"the fight"

thunderfromdownunder · Post by **thunderfromdownunder** » 30 Jan 2006, 03:42

has anyone here read the book "the fight" by norman mailer?
i read it about a year ago, i enjoyed the book although it was weird to say the least.
it was from this book that i realised how much of an upset theat fight really was.
anyway, anythoughts on the book?

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 30 Jan 2006, 12:30

I read it about 5-6 years ago.

It's a good book and well worth reading, but I am not a big fan of Mailers writing style at times and he likes to talk about himself a bit too much, from what I can recall about the book.

Collins2000 · Post by **Collins2000** » 30 Jan 2006, 16:02

You been at the alter wine again? It was a fekkin HUGE upset. Who in the press picked Ali to win?

Names, please.

Decagon wrote:Ali-Foreman wasn't that much of an upset. Although Ali's buddy, Howard Cosell thought Foreman was going to win, a good portion of the press - perhaps even a majority - picked Ali to win. Kinshasa is a perfect example of the hype surrounding a fight defining the fight.

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 30 Jan 2006, 17:18

You know, my memory serves that is was pretty one sided for Foreman. Some of the very best analysts (in my mind) were giving Ali a good shot but it seems their numbers were small.

Collins2000 · Post by **Collins2000** » 30 Jan 2006, 17:39

Decagon wrote:In When We Were Kings, there's one scene where Ali asks the reporters to raise their hand if they were picking Foreman. Maybe they were being polite, but not so many hands went up. Ring magazine, if I recall correctly, also had an article picking Ali to win.

A straw poll my have some uses but you have to have some faith that those polled are answering truthfully. From the previews that were eventually written I'd suggest those polled by Ali that day were being VERY polite.

I'm interested to see the Ring preview if you have it handy and can scan it in.

As I recall, very, very few newspaper and magazine previews by the reporters in Zaire picked Ali to win.

Of course, I could be wrong but, as it's not like it was some obscure fight between Klondike and Porky Dan Dumpling from back in 1907, between us and the lads here we should be able to come up with some real evidence that puts this to bed one way or another.

Imagine it. A thread that has the possibility of closure!

What was it Nelson Muntz said? "Savour it... Savour it".

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 30 Jan 2006, 21:27

No I think it was Mel, the cook on Alice who said that.