Joe Frazier didn't sell?

[Willie Pep 229]

- - When Frazier fought George, it was in Jamaica because the US economy nosedived after withdrawing from Vietnam.

George never defended his titles in the US for just that reason...simples for simple peeple...

Our economy didn't nose dive. It went into stagflation, not a recession.There was lots of money floating around but everything cost too much. That never stopped a prize fight before.

I think the fights ending up in Jamaica and then in '74, in Zaire, was a black thing. A political/social expression of African culture and black empowerment. A return to their 'roots.'

P.S. There is a wonderful story about Foreman and Don King and crew showing up in Zaire wearing classical African attire.

Problem was, the locals wore t-shirts and jeans and the King and his advisors wore Wall Street power suits.They were laughing their azz off at the silly looking Americans.

The Africans do indeed wear these traditional clothes, but only on holidays and for parades.

Imagine getting onto a NY subway and seeing a guy dressed like a Revolutionary soldier with a tricorner hat and uniform?

If it was July 4th, you would say cool outfit dude.

If it was late February, you would move your seat.

The Americans couldn't figure out that they were being laughed at, and any attempt to tell them got you called racist.

Ali, didn't show up dressed like that. He actually was sensitive to (or aware) of the actual African culture. He dressed like an American and they respected that.

[QueensburyRules]

Our economy didn't nose dive. It went into stagflation, not a recession.There was lots of money floating around but everything cost too much. That never stopped a prize fight before.

I think the fights ending up in Jamaica and then in '74, in Zaire, was a black thing. A political/social expression of African culture and black empowerment. A return to their 'roots.'

P.S. There is a wonderful story about Foreman and Don King and crew showing up in Zaire wearing classical African attire.

Problem was, the locals wore t-shirts and jeans and the King and his advisors wore Wall Street power suits.They were laughing their azz off at the silly looking Americans.

The Africans do indeed wear these traditional clothes, but only on holidays and for parades.

Imagine getting onto a NY subway and seeing a guy dressed like a Revolutionary soldier with a tricorner hat and uniform?

If it was July 4th, you would say cool outfit dude.

If it was late February, you would move your seat.

The Americans couldn't figure out that they were being laughed at, and any attempt to tell them got you called racist.

Ali, didn't show up dressed like that. He actually was sensitive to (or aware) of the actual African culture. He dressed like an American and they respected that.

- - Vegas was a backwater then, and MSG in major decline, hence the Jamaican govt promised a considerably bigger purse. Same deal with Japan and Venezuela.

Same deal with Africa. Everyone laughs at silly Americans in between fleecing them.

[Bronson66]

Our economy didn't nose dive. It went into stagflation, not a recession.There was lots of money floating around but everything cost too much. That never stopped a prize fight before.

I think the fights ending up in Jamaica and then in '74, in Zaire, was a black thing. A political/social expression of African culture and black empowerment. A return to their 'roots.'

P.S. There is a wonderful story about Foreman and Don King and crew showing up in Zaire wearing classical African attire.

Problem was, the locals wore t-shirts and jeans and the King and his advisors wore Wall Street power suits.They were laughing their azz off at the silly looking Americans.

The Africans do indeed wear these traditional clothes, but only on holidays and for parades.

Imagine getting onto a NY subway and seeing a guy dressed like a Revolutionary soldier with a tricorner hat and uniform?

If it was July 4th, you would say cool outfit dude.

If it was late February, you would move your seat.

The Americans couldn't figure out that they were being laughed at, and any attempt to tell them got you called racist.

Ali, didn't show up dressed like that. He actually was sensitive to (or aware) of the actual African culture. He dressed like an American and they respected that.

.There are photos of both Ali and King wearing the traditional Dashiki on Getty Images. Ali made a comment about his,"African brothers putting Foreman in a pot and cooking him," so I don't think he was that aware of the local culture. Even the title for the fight,"The Rumble In the Jungle,"though catchy was markedly insensitive
The " Rumble" ended up in Africa because Mobuto , the bloodstained dictator who ran the country , underwrote the cost of it.You know all this. I don't know the back ground to the Kingston fight.