Thrilla in Manilla Documentary

[J]

no most dont only if you have no friends and nothing better to do I'd suggest.

[scottyboy_1978]

[DIRT SUGAR]

It was a great documentary and I'm a huge Ali fan but have read enough and seen enough to know there was a sinister side to him (ie, Terrell & Patterson fights).

It was a poignant documentary and like one of the guys on there said, Frazier's current financial plight is an indictment on how America treats its sporting heroes who have fallen on hard times.

It was great to see a programme coming from the point of view of an Ali opponent rather than just throwing out the same old clips and highlighted the sinister side to their rivalry.

Someone on this post said Frazier has never let it go, but how would you like being called an Uncle Tom and gorilla by a man who you lobbied to get his licence back and gave money too when he fell on hard times? Ali kind of stabbed Frazier in the back. It was far more than a boxing rivalry. Like Thomas Hauser said, "they were fighting for the heavyweight championship of each other."

Great comments from Joe's son Marvis too about how hard life was in the playground. Imagine that, a playground full of Ali fans and your dad's Joe Frazier. Must have been very tough.

Superb documentary and best one I've seen on Ali for a long time.

[jamesmcdonnell]

can recommed this great hour and half of frazioers side of the story.

yes its a little one eyed (excuse the pun) but hey it has to take one stance or the other or risk being wishy washy I guess. Ferdie P came across a right know it all tit.

Yeah, great documentary - Frazier's part in the whole business has been horrendously underdocumented over the last 20 odd years.

Ali's halo has definetly slipped a little - I dare say Ali himself looks back at the cocky loudmouth he was, and cringes a little himself.

I think Ali's ego was absolutely rampant during his career, and he cared little for the feelings of others, as evidenced by the way he treated his Wife when out in Manilla, parading his mistress around in plain public view.

Both men have paid a horrific price for those fights and those years, Frazier looks bloody old for 62 year old black man who was fighting fit in his day, as if his hatred of Ali has withered him from the inside, and Ali, well, we all know his story.

[ApolloCreed]

i cannot believe they did not even get Ali or someone from Ali's side to respond.

Sure they had Freddie Pacheco the doctor, even though he didn't come across well.

[DIRT SUGAR]

Ferdie Pacheco's always been a smug twat and for a so-called educated man comes out with some crap. I mean, The Fight Doctor! What's that all about?

Frazier did look old and frail, but wasn't he hurt in quite a nasty car accident a few years ago too?

Good to see the nasty side of Ali brought to light. As much as I love the guy, he was by no means perfect and I don't like the glossy veneer that he and his legacy has been coated in. But then again, that's how heroes are looked upon. The bad and indifferent sides to their story get pushed to the background.

Both Ali and Frazier were chewed up and spat out by the sport they dedicated their lives too. A sad indictment on boxing and the people involved in it. You don't see the likes of Don King, Butch Lewis and whoever shuffling around and talking incoherently. That's the thing with boxing. The guys who do the real hard work end up back where they came from while certain other characters end up with a life they'd never had a chance of it it weren't for them.

[Matt W]

Pacheco came across as a patronising, obnoxious ar$e in that documentary.

Not sure if Frazier was injured in a cara accident, although I know Ken Norton was.

Great documentary. I can understand Frazier not wanting to be friendly with Ali but his bitterness does him no good at all. It's a shame he can't let it go.

[Hagler2002]

Surely we dont score points on here for spotting typo's???

I take it irony isn't a strong point for you

[scottyboy_1978]