And so the show begins. New York City Thursday, July 17, 1975, and a press conference to promote the fight. The planned venue is in the Philippines: the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Metro Manila. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos offers to hold the bout in Manila and sponsor it in order to divert attention from the social turmoil the country is experiencing. The press conference gives Ali another opportunity to badmouth Frazier
ugust brings another press conference, this time at the Four Seasons in NYC. It is originally to feature just Frazier, but Ali has other ideas. In the middle of the conference Ali and his entourage-cum-circus arrive. They destroy the ambience and run amok on the plush carpet, shaking the chandeliers with their hollering. In another attempt to get under the skin of Frazier they wear black T-shirts with pictures of gold gorillas on the front
Two days later Ali, the reigning world heavyweight champion, touches down in the Philipines. On his arrival he receives a Smokin' Joe Frazier T-shirt from Frazier's son Marvis, left
Ali doesn't have it all his own way in the insults department. Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos applauds as Frazier makes some remarks about Ali when they visit the Malacanang Palace. Between the two fighters is Marco's wife Imelda
However Ali outboxes and outscores the challenger in the early rounds. Here Frazier gets a face full of right glove from Ali in the second round. On a number of occasions he is hurt by the flurry of combinations that Ali is delivering
By the fourth round, the humidity – and the energy he has exerted in the earlier rounds – starts to affect Ali. Frazier's tactic is to punish Ali's body at close range, even though it means he has to take more and more of the withering punishment Ali is dishing out. Ali had hoped his early onslaught would make it a short fight and starts to grow frustrated by Frazier's refusal to go down and ability to absorb the punishment – so much so that he screams "You stupid chump, you!"
Spurred on by this frustration, Frazier turns up his own attack and begins punishing Ali with his trademark hooks. By the sixth round, Frazier has unleashed a couple of huge left hooks that shudder into Ali's jaw, causing him to stagger back. The challenger seems to be gaining control of the bout
Ali glances a right off Frazier during the seventh round. At the beginning of the round, Ali reportedly whispers in Frazier's ear, "Joe, they told me you was all washed up"; Frazier growls back, "They told you wrong, pretty boy"
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