Who else considers the "Thrilla In Manilla" a draw?

[Deevel916]

For those of you who dont know the story:

At the end of the 14th rounds, Frazier's eyes were practically swollen shut. He was badly hurt and although he wanted to continue, his corner refused to let him come out for the 15th round. At the same time across the ring, Ali was done and telling his corner to cut the gloves. Ali was awarded the TKO win due to Eddie Futch stopping the fight for his fighter.

In my eyes, there was no winner and both men gave all they could for 14rounds. Ali wasnt able to continue due to exhaustion and had it not been for Fraizers corner stopping the fight, Ali was ready to quit. While Frazier wasnt allowed to continue in an attempt to prevent even further damage at the hands of Ali.


You're thoughts?

[bojangles1987]

I don't consider either a loser in that fight. As a massively biased Frazier fan, I never considered Ali "up" 2-1 on Frazier. They are equals in their rivalry.

[SixFootGiant]

If Futch doenst stop that fight, Frazier stops Ali in the last round that much im sure of. No way Ali would've finished that fight on his feet

[Deevel916]

If Futch doenst stop that fight, Frazier stops Ali in the last round that much im sure of. No way Ali would've finished that fight on his feet

At the same time Frazier barely finished the 14th on his feet. Too hard to tell what would have happened in the 15th. One of the greatest fights ever!

[SixFootGiant]

At the same time Frazier barely finished the 14th on his feet. Too hard to tell what would have happened in the 15th. One of the greatest fights ever!

Yeah that's true, I think Frazier had more in the tank left than Ali did. But Ali was tearing him up though in the last couple rounds. If Frazier could see decently that would've been a huge difference

[IRISH LULLABY]

This must be a joke right? Frazier was receiving a thumping in those previous two rounds prior to the stoppage, Eddie Futch did the right thing, Ali deserves full credit for the win, for outlasting Frazier in the trench warfare and defeating a legend in Smokin' Joe.

Also, as for the "Ali was going to quit" nonsense, that lie begun as a result of that heavily bias HBO Thriller in Manila documentary and since then it has been cleared up by Angelo Dundee, Ali never told him he wanted to quit after the 14th round, so your theory is shot to pieces as a result.

J.S: You must have seen all the recent books and documentaries about “The Thrilla in Manila,” with fans still loving that sensational action fight. What do you say to those people who believe Ali would not have been able to come out for that 15th-round against Joe Frazier. Did Ali in fact say to you at the end of the 14th, “cut ’em off?”

A.D: No, that’s not true. People get confused, and they’re getting confused with the Liston fight. My guy told me, “cut the gloves off, I wanna prove there’s dirty work afoot!” I said, no gloves, no fight! But in Manila, no. Ali had such a great 14th-round, why on earth would I stop the fight in the 15th? I’ve seen those documentaries, and I see faces on there of people, who weren’t even there at the fight! George Kimball, a good friend of mine, he’s going to write a piece on the fight, with all the people and writers and everything, who were there. I look forward to that article.

This was during an interview he gave to a rival website last year.


Ali was willing to continue, and judging by the previous two rounds, the only person who would've been knocked out was Joe Frazier.

Frazier was one of the reasons I fell in love with boxing, the archetypal warrior.