Thrilla in manila

Topics probably been covered so apologys. I watched the documentary of thrilla in manila last night for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it. Learned 2 things that i never knew before. Firstly, that Smokin Joe fought the majority of his career with only 1 good eye, makes his accomplishments even more impressive to me. Secondly and definatley more of a shocker to me, was that before joes corner ended the fight, ali was planning to quit on his stool after the 14th! You could see he was visibly more exhausted after the fight than joe. I am relatively new to boxing and assume most posters on here already knew that. But to me it was quite an eye opener...came so close to both mens careers and legacies probably being completely different after that fight than they are today! RIP smokin' joe.

i actually didnt know that ali was planning on quitting on his stool so thanks for sharing that!

Was quite a shock to me to. Thats what the general view seemed to be, think ali had told his trainer he wasnt going back out, was clearly exhausted! Last few rounds reminded me of creed vs rocky! Ali hit joe with everything, some great shots and smokin joe just kelt on comin'!

Na - Ali would have continued. He'dsaid that sort of crap and Angelo Dundee used to tell him to shut up and get on with it. Once was in the liston fight and once I think in a Norton fight.

said it before*

Thats what i thought to, especially since it was the last round, pure adrenaline alone might have carried him through the last round. But you never know.

The two had such a huge will, they deserve to be respected for it. Shah is right. Ali said a lot. But there is no doubt it was a battle of wills and I don't think either won as it was Fraziers corner that pulled him. But, IMO, there is no doubt Ali was the most spent afterwards.

Ali was a great self publicist. Frazier was a more honest fighter and person. And I respect him for it. Ali was a great fighter and publicist but wasn't the greatest person.