BoxRec

I was watching this interview the other night. A great interview - oh how I wish these guys were around now - Joe looks fit as a fiddle and solid as a rock busting out of his suit. What surprised me as how Vocal Joe was and somewhat agressive Joe was and how sedated Ali was. Ali hardly raised his voice - very passive. When Douglas asked Joe where he wanted the fight to take place he replied 'I'd fight him in the gym' ! lol. I've never seen Muhammad so quiet in an interview and I think Joe got to him with his vocal retorts. Have you guys seen it? Some of it is on Youtube.

evrenb wrote:I was watching this interview the other night. A great interview - oh how I wish these guys were around now - Joe looks fit as a fiddle and solid as a rock busting out of his suit. What surprised me as how Vocal Joe was and somewhat agressive Joe was and how sedated Ali was. Ali hardly raised his voice - very passive. When Douglas asked Joe where he wanted the fight to take place he replied 'I'd fight him in the gym' ! lol. I've never seen Muhammad so quiet in an interview and I think Joe got to him with his vocal retorts. Have you guys seen it? Some of it is on Youtube.

delete.

yancey wrote:

evrenb wrote:I was watching this interview the other night. A great interview - oh how I wish these guys were around now - Joe looks fit as a fiddle and solid as a rock busting out of his suit. What surprised me as how Vocal Joe was and somewhat agressive Joe was and how sedated Ali was. Ali hardly raised his voice - very passive. When Douglas asked Joe where he wanted the fight to take place he replied 'I'd fight him in the gym' ! lol. I've never seen Muhammad so quiet in an interview and I think Joe got to him with his vocal retorts. Have you guys seen it? Some of it is on Youtube.

Ali may have been quiet because he knew deep down that Frazier was a real threat, unlike any others he had faced. In 1968, Ali was in "exile", but I think he knew one day he would be in the ring with Joe.

I'll never forget jogging with my best friend in college late the afternoon of 3/8/71. My friend, a huge Ali fan, had seen video of the weigh-in that day and quietly told me he thought Frazier had gotten to Ali and that Ali looked worried. It was a side of Ali he had never seen.

I'll check out the youtube interview. Thanks for letting us know about it.

Or maybe Ali was quiet and respectful that day on Douglas because Joe had helped him out with a loan. I do know Ali borrowed money from Frazier sometime around that time period. Perhaps a little later than '68, I'm not positive.

All the more sad I found Ali's treatment of Frazier in Manila. You should never be cruel to anyone, let alone a man who spoke out for you and helped you in tougher times.

yancey wrote:

yancey wrote:

evrenb wrote:I was watching this interview the other night. A great interview - oh how I wish these guys were around now - Joe looks fit as a fiddle and solid as a rock busting out of his suit. What surprised me as how Vocal Joe was and somewhat agressive Joe was and how sedated Ali was. Ali hardly raised his voice - very passive. When Douglas asked Joe where he wanted the fight to take place he replied 'I'd fight him in the gym' ! lol. I've never seen Muhammad so quiet in an interview and I think Joe got to him with his vocal retorts. Have you guys seen it? Some of it is on Youtube.

Ali may have been quiet because he knew deep down that Frazier was a real threat, unlike any others he had faced. In 1968, Ali was in "exile", but I think he knew one day he would be in the ring with Joe.

I'll never forget jogging with my best friend in college late the afternoon of 3/8/71. My friend, a huge Ali fan, had seen video of the weigh-in that day and quietly told me he thought Frazier had gotten to Ali and that Ali looked worried. It was a side of Ali he had never seen.

I'll check out the youtube interview. Thanks for letting us know about it.

Or maybe Ali was quiet and respectful that day on Douglas because Joe had helped him out with a loan. I do know Ali borrowed money from Frazier sometime around that time period. Perhaps a little later than '68, I'm not positive.

All the more sad I found Ali's treatment of Frazier in Manila. You should never be cruel to anyone, let alone a man who spoke out for you and helped you in tougher times.

The loan stuff and his foul treatment of Joe and others is why I don't like Ali very much.

One thing I will say about Ali is as much as he is loved he also has many people who dislike him. This dislike stems from quite a few reasons as far as I have experienced ; The braggadocial manner in which he started (and continued) ; the colour of his skin ; his membership to the 'black muslims' and what they stood for ; his anti war stance ; his pro black stance ; his berating and mickey taking out of his opponents.

On the positive side - he brought boxing to another level in popularity, he brought fighters' salaries to what they can demand today, he was a much needed black icon and role model when America went through that very difficult period in history, he was a brilliant fighter, his charitable work is unending, he was hugely charasmatic and entertaining

He is a devisive character and I can see both sides to people's opinion of him. Certainly he was very hurtful to many fighters where he would get way too carried away with building up the fight and would be vying for attention from the media. I personally do not believe he was spiteful in his heart - he was just like a kid that would get carried away in the playground.

Either way he is a legend.

yancey wrote:

yancey wrote:

evrenb wrote:I was watching this interview the other night. A great interview - oh how I wish these guys were around now - Joe looks fit as a fiddle and solid as a rock busting out of his suit. What surprised me as how Vocal Joe was and somewhat agressive Joe was and how sedated Ali was. Ali hardly raised his voice - very passive. When Douglas asked Joe where he wanted the fight to take place he replied 'I'd fight him in the gym' ! lol. I've never seen Muhammad so quiet in an interview and I think Joe got to him with his vocal retorts. Have you guys seen it? Some of it is on Youtube.

Ali may have been quiet because he knew deep down that Frazier was a real threat, unlike any others he had faced. In 1968, Ali was in "exile", but I think he knew one day he would be in the ring with Joe.

I'll never forget jogging with my best friend in college late the afternoon of 3/8/71. My friend, a huge Ali fan, had seen video of the weigh-in that day and quietly told me he thought Frazier had gotten to Ali and that Ali looked worried. It was a side of Ali he had never seen.

I'll check out the youtube interview. Thanks for letting us know about it.

Or maybe Ali was quiet and respectful that day on Douglas because Joe had helped him out with a loan. I do know Ali borrowed money from Frazier sometime around that time period. Perhaps a little later than '68, I'm not positive.

All the more sad I found Ali's treatment of Frazier in Manila. You should never be cruel to anyone, let alone a man who spoke out for you and helped you in tougher times.

Spot on.

It's no wonder that Smokin' Joe despised Ali to the end.

I do believe that Ali never truly meant those things, but he wasn't very well educated & he was almost childlike in that respect & let his mouth get the better of him on far too many occasions whenever he fought Joe.

Ali knew how to talk and promote a fight. Tex Rickard, Don King, Bob Arum, they all take a back seat to his genius.

His mouth drew millions of fans to the arenas and theaters. If he went over the top and struck a nerve now and then, so be it.

All's fair in love and war, and boxing can definitely be a war.

That clip that you write about was probably from a Mike Douglas show of September 30 1969,
as there is a reference to the Jimmy Ellis vrs Henry Cooper WBA title fight scheduled for November.1.1969 having been postponed.

and Muhammad Ali also says in the clip that he is"three years out of training".

Caractacus wrote:That clip that you write about was probably from a Mike Douglas show of September 30 1969,
as there is a reference to the Jimmy Ellis vrs Henry Cooper WBA title fight scheduled for November.1.1969 having been postponed.

and Muhammad Ali also says in the clip that he is"three years out of training".

Yes, you're right.

I'm willing to bet that Ali's muted appearance was down to him being bit depressed, not in the clinical sense, but in the frustrating sense.

He is the HW champion of the world & has never lost a fight, but he is isn't allowed to defend his title & he's sat with Joe Frazier who has an expensive suit & jewellery & is calling himself the champ & Ali can't take it.

He probably just wanted to get out of the studio.

Might be partly just the mood he was in that day.
He also had no fight to promote and did not know if he was ever going to fight again.
So there was no reason for him to call an opponents a silly nicknames or poems or that kind of thing. That stuff was always just an act. Still amazes me that some people take it seriously. Almost all of his opponents realized this and didn't care.

A couple of years ago someone posted a link to a Dick Cavett interview when he was still Cassius Clay. He would go back and forth with being serious and with his silly shtick. It was interesting to see him go in and out of character.

Ambling Alp II wrote:Might be partly just the mood he was in that day.
He also had no fight to promote and did not know if he was ever going to fight again.
So there was no reason for him to call an opponents a silly nicknames or poems or that kind of thing. That stuff was always just an act. Still amazes me that some people take it seriously. Almost all of his opponents realized this and didn't care.

A couple of years ago someone posted a link to a Dick Cavett interview when he was still Cassius Clay. He would go back and forth with being serious and with his silly shtick. It was interesting to see him go in and out of character.

^^^

Weak attempt to rationalize trashy behavior by hero.

Maybe Muhammad Ali was feeling down because of the death of Rocky Marciano just a couple weeks earlier?
Check out Muhammad Ali's appearence in the trailer of SUPERFIGHT.
He looks really down in the dumps here too.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXjK2ceeFas

evrenb wrote:I was watching this interview the other night. A great interview - oh how I wish these guys were around now - Joe looks fit as a fiddle and solid as a rock busting out of his suit. What surprised me as how Vocal Joe was and somewhat agressive Joe was and how sedated Ali was. Ali hardly raised his voice - very passive. When Douglas asked Joe where he wanted the fight to take place he replied 'I'd fight him in the gym' ! lol. I've never seen Muhammad so quiet in an interview and I think Joe got to him with his vocal retorts. Have you guys seen it? Some of it is on Youtube.

BTW next time you start a thread about an old interview on youtube,
would you mind terribly if you was to take your f*nger out your ass
and politely type in the hyper-link here so you can share and so that we all know what your talking about?
so as to avoid any confussion.
thanks comrade.

I wouldn't want any 'confussion' real sorry about that.

yancey wrote:

Ambling Alp II wrote:Might be partly just the mood he was in that day.
He also had no fight to promote and did not know if he was ever going to fight again.
So there was no reason for him to call an opponents a silly nicknames or poems or that kind of thing. That stuff was always just an act. Still amazes me that some people take it seriously. Almost all of his opponents realized this and didn't care.

A couple of years ago someone posted a link to a Dick Cavett interview when he was still Cassius Clay. He would go back and forth with being serious and with his silly shtick. It was interesting to see him go in and out of character.

^^^

Weak attempt to rationalize trashy behavior by hero.

Like I said it still amazes me that some people take it seriously. "The bear","the rabbit", "the gorilla", "the mummy", "the acorn", "the peanut". Wow, that is harsh stuff. I'm sure none of these guys have ever heard such language. Crybaby Joe is the only opponent who made a big deal about it.

Alp...I have to agree, and his antics just upped the take for all fighters. And most got over it immediately post fight night.

But humor is an interesting attribute. And Ali could find humor everywhere. Joe was the sort of guy who appreciated humor as well. But in a more formal way.

In fact he addressed this particular topic with me when I shared a stage with him in Hampton Va.

I observed that he really thought that the act of singing, boxing and comedy were all "serious" pursuits. And though these were not his words, I took it he had a very "earnest" side to him.

So, he could laugh...but it sort of had to be a joke, or someone telling a story for it's intent. To make you laugh. These were all "separate tracks" to him.

So, for him it's "Sing your song"...."fight your fight" "tell your joke". But each had an "intent" and "earnest" aspect. Don't mix them up. From what I saw, life was a serious affair for Joe on most levels. And I could see he sort of "kept count" on what was going and coming his way. I would say he liked to see things stay balanced.

I don't think that's good or bad......just one way we deal with things. Ali's was another. I don't think he kept count, nor did he seek "balance"....so he could give, and forgive, and even be taken advantage of....and he could "take" from another and care less. His effort to be earnest was far more strained....he was FAR more comfortable when things were not serious.


I never had the chance to sit down and talk with Ali.....but I did with Joe, and my impression of him was that he was a very "fair" person. And he would be fair to you, and he EXPECTED you to be fair with him. And if you weren't I could imagine consequences.