MUHAMMAD ALI remained on
his stool and lifted his weary head to look across at the man with whom he had
shared 41 gruelling give-and-take rounds.
Joe Frazier yearned to continue but his trainer, Eddie Futch, would not allow it. Frazier would never surrender, particularly against Ali, his hated enemy. But Futch had no choice. He recognised the rapid deterioration in Joe. He could hear his voice fading. He could see the mass of swollen skin that invaded his eroding eyesight and stopped him from seeing the punches coming.
But Ali did not
celebrate. The winner slowly hauled himself to his feet, pulling at the ropes
to muster the energy to do so, glad only to be alive. The greatest rivalry of
them all was over.
Forty-five years have
elapsed since that moment in Manila. Both men are now passed yet the ferocity
they forged will never die. Somewhere up there, wherever the old enemies roam,
that grudge remains.
Rivalries like the one shared by Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier are one in a million.
One might think of Bjorn
Borg and John McEnroe in tennis, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer in golf and
maybe Magic Johnson and Larry Bird on the basketball court. But when
identifying the greatest rivalries in sporting history it’s hard to name one
fiercer – or more engrossing, even after all this time – than the one crafted
by Ali and Frazier.
Yet it was about more
than the punches they exchanged. Brief allies when Ali was forced to give up
his title in 1967 due to his refusal to join America’s war with Vietnam, the
pair were cast as enemies upon Muhammad’s return three years later. In those
three years, Frazier had taken the torch from Ali, almost begrudgingly so aware
was he of the unfairness of his predecessor’s removal from the scene. But Ali –
always the king marketeer – knew that friendship, particularly in the brutal
world of boxing, was never a good sell. And so the rivalry was born between two
men who were, in the world of prizefighting, made for each other. Together they
stood atop the very best of all heavyweight divisions.
In a special bookazine – the first in a six-part series of boxing specials focusing on different subjects – we regale the tale through the eyes of Boxing News, the world’s oldest boxing magazine and an eye-witness to the whole saga. We reproduce articles, previews and reports alongside rare and beautiful photography. It’s interesting to note that, as late as 1971, we were still referring to Muhammad Ali as Cassius Clay – just as Joe Frazier did until his dying day. There was no greater insult in Ali’s eyes.
In addition to the
original material, which provides truly fascinating insight into the rivalry as
it happened, there are brand new interviews and features, and we review the fights
all over again through fresh eyes. It should come as no surprise that the
hellacious contests remain just as exciting, but they’re now undeniably more
revealing than they were at the time.
There
will never be another Muhammad Ali nor another Joe Frazier. The sport of boxing
owes each of them a huge debt of gratitude, those two old friends who became
eternal enemies.
Ali and Frazier, forever the greatest rivals in sport, we salute you.
The bookazine costs £7.99 and is in the shops now or can be purchased online here: https://shop.kelsey.co.uk/issue/View/issue/BXP001/issue-1