Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali (Part 8)
The raging bull was famous for his endurance as Ali would not just go down unless the punch had a rock like feel to it. He had tremendous resolve. He could stay upright even when bomb like punches were being thrown at him.
It was by the 9th round that both warriors and heroes slowed down in every aspect of the fight. They were sluggish and powerless jabs being thrown around by both parties. The 10th round was no different.
The unrivalled title holder was as intelligent as they came. He had reserved a tank of energy for himself which he had saved for the final rounds. It was then that the deciding moments of the match finally came about.
In the beginning of the 11th round, Ali unleashed a sequence of high speed punches with searing power. He made sure he connected every jab, hook and uppercut which left the challenger totally and completely bruised and hurt. Joe’s eyes were almost
completely closed by that point. One of his eyes was severely battered, which resulted in Joe not being able to see any hooks coming his way.
Out of the blue, the great Ali picked up the pace in the 12th round to a phenomenal level, sensing that he was close to being victorious. In the final moments of the round, the man from Kentucky smashed the swollen face of Joe, throwing him out
of position.
In the 13th round, Muhammad became more furious and landed a fierce punch, knocking the mouth piece right out of blind Joe’s mouth and out of the boxing ring.
It looked like along with the mouth piece, Joe Frazier’s dreams had been thrown away right in front of him. Battling without a mouth piece with just a couple minutes to go, Ali just finished off what was left. Frazier’s face was horribly swollen and the
round ended with him being completely bashed up.
In second last round, the great showcased speed and movement like the Ali of the past, dancing and banging simultaneously. On the other hand, a banged up Joe had become a punching bag for the fierce Muhammad.
The raging Ali was also out of gas and hurting by this point. The bull however, gathered the last ounces of energy and charged at the staggered Frazier to execute some more beating on the helpless challenger. He almost knocked him out when the bells indicating
the end of the round rang. The bell saved him from the constant bombs that were landing on him
The deciding final round was about to commence. Joe’s coach, Eddie Futch one of the most famous trainers of all time, thought that it was enough. He was extremely experienced and truly knew what awaited the gutsy Joe in the last round.
The risk was too great. Frazier was still willing to go on and was arguing with his trainer. Futch intervened with his words, "It's all over. No one will forget what you did here today", and made it clear to the referee that it was the end.
The champion was in his corner and had realized that the war was over. He had prevailed. Instead of celebrating, he fainted. Angelo Dundee was surprised with the occurrence as he had never seen the great so tired in his life.
Later on, the exhausted Heavy Weight King in a discussion with the media and press praised the man of will and character. Later he further complimented on what a great boxer he was. Such was the grace and true sportsmanship of the one and only Muhammad Ali.
Both warriors fought to the ultimate limits of human endurance. They gave it their heart and soul. There were no half hearted punches thrown by either fighter. Their determination was just unbelievable. It went down in history as one of the greatest, most
thrilling sporting contest ever.
Credit had to be given to both heroes. They created history by literally breaking and destroying one another’s bodies. They did all of that for the sake of the fans, the sport and their own personal obsession towards greatness. The ‘thrilla in Manila’ would
never be forgotten.
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