfest trilogy, said Joe Frazier.
Promoters named the contest “Superfight II,” but the title never stuck.
The second Ali vs. Frazier fight rarely ranks in boxing historians' rankings of the greatest heavyweight title fights of all time or Ali's best performances, usually with matches one and three is given that honor.
Times have changed.
The previous meeting between Ali and Frazier, also held at the Garden in March 1971 and hailed as the “fight of the century,” was an event of worldwide significance. Undefeated The heavyweight champion of the late 60s and early 70s, filled with intense politics.
Ali, with his handsome features and nimble gait, converted to Islam in an attempt to regain his belt after spending three and a half years in exile for resisting military conscription for the Vietnam War as a conscientious objector. He was a converted man. .
Frazier, a slow-talking, slow-talking boy, was the unfortunate son of a South Carolina sharecropper who won an Olympic gold medal in 1964.
Ten years later, Frazier was now a favorite of President Richard Nixon's Silent Majority, which viewed the Vietnam conflict more favorably.
During the grueling 15 rounds, Ali used a left jab in the first bout, landing dazzling combinations on his opponent's face. Meanwhile, Frazier moved relentlessly on a difficult target that bobbed and weaved, hurting Ali's head and stomach.
Less than a minute into the final round, Frazier landed a left hook to Ali's jaw, briefly knocking The Greatest to the floor.
The garden exploded.
Mr. Frazier was ordered to remain in the hospital for three weeks in a unanimous decision.
Now, with the era of sequels dawning and “The Godfather Part II” on the horizon, Ali and Frasier will be on ABC's “Wide World of War” on Jan. 23 to review the videotape. We agreed to meet at the Manhattan studio of “Sports.'' First match against host Howard Cosell.
As usual, Ali cruelly mocked Frazier about his appearance and educational background, although the latter was 3.5 inches shorter than Ali and had the greatest reach. Six-1.5 inches shorter would have been enough.
Boy, how do you know I'm ignorant? the casually dressed Frasier asked, standing menacingly above his rival.
Immediately, Ali, wearing a dark three-piece suit, stood up and preempted Frazier's attack with a headlock. Sit down quickly, Joe! Producers, technicians, and weirdos leapt at them, muffled microphones scraping and scratching as the pair struggled like schoolchildren as they tumbled down foot-high risers onto the concrete floor.
The New York State Athletic Commission later fined them $5,000 each for “deplorable conduct” that “disparages the sport of boxing.”
So when the opening bell rang for Superfight II a few days later, there was already bad blood and a Garden crowd — 20,748 strong, bigger than the first Ali vs. Frazier match, celebrities sparkling with gorgeous soul-chic threads — Anticipated war.
But how strong?
Superfight II was scheduled to be a 12-round bout.
Frazier, then 30, had lost the heavyweight championship a year earlier in Jamaica when George Foreman knocked him to the canvas. 6 times It prompted Cosell's legendary call in the second round. Down, FRAY-zhuh! Down, FRAY-zhuh!
Ali, 32, has fought 139 rounds since his first fight with Frazier in 1971, including two bouts with a young former Marine named Ken Norton who broke Ali's jaw in March 1973. was also included.
In addition, Ali's right hand was injured and weakened, requiring cortisone injections.
Cosell said the third referee in the ring, Tony Perez, had “the youth, the know-how, the quickness and the strength to get the job done.”
The lithe ants danced like ants of old. It was a ballet-like backward movement, and then it slammed down like a cobra.
He was the first to land a right-left-left combo in the first 35 seconds, electrifying the crowd.
Although he had vowed to avoid the clown and rope-a-dope tactics that hurt his performance in his first fight with Frazier, Greatest couldn't resist the ant shuffle and playful wink. Ta. At the sportswriter sitting at ringside.
Near the end of the second round, Ali landed a sharp right similar to Foreman's, lifting Frazier off the canvas. In Jamaica.
Frazier stumbles to the ropes.
“Joe retreated for the first time in this fight!” Cosell yelled. “There he was hurt By Ali's right! ”
Suddenly, Perez cut in and waved the fighters to the corner, but the bell didn't ring. In fact, the referee was 20 seconds early.
He quickly realized his mistake and ordered his fighters to resume.
Ali's mouthpiece has come off.
Still, he punched Frazier again until the bell actually rang 10 seconds later.
Although Frazier wasn't knocked out early, he escaped major damage.
“It's a confusing turn of events,” Cosell thought.
From then on, Ali's dancing slowed down and he clinched more, but every round was an exchange of heavy blows.
The fighters' mixed rhythm and repertoire prevented either from scoring without taking one or several shots.
Just like in the first match, Frazier showed his strength in the middle rounds, smiling and mocking Ali's dancing and cornering him in the clinch. Punches don't work! — Ali just snaps Frazier's head back with more jabs and hooks.
“Joe actually teased Ali and got belted!” Cosell observed.
By the tenth round, Ali's nose was bleeding.
But the boxing exhibition continued.
With constant encouragement from cornerman and trainer Drew Bandini-Brown, Don't stop dancing! Keep it in the box until it dies! — Ali was moving away from the ropes.
Near the end of the round, he punched Frazier in the face six times in a row.
As the 11th round began, the judges and Perez favored Ali on the scorecards.
The Post's Larry Merchant asserted that Ali had a large points lead and that “he's not going to lose unless he gets knocked out.”
The other party knew that too.
“Frazier is swinging hard,” Cosell said.
Just like in the first fight, Ali finished strong, landing nine punches in seven seconds.
When the bell rang for the 12th round, the fighters bravely touched their gloves at the ring center.
Ali repeated the shuffle to impress the judges one last time.
Cosell felt an anti-climax. “I think everyone realizes that this…match between past champions…is lacking a lot of the excitement of the previous match. This is a boxing contest on Ali's side, and he has often scored goals.” … But obviously there was no power … and Frazier didn’t show anything that he showed in the first game.”
The crowd packed the ring as Ali's victory by unanimous decision was announced.
“Absolute pandemonium spread!” Cosell shouted.
When the station arrived, Frazier's eyes were swollen like lumpy potatoes and his lower lip was split and bloody.
Smokin' Joe seemed wise to the loss.
“There’s no arguing about bullshit,” he told Cosell.
The Post the next day proclaimed, “ONE AND ONE.”
Ali won generously.
“Joe Frazier is great. He's a much better fighter than I thought he was,” he said, adding that his opponent “made me stand up twice.”
Nine months later, Ali set his sights on George Foreman..
The Rumble in the Jungle, held in Zaire (now Congo) in central Africa, ended with Ali's stunning eight-round KO of a much larger, younger champion who was widely thought to be unbeatable. It concluded his return from exile.
Ali is reclaiming the heavyweight title as 8-1 underdog Cassius Clay, 10 years after first winning it from Sonny Liston, another thug previously thought to be invincible. Ta.
Three more matches took place after Ali's “Rumble” — He looked lethargic after 41 rounds and was getting attacked too often. — before the champion gives Frazier a chance to avenge him at Superfight II.
The final encounter between Ali and Frasier, staged in the Philippines in October 1975, was called “Thrilla in Manila.” It is often cited as the greatest and most brutal heavyweight title fight of all time.
Thrilla mirrored the early contest, with Ali dominating early, Frazier surging in the middle, and the champion emerging like Lazarus in the final round.
Frazier's face was so badly bruised that his corner did not allow him to answer the bell for the 15th round: TKO, the only knockout of the trilogy.
Super Fight II is the forgotten installment of the Ali-Frazier trilogy.
Jonathan Eig, author of the best-selling 2017 biography, said: “They were both starting to lose their form a little bit, but they were both very fierce warriors. It's one of those fights that is painful to watch.” Ali: lifeHe talked about the recent fight.
Fifty years later, this match deserves to be revisited and come to a different conclusion than the climax Cosell perceived.
The bout, described as “action-packed” by the Associated Press, was a great spectacle and one of Ali's best performances. It was the most convincing defeat of Frazier, who had always given him a hard time, and Ali's last great dance exhibition.
“The second fight is where Ali really tests out Frazier,” Eig said. “Ali had his best 'Frasier moment' in Fight II.”
The bell is ringing and a historical reexamination is underway.
James Rosen is Newsmax's White House correspondent and author, most recently, of Scalia: Rise to Greatness, 1936-1986.
