Facing Ali - Documentary

[sonnyboyx2]

just watched the new ****e Lee Documentary - Facing Ali
its is great viewing and i would recommend it as a must see DVD... some great stories told by the likes of Ernie Terrell, Shavers, Foreman, Leon Spinks,Ron Lyle, Chuvalo, Holmes, Frazier & Henry Cooper...

Often on this forum we have topics on Joe Frazier and many posters claim he would be beaten by many fighters from the last 20yrs this documentary will change their opinion as Lyle, Ali, Foreman and Chuvalo all tell how great Frazier was and how he was one of the greatest punchers of all times.

[Holtol]

Yeah it was good watched it a month ago. Lots of good interviews. Made me laugh when Chuvalo said " As soon as I started fighting Ali I immediately noticed Ali was the fasted man I had ever faced!".

[Sugarj]

Yea.............easily the best boxing documentary since 1988's 'Champions Forever' (the one with Ali, Holmes, Frazier, Foreman and Norton).

Ron Lyle is still one intimidating fellow and you'd wonder whether Chuvalo ever took a punch in his life the guy is so damn sharp....full head of hair too!

Full of great stories! I'm not sure if Ken Norton was serious when he states that he broke Ali's jaw in the final round. I watched Ali vs Norton 1 tonight and round two seems the most likely contender for me.

The extras are good too and give a glimpse into how the old fight footage was remastered to 21st century standard.

A must see for any boxing fan!!!

[CarlosG815]

Yea.............easily the best boxing documentary since 1988's 'Champions Forever' (the one with Ali, Holmes, Frazier, Foreman and Norton).

Ron Lyle is still one intimidating fellow and you'd wonder whether Chuvalo ever took a punch in his life the guy is so damn sharp....full head of hair too!

Full of great stories! I'm not sure if Ken Norton was serious when he states that he broke Ali's jaw in the final round. I watched Ali vs Norton 1 tonight and round two seems the most likely contender for me.

The extras are good too and give a glimpse into how the old fight footage was remastered to 21st century standard.

A must see for any boxing fan!!!

I had heard in the past that Ali did fight Norton with a broken jaw. Not sure how many rounds he went with it broken.

[boxing boy]

Norton has always stated that he thought it was the last round that he broke Ali's jaw.

But after the 2nd round Howard Cossell(sp) was yelling something is wrong with Muhammad Ali's mouth,something is wrong with Muhammad Ali's mouth or jaw.There was blood spilling out of Ali's mouth after the 2nd round and his corner was sounding like they were in panic.

Even in defeat Ali showed great courage and a champions heart fighting 10 rounds with a broken jaw.Muhammad Ali never complained how bad his hands were for that fight either.He never mentioned that he couldn't do his road work due to his badly sprained ankle either.

Considering the circumstances,he fought a great fight even in defeat.

[Sugarj]

Hi Carlos, yes in the first Norton fight which Ali lost by decision, Ali did emerge with a broken jaw which required specialised surgery. Ali maintains that it happened in round two and this is supported by his doctor Ferdie Pacheco.

In Ali's first biography Ali claims that when he returned to the corner he asked how you would know if your jaw is broke and he was told that if he opened his mouth and heard a clack, then it was. This moment is also dramatised in the Ali movie The Greatest. In the Champions Forever documentary Ali claims that he fought ten rounds holding his teeth tightly together to stop it breaking more.

However, Ken Norton says this is all Ali camp story spinning, making out that Ali was some sort of heroic warrior fighting ten more rounds through searing agony.

Who knows?

Ali certainly didn't do any of his usual open mouthed expressions, shouting to the crowd (like after round six of the First Frazier fight) or talking to Norton after round two and he did take a smashing right hand that had him covering up in the corner in that round.

I tend to agree with Ali's account.

[Snopkins]

Obviously Norton would dispute the claim that Ali broke his jaw in the second round.We all saw the right hand that landed near the end of the second that did it.Norton,understandably wouldn't want anyone to discredit the greatest win of his career.

Norton holds a dominant victory over the very best version of the 70's Ali.Ali was on a great run at the time and despite not holding the title,was without question the best heavyweight on the planet.He wasn't cherry picking and avoiding like foreman and frazier,he was clearing the division of all other top contenders and had been avoided by the so called champion in Joe frazier.

[Sugarj]

If I'm honest, even without the broken jaw I think Norton would have beaten that Ali in fight one.

Ali trained super hard for their second fight.......and that one was razor close. Without that terrific final round from Ali we could have been looking at a draw or another win for Norton.

I've looked at the judges cards going into that final round. If the round had been scored even the fight would have been a draw, if Norton had won the round he would have won this fight too.

[Sugarj]

Funnily enough fight three for Norton and Ali was the same. Ali won the final round thus clinching the contest! If the final round was scored even in that fight we would have had a majority draw and if Norton had won the last round he would have got the verdict.

Wierd that! Close fights.

Norton always was detrimental to excellent technical boxers. He troubled Ali, Holmes, Young (three of the best orthodox/scientific heavyweights of the 70s) and destroyed the excellent amateur Bobick. If the man's ability to absorb a punch was better we might have been talking an ATG heavyweight. Obviously Norton was unlucky Foreman, Shavers and Cooney put him to sleep in quick time!

[BigStereotype]

Loved the movie, Chuvalo stole the show.