"Thrilla in Manila," the latest look at the 1975 boxing match between heavyweights Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, manages the near-impossible feat of finding a fresh angle on one of the most documented fights in history.
That new angle, primarily, is Frazier. Where sportswriters and historians have covered the match as an epic sporting event, which it was, and cultural historians have focused on Ali with his magnetic personality, Frazier has often been the silent element.
He hasn't been disrespected as much as ignored - when, as this John Dower production proves, there's a whole lot he still wants to say about this fight in particular and Ali in general.
Like Ali, Frazier is in his 60s now. Unlike Ali, who has been rendered largely silent by Parkinson's, Frazier still seems mostly functional. His legs move more slowly and his speech is a little thicker - a legacy, no doubt, of 20 or 30 years getting hit repeatedly in the head.
But he speaks articulately, and his frequent smiles provide a striking contrast to his continuing resentment of how Ali treated him while promoting their three landmark fights.
"Thrilla in Manila" documents that rivalry and this third fight at length, with strong commentary from boxing experts. But what makes this one different is Frazier.
Before all three fights, Ali portrayed himself as a champion of freedom and black people while calling Frazier a tool of whites, hardly a man at all. Throw in a fistful of traditional Ali insults about his opponent being stupid and ugly, and Frazier feels even now that he was disrespected and belittled by a man with whom, in the ring, he had proven himself an equal.
The film notes Frazier was also among the few who stood by Ali earlier when he had his title vacated for refusing military induction. So there was also a sense of betrayal.
After the Manila fight, which Ali won when Frazier's corner would not let him answer the bell for the 15th round, Ali stopped the attacks. Years later, he apologized.
Too late, says Frazier, who suggests Ali's current physical debilitation is part of the Lord's punishment and that there remains much more for which, come Judgment Day, Ali will have to answer.
Today, while Ali lives comfortably and is honored by many who once considered him a traitor, Frazier lives in a small apartment over the gym he still runs in a rough part of Philadelphia.
He doesn't look unhappy, though, and it's only when he talks about Ali that he sounds like there's unfinished business.
"Thrilla in Manila" paints a vivid portrait of a memorable fight and a sympathetic picture of the one of the fight game's class acts.
3 comments:
Shoot I was hoping there was a video. I watched that fight for free on TV ABC Sports with Howard Cosell, man those were the days in boxing. Many greats in all weight classes, and all free!
Joe Frazier has always been my favorite heavyweight boxer. hands down, the toughest boxer to ever step into the ring. i just wish to god Fraziers trainers would have let him answer the bell at the 15th round. Ali's ribs were so battered, he could barely breathe.
Frazier would have finished him. I've always said, that Frazier, in his prime, could have beaten any boxer thoughout history, including tyson. Smokin Joe is the original Pitbull.
I disagree, I hate what Mike Tyson turned out to be after falling under the influence of Don King. However in his prime I think Tyson could beat anyone, shame he had to turn into a thug.
Leon Spinks at 7-0 even beat Ali, then in their rematch Ali gave Leon a boxing lesson and he fell into the abyss.
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