Is this a review? Hell, I don’t
know, but I will say this; what I’m about to write is from the perspective of a
true child of the 70’s and a diehard Ali fan. My earliest memory of boxing was
watching Wide World of Sports with my father (AKA my mamma’s husband) in the mid
70’s. I was drawn in to the bombast and braggadocio of Ali, and as I grew into a
self absorbed, vain teenager I felt it was my birthright to verbalize how I too
was more “pretty” than my rivals. I had no way of understanding that
historically Ali had normalized a nasty protocol of personally demeaning a rival
through words. Maybe Ali, in his cruelty unknowingly invented trash talk to aid
future competitors in the art of processing anxiety and fear. I too may have a
slew of “Joe Frazier’s” in the darkest recesses of my past because only in my
late 20’s through veracious reading and discovery did I begin to grasp the true
power (for good and evil) of words. The documentary “Thrilla in Manila” clearly
illustrates how even in the most brutal of worlds words can cut deeper than
Everlast and leave wounds that not only demean Joe Frazier but cast shame on a
large number of onlookers who delighted in the spectacle. I can write about this
documentary and these two men forever but for the sake of those who require
expediency I will comment on highlights I found important.
The Love Affair
with Ali
Ali was probably one of the few
figures that needed “Goding up” but nevertheless the writers from Roger Daltry’s
g-g-generation were a part of the synergy of the 50 million dollar licensing
worth Thomas Hauser half bragged about. His courting of the media, even before
the Vietnam War stance made him a mega force who could push his agenda beyond
anything a fighting man could ever imagine. A lot of the writers were as
enamored with themselves as they were Ali-their narcissistic soul mate; so much
so that no one even bothered to point out that in his denigration of Frazier he
was practicing “Plantation Politics” disguised as Black Nationalism. Make no
mistake, when Ali who possessed a physical beauty valued by whites acted as if
his visage was superior he is echoing the pride of slave master Cassius Clay not
Malcolm X. I loved him for his confidence, his defiance and his powers of
manifestation but those powers are also evident in Joe Frazier his greatest
rival. The 70’s was a self congratulatory time for the boomers and Ali’s fistic
redemption was a small slice of a much bigger gratification pie. As I’ve aged
the love affair with Ali has deepened as I know he was a man capable of much
harm and possessing great flaws. After watching this documentary I’m even more
aware that you cant love Ali and not love Joe Frazier because what Ali was able
to show us (in battle) had no conduit without the gallantry of “Smokin Joe.”
Dr. Ferdie Pacheco
and the Champs Camp
Obviously he needs no respect from
me, which is good because he’ll never get any. I don’t know if it was the onset
of senility or just plain old nastiness but this man came off as derogatory and
patronizing. He could never just answer a question without taking a shot at Joe
Frazier or the questioner himself. That he thought the rubber gorilla looked
like Joe and was clueless enough to say it is of no slight to Joe; regretfully
it is Pacheco’s family who have to deal with the horror of watching this unfold.
It seems he took a little too much pleasure in watching a culturally naïve Black
man attack the “Blackness” (AKA connection to Africa) of another. Ali in more
politically correct times would have been called to the carpet and I am sure he
is embarrassed by dissemination of this part of his life. Pacheco seems to still
be amused even today by Ali’s antics even dismissing it all as a case of
immaturity (and ignorance) on Joe’s part. Yet as a viewer I am thankful HBO
decided to keep this footage in the show to give me a glimpse of the sentiment
of the enablers in Ali’s camp. Ali in many ways was egged on by many forces like
the Nation of Islam to slew venom in arenas where there was no such need. Seeing
him brag about speaking at Klan rallies is exhibit A as to why we ourselves
should be wise men and look close to home when choosing our heroes. Luckily for
us, the ring is a place of truth and what Ali and Frazier did inside it will
always obscure what they said outside of it.
Where they
Friends?
Only the two of them truly know, but
I choose to believe that this “friendship” is one of the great myths in boxing
history. I just trust my gut that they were cool ( AKA “cordial”) but nothing
about the two men can lead me to envision them having a couple of brews
together. Ali was a sheltered wunderkind- first by indulgent parents and then by
the system that nurtured his professional career. By the time they crossed paths
Ali was already surrounded by Elijah Muhammad’s “people” and numerous “yes men”.
Joe Frazier comparatively is the quintessential “brotha’s brotha”, the kind of
cat you could hang out on the block with or see beating up bad guys with Fred
Williamson and Jim Brown. Take modern day friends gone sour Floyd Mayweather and
Zab Judah, you can actually envision them hanging out with one another-as they
did. Joe Frazier is a sensitive man, but lets not forget he was a fighter for
pay and I believe a lot of his compassion for Ali’s position was motivated by
money. Joe Frazier passing Ali money and politicking for his return is no
different than all of the excuses possible opponents of De La Hoya explained
away his lackluster performances. Ali may have shone a brave face outwardly but
had he lived in the age of youtube there would have been several genuine anti
Frazier rants caught on video as early as 1968. Ali was a young man, and there
were probably a lot of people who told him he’d be back in the ring much sooner
than 1970-it had to be killing him. I can see him accepting Joes “help” but deep
down resenting a man he felt the “system” was elevating at his expense.
On a Humorous Note
No Ali documentary is complete
without pointing out he was a “womanizer” to add spice to our palette. Let me be
the first to say I doubt any Heavyweight Champion that held the title when it
meant something was beyond reproach, how they were different is all semantics. I
understand this documentary was “Fraziercentric”and every dirty detail about the
champ was pertinent but; you would think they could limit the screen time of a
woman simply credited as Joe’s “travel companion”. At least Veronica Porsche
went on to be the former Mrs. Ali, Laila’s mamma. On this little “trip” the only
thing Joe did different than his rival was keep his business where it needed to
be. On the down low.
How can a warrior in a blood sport
provoke a blood feud?
The one word none of us want to
attach to Ali (because it says more about us), the word that is the essence of
what he did in his career-the word is primal. Ali in all of his grandeur and
self glorification took all of his championship bouts with men of substance
personal. Had Buster Mathis or Jimmy Ellis handled Joe in 1969 Ali would have
made them the scapegoat of his rage. It’s the thing that is in all of us even
Joe, which his why Ali ended up on his ass that March night of 1971. Ali is
human, prone to bitterness, paranoia and fear, he turned up the heat on Joe
emotionally because Joe not only survived the first salvo of insults but
punished him for it. I would warn the viewer not to punish Ali too severely for
War Crimes when boxing in itself is a form of war. Ali was manipulative but to
his credit his main objective while active was to be the champ and he held a
thirst to confront any man who held that distinction. Lord knows we as fans
require similar verve from modern fighters so consumed with risk/reward ratio.
Both men existed in a time when there weren’t six separate sanctioning universes
to convince a man he need nothing to prove. Both men existed in a time where the
fighter was not that far removed from the street, when the nod of
acknowledgement from cats at the barbershop meant something. No wonder Eddie
Futch had to be the one to stop it, no wonder “Smoking Joe” minus 50 million in
licensing fees can live comfortably among “his people”.
Did Ali want to
quit?
I believe both men had moments of
extreme reticence, but I also believe that when it comes to courage and
competitiveness with one another they were on “autopilot.” Ali was always more
poetic on accident than contrived and when he said he felt he was dying it was a
eulogy to a former athletic self. Joe Frazier was homicidal and suicidal in that
Manila heat and Eddie Futch knew it; he also knew humanity was his
responsibility in the face of two men who in hatred had become animals.
According to Angelo Dundee, Ali never tried to quit, and he was never featured
in this documentary because it was presented from Frazier’s side. And if he laid
down afterwards, so what? We’ve seen fighters fall to the ground on plenty of
occasions because they were overcome with emotion. Had Joe Frazier stood up for
more, Ali would have followed because there’s nothing in his history that tells
us he wouldn’t have. He wouldn’t have stood up because he wanted to, but what
makes Ali special is he would have stood up because he had to.
