Archie Moore vs Cassius Clay

[mickey malone]

Have you ever read Ghosts of Manila: The Fateful Blood Feud Between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier?

No, tbh i have'nt read it but i'll put it on my 'to do' list.

Does it expose the full extent of Ali's goading and perpetual piss taking of Frazier?

[PUK_MY_DANG_34]

No, tbh i have'nt read it but i'll put it on my 'to do' list.

Does it expose the full extent of Ali's goading and perpetual piss taking of Frazier?

It does exactly that. The writer, Mark Kram, makes it increasingly obvious during the course of the book that he is none to keen of Ali, and to a lesser extent Joe Frazier. Besides the authors hatred it's an incredible read, chronicling the entire careers(with an extra emphasis on the Ali-Frazier trilogy) of both fighters from the beginning to long after they hung up the gloves. Mark Kram was a writer for Sports Illustrated for about a decade and covered Ali more than any other writer at the time giving the book the deepest observation of Ali of anything ever read on him. Like I said though, he didn't really care for Ali or Joe Frazier as men, but he recognizes their greatness as fighters. Luckily his distaste for both men, although there is a quite a bit throughout the book, makes up a small portion of the entire work. My favorite sections cover the early parts of both Ali and Frazier's lives and careers, uncovers the mythological exaggeration of Ali's greatness during his era, and delves into the almost cult-like following he garnered during the same period.

If you're interested, the Amazon page for the book provides a decent summary of what it's all about.

http://www.amazon.com/Ghosts-Manila-.../dp/0060954809

[Anthony342]

Does he say why he didn't like Ali and Frazier?

[PUK_MY_DANG_34]

Does he say why he didn't like Ali and Frazier?

The simple version is that he thought Ali was a simple minded prick who just parroted anything the Prophet Elijah Muhammad said and Frazier was just an easily offended idiot.

[Anthony342]

Really? What about when Ali left the Nation of Islam later? And I don't think it was simple stuff that offended Frazier. Being called "dumb" on many occasions and "an Uncle Tom" sounds pretty offensive to me.