Word: aly
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Ali that Frazier will meet in the ring is a different kind of fighter from the man who took Liston's heavyweight title away in 1964. Then he was still calling himself Cassius Clay, and the jaunty slogan of his training camp was "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." Now at his headquarters in Miami Beach's Fifth Street Gym. the byword is "He moves like silk, hits like a ton"?and for good reason. Yon Cassius no longer has that lean and hungry look. After 3½ years of exile, he returned to the ring four months...
...fight has become a classic in an other way. Shrewd prefight publicity has turned the billing into Frazier the good citizen v. Ali the draft dodger, Frazier the white man's champ v. Ali the great black hope, Frazier the quiet loner v. Ali the irrepressible loudmouth, Frazier the simple Bible-reading Baptist v. Ali the slogan-spouting Black Muslim. Frazier, who is generally as impassive as a ring post, would have it otherwise, but he has no choice...
...Ali, with his usual mix of con and conviction, plays up the disparities at every turn. "I'm not just fightin' one man,"; he preaches. "I'm fightin' a lot of men, showin' a lot of 'em here is one man they couldn't conquer. My mission is to bring freedom to 30 million black people. I'll win this fight because I've got a cause. Frazier has no cause. He's in it for the money alone." Caught in the crossfire, Frazier usually backs off. "I don't want to be no more than no more than what...
...contrast between the two champions does not end with ideology. Ali is the black Adonis on parade?quick of wit, mercurial, explosive, forever turned on. Frazier is awkward and introspective, given to sullen moods that he calls "the slouchies." At home or in the ring, Ali is a klieg-lighted one-man happening. Frazier, who has the sullen glare of the late Sonny Liston (but none of the deep-rooted malice), courts neither the public nor the press. "I'm just me, see." he says. "If some people don't notice me, that's good. I got enough people pestering...
Never a devastating hitter, Ali always scored his knockouts?apart from the "phantom punch" of the second Liston fight?with cumulative volleys rather than one deadly shot. Now he seems to set himself more. Trading on 10 to 15 more Ibs. of bulk and 1¼ more inches around the biceps, he hits like a true heavyweight. The seemingly indestructible Oscar Bonavena got that information the hard way in December, when Ali exploded a ripping left hook in the 15th round and dropped the blocky Argentine in a heap. Oscar wobbled up only to be decked again and again, giving Ali...