ALI Frazier 3, Thrilla in Manilla on ESPN 2 now

[Grant]

What a fight, if only they had both retired after it.

My thoughts
Frazier: so very one dimensional. continually getting hit.
Ali: Did he ever throw a body punch?

It is a classic fight though

[thunderfromdownunder]

Brutal, brutal fight. Ali was a bit to tall to go to fraziers body. Joe may well have been one dimensional, but he was very effective at what he did. He came on very strong in the middle rounds before Ali took over again. It's very rare that you see heavyweight fights fought at that intensity

[Grant]

Agreed

[Brute]

A fight like that in the tropical heat of The Philippines would have been murderous on two men around the 100 kg mark.

Ali said after the fight that Frazier brought out the best in him. Frazier said "Man, I hit him with punches that would have brought down the walls of a city." Two truly great heavyweights.

[Beltane]

Ali at the time remarked that this brutal fight was "the closest thing to death".

The after effects of that fight impacted on both combatants: Joe left us way too early and Ali's sad state now is all too apparent.