By Gav Duthie: The word from both management and promotional camps is that Deontay Wilder … continue
By Alden Chodash: Perhaps before the 12th round of Srisaket Sor Rungvisai’s thrilling title defense against Juan Francisco Estrada concluded, boxing fans were thinking rematch. In this case, 12 rounds was not enough to determine who was the better man, despite the judges awarding Sor Rungvisai the majority decision win. More so, 12 rounds was not enough to fully satiate boxing fans around the world, many of which calling this fight an early candidate for “Fight of the Year”.
By Robert “Big Moe” Elmore: The best fighting the best seems to have many different perceptions. When I hear sports writers who have been around the sport for a long time and fans say “the best fought the best back in the day”, it challenged me to dig deeper. When the subject comes up about the “the best”, ninety percent of the time they refer to (in the lower weight classes) Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard and Wilfred Benitez.
For the heavyweights it’s Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, and Larry Holmes (Holmes would come a little later). And because they fought each other, this qualifies them as the best. Side Note: Benitez and Hagler never fought and Norton and Frazier never fought. But you get the gist.
First, if one where to look at these big fights chronologically, one would see that these mega fights didn’t happen like some sports journalists would have one to believe. Second, these guys were the gate keepers to one’s below them (in stature) to superstardom.
By Gav Duthie: “It’ll be a killa and a thrilla and a chilla, when I get that gorilla in Manilla.” In 1975 Muhammad Ali 48-2 (35) was back on top of the world after dethroning (in his words) “A big ugly monster that nobody else could beat” in reference to George Foreman. At 32 years of age Ali was the undisputed champion and heavyweight king almost exactly 10 years after he shocked the world beating Sonny Liston.
The only thing left to supplement his legacy was the rubber matches against the only two men to have beaten him in Ken Norton and his bitter rival ‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier 32-2 (27).
By John F. McKenna (McJack): With the recent passing of Philadelphia’s great former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier it brought back the classic 3rd fight in the Trilogy between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali.
By Geraci: Much of what has been written and said about Joe Frazier in the hours and days following his death has focused on his negative view of Muhammad Ali and his role in the greatest sports rivalry of our time: The trilogy between him and Ali. While many of those pieces accurately highlight Frazier’s importance to boxing and the trilogy’s impact on race relations in American society, what most pieces have failed to touch upon, is what Frazier symbolized for many of us.
By John F. McKenna (McKjack): If you are a boxing fan and live in Philadelphia … continue
By John F. McKenna (McJack): When the news broke over the weekend that boxing great former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier was gravely ill with advanced liver cancer my heart sank and I went into a funk. Smokin’ Joe Frazier epitomized everything that you want to see in a great fighter. His trilogy with Muhammad Ali ranks up there with the very best in boxing history.
By Thomas David Drury: It is 35 years since the thriller in Manila and the misconception lingers that Muhammad Ali wanted to quit on his stool before the start of the 15th and final round against smokin Joe Frazier, only for Frazier’s trainer, Eddie Futch, to pull his battered warrior out of the fight.
By John F. McKenna (McJack): So great was the anticipation for the March 8, 1971 showdown between Ali and Frazier that Madison Square Garden was thronged with the most famous celebrities of the day. Frank Sinatra used his influence with Life Magazine to provide him with a camera and assign him to cover the fight as a photographer. Woody Allen and Norman Mailer were there as was Le Roy Neiman, who painted the combatants as they did battle. Burt Lancaster, who had never reported on a fight, was given a microphone and acted as a color commentator for the closed circuit TV broadcast.