Word: alie
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...bell that ended the 14th round was the last one to ring. Muhammad Ali lay on the canvas in exhaustion. Joe Frazier stood in a fog in his corner. The fight was over, stopped by Frazier's manager, Eddie Futch, because Smokin' Joe could no longer see the punches pounding into his nearly closed eyes. Ali had successfully defended his world heavyweight boxing title against Frazier, but the long slugging battle had been as tough as any he had known...
...quit. Whether either man will live up to those first postfight statements remains to be seen, but there was no doubt that the fight itself was the best each boxer had fought since that epic brawl in 1971 when then Champion Frazier won a 15-round decision against Ali, inflicting a rare knockdown in the process...
...Thrilla in Manila more than made up for the routine prefight publicity. As expected, Blowhard Ali filled the tropical city with enough hot air to start a new front moving across Asia. He dubbed his opponent a punching bag and hinted at an early knockout. The act got out of control only when Wife Belinda flew into Manila and flew out less than twelve hours later, distressed by the publicity given Ali's companion, Model Veronica Porche. For his part, Joe Frazier had stayed in character, speaking briefly and bluntly. "Ali can't touch me," he said...
Third Encounter. The clowning stopped when Ali and Frazier faced off in the humid Philippine Coliseum before 25,000 spectators and an estimated 700 million closed-circuit and television viewers in some 65 countries. In their third encounter (Ali won a rematch in 1974), the two heavyweights were not fighting for the title alone; there was still the issue of personal supremacy to settle. Ali, at 224½ lbs., came out as the boxer of patience and craft; Frazier, 9 lbs. lighter, was the slugger of bull-like impulse and strength...
...rounds, three separate battles were fought. The first three rounds belonged to Ali. He landed clean, quick, stinging shots that made Frazier sag, and he blunted Frazier's headlong attack by blocking punches as he backed against the ropes. When Ali went hunting, it was on flat feet, in search of the knockout punch. But he never found it. In Round 4, the second battle began. Frazier, having weathered his customary slow start, set to work, pounding lefts to the chin through Ali's gloves. He bothered Ali on the ropes with more uppercuts, body punches and fast...