What price dignity for Ali, Frazier?

Originally published August 21, 1981.
 
"The brutality of Frazier's way in the prize ring has never been a proper reflection of the man. He is one of the earth's beautiful people. 'I feel good just being in the same room with him,' a veteran writer said yesterday. "That's why we want you to call it off now, Joe. Regardless of what happened here, boxing history has reserved a place for you up front, with its greats. You have the money you need, we have memories that are indelible. Please don't make us add any sad footnotes. "

I am not in the habit of quoting myself, but given the rather alarming dispatches of the past week it seemed proper to seek a perspective not born of haste. Studying the files, I happened across the above paragraphs, which were typed on an October morning in 1975, at Manila, the Philippines. A day earlier Joe Frazier had suffered defeat in Fight III, losing by TKO to Muhammad Ali in a struggle that advanced both the brutality and nobility of man to summits rarely visited.

Fight III was for both Frazier and Ali their Everest and, by all reasonable denominators, their farewell. Ignoring the advice of many, Frazier boxed a couple more times, but it was like watching a Rolls Royce trying to hum on regular gas. Following a second loss to George Foreman in the summer of '76, Joe gathered up his pride and went off to do other things.

Ali, of course, could not let go. Nine times after Manila, Ali went to battle, without distinction. The adventures with Jean-Pierre Coopman, Richard Dunn and Alfredo Evangelista - his European trilogy - is a blight better forgotten. He lost to Leon Spinks, who had just begun shaving, then won back his title on a night when Leon was so exhausted from fighting through traffic in his own corner that he had nothing left for the ring.

"I'LL DANCE ALL night," Ali kept screaming, but by the time he got around to Larry Holmes last October he couldn't even dance in the afternoon. Self-confessed as the greatest boxer of all times, Ali stumbled through 10 rounds with Holmes before quitting - it was either that or a respirator - and could not win even one of them.

Humbled momentarily, Muhammad retired for the 38th time. Now, all of a sudden, comes the news that yesterday's heroes are about to leave the museum. We were advised last week that Frazier, 37, is preparing for a comeback bout, possibly against John Tate. Yesterday, an Ohio promoter named Jan Aronson confirmed his fascination with Frazier and mentioned as a possible opponent Scott LeDoux, the Minnesota heavyweight who has not missed a punch thrown at him in years.

On the same breezy August afternoon, there was a report from South Carolina that Muhammad Ali, approaching 40, has been granted a license to box in that state and plans to resume his flirtation with disaster on Nov. 1, against an opponent to be named.

Opponents are not the issue here, of course. Is there not someone with the authority and conscience to stop these men who cannot seem to stop themselves?

BOTH INSIST MONEY is not an arguable factor in the decisions. So, how do we go about persuading them that what they are putting up for forfeit has no market value? What is the cost of dignity? For an appraisal of what their health is worth, perhaps they should consult their families.

During conversations earlier this week with representatives of two of the better young heavyweights of our time, the subject of comebacks surfaced. "We were in a situation at one point where it looked like we might fight Ali, " said Dennis Rappaport, co-manager of Gerry Cooney. "As a negotiator, you hate to be put in that position.

"The fight would have meant a lot to Gerry. I'm talking about before Ali fought Holmes and Gerry fought Norton. I knew Ali had nothing anymore, and I know what Gerry can do. There's practicality vs. morality involved in this situation, and even now I'm not sure what I would have done had the talk become serious.

"Frazier . . . I just have too much respect for what he's done to see him cheapen himself."

BUTCH LEWIS, WHO is promoting the show starring Greg Page in Atlantic City tomorrow, was with the Fraziers at the Superstars competition in Florida last week. "Joe tells me he's coming back," says Butch. "I tell him I want to cry, he tells me, 'If you won't handle it, somebody will. 'Somebody else will have to.

"Ali calls me. Says he can get a license in Carolina, and wants to fight Trevor Berbick. I ask him, 'Where were you guys when I was struggling to get into this business and you were 25? ' "

The answer to the question is that Ali was heavyweight champion, on the threshold of an exile that was to be the cornerstone for his celebrity as the most unique of all champions. And that Frazier, at 25, held a fraction of the title, with the years that secured his place in history still ahead.

The three extraordinary fights between them are treasured by those who understand the business. And by many who don't have the foggiest, but realize from the watching that men far beyond the ordinary were involved. The idea of Frazier and Ali going from center ring to sideshows is appealing only to people with cotton candy mentality. Throw darts at the balloons, romance the fat lady, hope for Ali-Frazier IV.

The following paragraph was written in the early morning hours after Ali's last prizefight, and is reprinted, not as an example of prose, but because there might be something within for our heroes to consider.

"Shakespeare could not slide from the comic to the tragic as quickly as Ali did last evening. Restored to Valentino trim by a Spartan life in recent weeks, Ali required only a short time under the guns of Larry Holmes before his skin loosened, his features sagged, his hair dye ran, and by the end of the 10th round he could not even open his mouth to say 'no' when his corner tossed in the towel."