HBO's One Sided Thrilla

[Dave Rado]

Nobody is being honest about their so-called glorified hero Muhammad "Clay" Ali!!! He's a ****in' racist *******..who hated white people,

He didn't hate white people, many white people were his close friends.

[Abstraction]

It was prolly the truth, the truth that Ali and the media did not want people to see

The Media was Anti-Ali during his career. More Anti than any other boxer.

the Documentary was ridiculous though. How can you talk about a bout, but only ask 1 guy ?

It's just ******, and dont tell me for a second "It's not Bias", i mean if their talking about Thrilla in Manilla, why were they talking about Ali's personal life, especially when Ali or nobody from Ali's side was asked??

[PoetryInMotion]

The writer is clearly pro Ali. For him to say that Ali started off beating Joe in the early rounds, then Joe "along with the heat" started wearing down Ali in the middle rounds is clearly biased. Im sure it wasn't any cooler where Joe was standing. I enjoyed hearing Joes point of view for a change. Although I do find it ***ed up how glad he is of Ali's current physical health.

[Romi64]

Very nice to see Joes comments be heard for ONCE. I was once a HUGE fan of Alis back in the 70's and idolized the guy. I slowly began to see him for what he was...a very bitter anti white racist. He had many valid reasons to rant against the establishment but he bought into radical teachings of the "honorable Elijah Mohammed", which was purely racist teachings IMO. Ali got a pass for ALL the things he said. Joe was a much greater representative of the typical African American. He had a great work, family and community ethic. Ali crossed the line countless times with his derogatory comments. It wasn't just typical hype. His comments were cruel, vicious and unfounding. Joe was one of the good guys and Ali berated him mercilessly.

On a side note, I could never understand why Ferdie Pacheco's opinion was ever held in esteem by anybody in boxing. For Ferdie to say that Frasier was "dumb" was classless and laughable. Pacheco was THE most inarticulate boxing commentator to ever hit the air waves. The guy was absolutely clueless when it came to boxing knowledge. He simply didn't have any. He had the fortunate opportunity to become Ali's doctor and that was his claim to fame as far as boxing goes.

[Mr. Ryan]

I was more on the lines with the not having a quarrel with the Vietnamese and a country wanting to draft him into an army despite not passing the test and still having racial issues from the bottom on up. Just to make it short.

The religious side to it: not sure how that works given Islam has spread through War...and, Ali is a FIGHTER who risks killing someone in the ring and does harm to another human being each time he steps into the ring. However, the "quarrel" part goes along with the boxing matches. In a boxing match there is an agreement to fight and both fighters understand the risks. But if his religion says no fighting, no harm done to another brotha...which I'm not sure about because I never read the Quran...then...

What's the fighting rules with Islam?

I also wonder this; would it have been different if it was WWII instead?

What if America was attacked and invaded...would Ali fight back or go down like Jesus?

Many religions contain paradoxes, I understand that.

I understand completely where you're coming from and I won't counter them because somethings cannot be defended.

[alembic]

So long as documentaries are made by people, they'll always have an agenda reflecting the director's bias. This one is sympathetic to Joe's point of view. Refreshing.

But ultimately, this film highlights the human frailties of both fighters. Take away the surface details and you have one man choosing not to forgive after all these years (sad) and another betraying a friend for politics (also sad).

[-Antonio-]

Very nice to see Joes comments be heard for ONCE. I was once a HUGE fan of Alis back in the 70's and idolized the guy. I slowly began to see him for what he was...a very bitter anti white racist. He had many valid reasons to rant against the establishment but he bought into radical teachings of the "honorable Elijah Mohammed", which was purely racist teachings IMO. Ali got a pass for ALL the things he said. Joe was a much greater representative of the typical African American. He had a great work, family and community ethic. Ali crossed the line countless times with his derogatory comments. It wasn't just typical hype. His comments were cruel, vicious and unfounding. Joe was one of the good guys and Ali berated him mercilessly.

On a side note, I could never understand why Ferdie Pacheco's opinion was ever held in esteem by anybody in boxing. For Ferdie to say that Frasier was "dumb" was classless and laughable. Pacheco was THE most inarticulate boxing commentator to ever hit the air waves. The guy was absolutely clueless when it came to boxing knowledge. He simply didn't have any. He had the fortunate opportunity to become Ali's doctor and that was his claim to fame as far as boxing goes.

Pacheco is an absolute ****ing clown. Everything he said was ridiculous.

It's hard to tell what Ali's motive was when he'd say such hateful things about Louis and Fraizer both. He verbally attacked Foreman too. There's a difference between smack talking and calling another black man an Uncle Tom.

That said, I've heard and read books that detailed Ali as anything but racist off camera. **** Schaap (a white man) called him a great friend and he was covering Ali since before the 1960 Olympics. was the Nation of Islam to blame? I'm not sure. Either way his racist persona was ridiculous, but we dont know how much he was pressured to do as much.

[Dave Rado]

That said, I've heard and read books that detailed Ali as anything but racist off camera. **** Schaap (a white man) called him a great friend and he was covering Ali since before the 1960 Olympics. was the Nation of Islam to blame? I'm not sure. Either way his racist persona was ridiculous, but we dont know how much he was pressured to do as much.

No, he wasn't a racist, he had a lot of close friends who were white. He said racist-sounding things, but that was coloured by the racism he had had to put up with. He was mixed up, illogical, and a complex personality, but he didn't hate white people, or people of any other race, individually, what he hated was the white establishment that caused him to not be served in cafes, and to be unable to find hotel rooms, despite being an Olympic Gold Medal winner and the World Heavyweight Champion.

One of the white people he was close friends with was Reg Gutteridge, a British Hall of Fame boxing commentator. In 1989 when Gutteridge was seriously ill in hospital in London, he woke up to find Ali praying at the end of his bed - Ali had flown over from the States to be there. "A wonderful man, just wonderful," Gutteridge said. "I woke up and there's Ali standing at the foot of my bed. He sat there and held my hand, then knelt and said a prayer. When he went out I didn't half cry."

[chirorickyp]

Great article, and very accurate. It was a one sided documentary with key facts omitted. I would have preferred straight facts instead of this " michealmoore" like depiction.

[marvdave]

Ali wasnt racist?? we obviously have a different definition of that term.