The "Thrilla in Manilia".

ringsider · Post by **ringsider** » 04 Jul 2005, 02:10

This weekend on the TV it is an all Ali classics weekend....The fight with Frazier in Manilia still gets me going, and it is 30 years old. That Joe Frazier put a beating on Ali's body, and Ali stood the test. Ali was so quick and accurate with his punches at times it was scary. What a fight it was......and what a blistering pace for 2 great champion heavyweights.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 04 Jul 2005, 06:01

What channel is showing the fights and what fights will they show?.
The thrilla is definately one of the best fights of all time at any weight but its also one of those fights where you feel a little guilty for enjoying it because both fighters give so much!... too much.

kingpawn · Post by **kingpawn** » 04 Jul 2005, 08:13

Silkov ... the Ali Classics were on ESPN2 all weekend this weekend. Perhaps this is a naive question, but do they show ESPN and ESPN2 in London?

Well, at any rate, I have to agree with Ringsider. The "Thrilla in Manilla" really does get your adrenaline going all these years later. What really impresses me, even though he lost, is the pace Frazier is able to maintain throughout the fight. Frazier was never the most economical fighter, but I thought he produced an extraordinary work rate in that fight, pushing the bigger man, Ali, who was always good at conserving energy and fighting in bursts, to have to bust his ass throughout. One can't forget, too, that it was very warm and humid that night.

I suppose Frazier will always be graded down for his quick exits against Foreman and the fact that he came out on the short end of his trilogy with Ali. But very few fighters ever poured it all out in the ring any more than Smokin' Joe.

Ezzard · Post by **Ezzard** » 04 Jul 2005, 08:41

Great fight by two of my all time favourite fighters. I can't help thinking that Joe gets the short end though. Ali is holding on and pushing his head down constantly but not so much as a warning from the ref.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 04 Jul 2005, 11:12

kingpawn wrote:Silkov ... the Ali Classics were on ESPN2 all weekend this weekend. Perhaps this is a naive question, but do they show ESPN and ESPN2 in London?

Well, at any rate, I have to agree with Ringsider. The "Thrilla in Manilla" really does get your adrenaline going all these years later. What really impresses me, even though he lost, is the pace Frazier is able to maintain throughout the fight. Frazier was never the most economical fighter, but I thought he produced an extraordinary work rate in that fight, pushing the bigger man, Ali, who was always good at conserving energy and fighting in bursts, to have to bust his ass throughout. One can't forget, too, that it was very warm and humid that night.

I suppose Frazier will always be graded down for his quick exits against Foreman and the fact that he came out on the short end of his trilogy with Ali. But very few fighters ever poured it all out in the ring any more than Smokin' Joe.

Thanks for the info but I think I live in the wrong country for espn!.
I don't think Frazier should be downgraded for his losses to Foreman... Foreman would have done the same to many of the other champs and I rate both Frazier and Foreman pretty high in the top ten of Heavyweight champions all timers... had Frazier been around in a different era to Foreman and Ali he would have dominated for quite a while I think.... Dempsey, Marciano and Tyson would all have lost to Frazier I believe.

Sweet Scientist · Post by **Sweet Scientist** » 04 Jul 2005, 13:00

silkov wrote:
Thanks for the info but I think I live in the wrong country for espn!.

98% of it is baseball, football, basketball...so you probably aren't missing much...still...I would have thought that with today's satellite/cable systems, it would be offered to you guys...we get BBC over here...

Manos de Oro · Post by **Manos de Oro** » 04 Jul 2005, 13:09

Sweet Scientist wrote:
silkov wrote:
Thanks for the info but I think I live in the wrong country for espn!.
98% of it is baseball, football, basketball...so you probably aren't missing much...still...I would have thought that with today's satellite/cable systems, it would be offered to you guys...we get BBC over here...

Cool, there was a good documentary about boxing on BBC1 a while ago called 'The Fighting McIllroy's". Did you catch it? Or was it not shown?..

Sweet Scientist · Post by **Sweet Scientist** » 04 Jul 2005, 18:27

Manos de Oro wrote:
Sweet Scientist wrote:
silkov wrote:
Thanks for the info but I think I live in the wrong country for espn!.
98% of it is baseball, football, basketball...so you probably aren't missing much...still...I would have thought that with today's satellite/cable systems, it would be offered to you guys...we get BBC over here...
Cool, there was a good documentary about boxing on BBC1 a while ago called 'The Fighting McIllroy's". Did you catch it? Or was it not shown?..

Actually, no...we get a station called 'BBC-America'...I'm not should it that is the same as BBC1, but I have seen some boxing specials, from time to time...

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 05 Jul 2005, 12:43

Yeah well frazier was a one handed fighter unlike marciano and tyson and dempsey. i believe both tyson and marciano would have beaten frazier. but, i think frazier would have beaten dempsey because of other intangebles. frazier was very underated. he was never the same after ali , and i dont like watching that fight as much as some people do because its two fighters way ouyt of their prime going at it. i liked ali frazier 1 because bot hwere in their primes. frazier won the only fight where both men were still IN THERE PRIME, though ali wasnt at his peak like frazier. frazier against foreman, frazier missed a crushing left hook that might have landed if thrown at his peak. i still think foreman probably would have always got joe though. joe was made for him. frazier also didnt have a right hand which would have helped slow down foreman who wouldnt be weary of just one punch. frazier just was never the same after that gruelling ali first fight. he poured everything into that fight.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 05 Jul 2005, 13:27

Sweet Scientist wrote:
Manos de Oro wrote:
Sweet Scientist wrote: 98% of it is baseball, football, basketball...so you probably aren't missing much...still...I would have thought that with today's satellite/cable systems, it would be offered to you guys...we get BBC over here...
Cool, there was a good documentary about boxing on BBC1 a while ago called 'The Fighting McIllroy's". Did you catch it? Or was it not shown?..

I've never seen BBC America... what docs did they show?. When I was in Prague recently I saw some interesting stuff on Greg Page and an interview with Marvin HAGLER on BBC World I think it was.
The page thing showed Greg still in hospital recovering from his recent illness I think and had his wife talking about what has happened to him I think the proggram was based around it being the 2nd anniversary of the night when Greg was badly injured in his last fight.

Sweet Scientist · Post by **Sweet Scientist** » 05 Jul 2005, 17:02

silkov wrote:
I've never seen BBC America... what docs did they show?. When I was in Prague recently I saw some interesting stuff on Greg Page and an interview with Marvin HAGLER on BBC World I think it was.
The page thing showed Greg still in hospital recovering from his recent illness I think and had his wife talking about what has happened to him I think the proggram was based around it being the 2nd anniversary of the night when Greg was badly injured in his last fight.

We get 300 some channels (Comcast Digital) so to be honest, I haven't seen much BBC-Amer. I did see a couple things (one about Ricky Hatton), but neither were documentaries...I'm not sure that we get the same things as you guys...but if and when you hear of boxing documentaries being broadcast over there, Perhaps you could tip us off over here to be on the look out...BBC does produce some good stuff (like any network)...but I kind of think we get their "B" stuff, if you know what I mean...We get a lot of old reruns too, stuff like Benny Hill (very popular over here)...I have a feeling if they came out with a boxing documentary of interest over there, you guys get to see it well in advance...