Poughkeepsie Journal from Poughkeepsie, New York • Page 18

18 fouQhkteplle 'Journal Tu.jdoy, March 9 1971 Most Boxing Buffs Agree With Outcome By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS In Argentina the viewers said it was the worst performance in Muhammad All's career. And in Australia barmaid said it was one of the' worst days for the cash register. But while both Joe Frailer and All had their staunch supporters the fans generally agreed with the outcome a 15 round unanimous decision for Frazier In Monday night's world heavyweight championship bout at Madison Square Garden in New York. However, in London and Paris, where the fight began in Tuesday's predawn hours, commentators called it a bore, a parody and a disappointment in view of its massive buildup. Tass the official Soviet news agency, carried only the curt note that the match between "Negro sportsmen Cassius Clay known as Muhammad All, and Joe ended in the tatter's victory on points." Activity ground, to a halt during the lunchtime hours in the Orient In Manila, children were assigned to bring televisions to school, then classes were suspended for the bout.

And in the Philippines' slums, crowds gathered to peer through windows or cracks in walls to see the fight on televisions owned by squatters. Justinlano Montano president of the World Boxing Council, said Ali played into Fra zier's hands by backing into the ropes Instead of boxing in the center of the ring. He added that a rematch seemed remote since he believed Ali would hav to beat a ranking contender to earn another shot at Frazier. Ali has numerous fans In Argentina despite the fact he knocked out their national champion, Oscar Bonavena, last December in the prelude to the championship bout. As they did then, Argentines deserted restaurants, theaters and the streets during the bout, which began at 12:40 a.m., local time.

One radio commentator said later that until the 10th round Ali had been better against Frazier than against Bonavena, whom he outpointed in the early going. But one newspaper, taking a swipe at the brash former champion, headlined: "Frazier closed All's big mouth." Australians crowded into pubs to watch the fight in the early afternoon but were forsaking the food and drink for the televisions' and cheering as though they were at ringside. "Worst Tuesday's taking this year," said one barmaid staring at the till. Simon Smith of the British Broadcasting Corp. said be saw closed circuit viewers in London leaving before the end of the bout.

"And I can't help thinking that if (former champion) Joe Louis had ever found himself In a world heavyweight title fight as dull as this, he wouldn't have liked it," Smith added. He said he got the impression both Frazier and Ali were thinking of a rematch. Another British boxing correspondent, however, called the fight "both brilliant and said All lost it In the 11th round by "fooling about" and lauded Frazier for his "blistering pace and ferocious finish." But' a French commentator said Frazier seemed to be merely patting All when he had openings for heavy punches and that All didn't live up to his reputation. British sports writers mourned, the passing of Ali, long a favorite in Britain, in what top promoter Harry Levene described as "a magnificent fight." Thousands of fans stayed up all night to hear the fight ref ports on radio. A few thousand paid hefty prices to watch the fight in 29 movie theaters via satellite relays from New York.

Levene said Ali "probably took more punishment than he has done in all his previous contests put together, yet he went out like a champion." Jim Wicks, manager of British heavyweight champion Henry Cooper whom All floored as a world contender in 1966, said: "Ali has lost a lot of his edge. In IS rounds his legs were bound to go." In Italy, millions of fans shivered all night In unheated parlors to hear running reports via satellite on the state run radio and television networks. Many stayed away from work to get some sleep. Others organized all night parties to watch the fight. The Rome Sports Dally Corrlere Dello Sport stayed open later than usual to come out a whole front page devoted to a round by round account of the fight headlined "Glory to Frazier." Italian television paid a re ported $100,000 for transmission rights for the fight.

It has only run middle of the night transmissions twice before the first moon landing and Italy's. finals match In the World Soccer Cup in Mexico City last summer. An estimated 64 million Italians watched the transmissions early Tuesday. In South Korea, an estimated two million Koreans across the country watched the fight via television. Their only regret was that it was in black and white because color TV Is still unavailable In Korea.

Although the U.S. Armed Forces Television network was not allowed by promotors of the match to televise the title bout, many American servicemen had their sets turned In on local TV stations. amw ats rm BiriijHiHii HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION Joe Frazier connects solidly with long right to the face of UPI Ttlaplwto Muhammad Ali in their title bout in Madison Square Garden Monday night. t. ALI STARES DOWN at canvas after being decked by Frazier in 15th round.

Ali took an UPI Ttltpholo eight count, then got up to finish round. STILL CHAMPION, Frazier winces as ice pack is applied to his bruised face during news conference after he gained unanimous decision. upiTtmo Spectacular Repeat In Planning Already Frazier Shuts AH's Mouth With Unanimous Decision i NEW YOR K(AP) Joe Fra jier, the "Black Mardano," Is the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion but Muham mad Ali his runaway tongue silenced by a battered jaw is still on his feet, and hungry promoters already are planning a bigger and more grandiose re peat. Chartwell Enterprises, Inc, which served as architect of Monday night's $20 million to $30 million spectacular, owns the return match contracts of both fighters, The probable site is the Los Angeles forum ana the time early next year. "I don't think he wants a rematchnot right away, anyway," said Frazier, winner by decision in a brawling 15 round er at Madison Square Garden in boxing's richest and most ballyhooed extravaganza.

He didn't ask All, the loud mouthed idol of millions who went to the canvas under a thunderclap Frazier left hook in the 15th round but regained his feet and hung on to avoid the stima of a knockout. Immediately after the fight, the previously unbeaten and un marked All, his right Jaw swol len like a balloon, was rushed to a hospital where Xrays showed he was suffering not from a fracture but from a blood clot and a massive bruise. Ironically, Ali for once In his lifetime could not talk and he sent his long time trainer, Drew "Bundini Brown, to the inter view room to face the writers whom he had constantly chided, "The first I asked the champ was whether he was going to fight again" Bundini said. "He told me, 'Get the gun ready, we are going to set the traps. We'll be back.

Three years ain't gonna be three years no moe and we're gonna go back to war. The car was in the ga rage years but all the bumps and clinks are out now." Bundini was referring to the 3ft years of ring rust that set in alter All, a self styled Muslim minister, refused to go into military service and entered into a prolonged battle with the courts. His case still is pending in the Supreme Court. The 20,455 wild, screaming fans, who paid $1,352,961 to watch the fight of unbeaten heavyweights and the 300 mil lion others who reportedly watched it on television around the world must have their doubts that Ali can ever rise again. The arrogant, garrulous grandson of a runaway Kentucky slave proved his heart and staying power in a gripping struggle but raised doubts that his once nimble legs could any more 'float like a butterfly," a tactic for which he became universally famous.

Ali, showing only flashes of his old brilliance, tired visibly i the killer in the tradition of: bruises over both his eyes and in the course of the bout and there were times it seemed his rubbery legs, of not his hard brown body, might wilt under Frazier's Incessant pounding. A tremendous, dramatic fight that will be remembered as long as men pull on pillowed gloves, the highly promoted contest had Its disappointing aspects on both sides. The superman image of Ali, born Cassius Clay, was shat tered, undoubtedly bringing grief to his millions of admirers all around the world. They had thought he was unbeatable. As for Frazier, a grim, 27 year old onetime slaughterhouse butcher, he failed to prove to be Jack Dempsey, Joe Louts and Rocky Mareiano, the latter the late slugger who retired unbeaten and whose bore in style Is duplicated by Frazier.

beveral times Frazier appeared to have All set up for the knockout in the 11th round par ticularly and again in the 15th only to let his quarry get away. Took Best Shots Is Frazier really a Dark Destroyer, or just a Black Buzz Saw? "I hit him with my best and he took them," Frazier said afterward. "That man takes some punch." Frazier, never floored, had Fans Got What They Paid For NEW YOR K(AP) In the first two rounds between the red velvet ropes those eight ounce gloves seemed but paws of playful pups. And the fight fans were passive. But then came the cry to kill.

"That's the way Joe, get the belly, get the gut the head will come," shouted the man in the grey flannel suit with wisps of pipe smoke curling around his greying, well groomed hair. "Stick, baby, stick Frazier's blowing his cool. Go ahead Muhammad. Blng. Bing Bing," countered another decked out in brown and white plaid with his hair cropped to a Caesar cut.

No matter where in life their stance, the language they speak, 19,500 fans some traveling from distant corners of the world, others to the moon and back got what they willed Monday night in Madison Square Garden. The Fight. The defeat of an undefeated. Astronauts, diplomats, politi cians, Hollywood stars, athletes of other games, fighters whose big night now is history, folks from Harlem and the nation'; heartland. All came to see the conquering of a champion.

Faithful Stand Vigil While Beaten Ali Sleeps NEW YORK (AP) The furs and the feathers, the Panama hats and the long suede coats weren't visible in the lobby of the New Yorker Hotel where Muhammad Ali camped follow ing his losing heavyweight championship fight against Joe Frazier. The beautiful people, black and white, who flocked to Madi son Square Garden faded into the crisp night air. Only the faithful, mostly drab looking, remained to stand vigil in the building where their hero slept early this morning after being rayed and treated at Flower Fifth Avenue hospital tor a possiDJe fractured jaw. Angelo Dundee, the man who primed All for the bout, passed through the still loyal crowd of admirers and assured them the battered ex champion was in the hotel and was sleeping soundly under mild sedation for the pains he suffered from (he relentless pounding of Frazier, A member of the Dundee's group said the doctors diag nosed Alls injury as a blood clot in the right jaw, an injury The known, such as Jimmy Ellis, sporting a beard, yellow blouse and velvet pants and vest effecting splatters of brown, yel low and orange paint, joined tne unknown. The woman pracing in white brocade hot pants, the one in a midi mink atop turquoise boots.

The man in hunter's cap and fisherman knit sweater. The man who wore a white fur news boy's cap and oat They paid up to $150 a ticket for the privelege to see and dbe seen. But once the fight announcer began: "From Louisville, Ken tucky wearing red trunks all eyes were on the ring. The hawkers in their gold jackets moved out of the aisle, seeming to care little whether their $5 gold boxing gloves, their pennants, their posters, the beer were sold. The 600 newsmen, many in their official red caps, put their pencils at the ready.

Even the policeman, one of possibly suffered when he was "31 w. flnrtrpH hv a Fnarior lpft hnnk If1.1,0"0 0n hand' Plis.hed sPe floored by a Frazier left hook It was only the third time in his 32 fights he had been on the can vas. "Now we know what's it's like to lose," said an All follower "Today was long, and tomorrow will be longer that's when the Internal Revenue Service starts making its cuts." In front of the door to Ali's room on the 25th floor, a small grou of persons clustered. A few were in tears. They were joined occasionally by others who wanted to see how Ali was.

After awhile, they were asked to move to their rooms or to the lobby. Most went to the lobby to join other araD, unhappy, laugh'er less people who earlier came to Cheer their once and future king. Now he was just their king. tacles, quit surveying the spec tators. This dead ringer for Sgt.

Bilko joined everyone else in watching the punishing punches mat Muhammad All and Joe Frazier dealt in the ring. The two heavyweights lasted a full 15 rounds, just as champions should. They put on a good show, as Ed Sullivan, at ringside, would say. Clonched fists and chants of 'Ali! Ali! Ali!" alternated with those of "Joel Joe! Joe!" "spoil the pretty face, Joe," came the cry from the arena, Come on, big mouth, fight now "Get mat dirty, draft dodger." The taunts, the, cjieers, the empathy, the fans venting their life's frustrations in lust one hour Joe Knows Who's Champ NEW YOR K(AP) His face puffy and misshapen from a shower of punches thrown by Muhammad All, Joe Frazier nevertheless ruled today as un disputed heavyweight champion of the world. And he didn't ex "actlv hide the fact.

"Who's the champ who's the champ," stormed Frazier, who looked more like the loser than the winner after scoring a unanimous 15 round decision over Ali Monday night. "I felt like the champion right along," said Frazier, whose vic tory was punctuated by a booming left hook that decked Ali in the 15th round and left the ex champ's jaw painfully swollen. "I fought everybody they put in front of me and I whipped them all," said Frazier, "and that includes Clay." Frazier seemed to delight in calling Ali by his former name, Clay. In fact he repeated It three times at one point, each time saying "Clay" louder, as If for emphasis. The pre fight hoopla carried into the ring with both fighters taking turns taunting the other.

times, AH shook his head from side to side after Frazier landed hard punches, as if to indicate that he couldn't be hurt by the blows. In Ali Dressing Room 'We'll Be Back Promises Handler They saw, They heard. NEW YORK (AP) A Phila deipnia attorney sufiered a heart attack in Madison Square uarden just before the Joe Fra zler Muhammad AM heavy weight championship fight Mon day night and died after being rusned to a hospital. Koiice said Herman Davis, 54, of suburban Wynnewood, Pa. suffered the attack about 10 p.m.

and was given emergency! treatment at the Madison Square Garden Medical Center NEW YOR (AP) His once pretty jaw was painfully swollen and his latest prediction Was knocked for a speechless loop by Joe Frazier Monday night, but it was hard to tell which caused Muhammad Ali more discomfort. It was, to say the least, a bad night for the previously unbeat en former heavyweight cham pion. His forecast that "Frazier falls in six" went by the boards. he took a smashing left hook on the right side of his Jaw late in the 11th round that buckled his knees and he wound up flat on his back early in the 15th round from another crunching hook to the same spot. Finally, he lost the in fight he had predicted would be rivaled as a spectacle only by the first moonwalk and then he bad to rush off to a hospital for rays, leaving dozens of newsmen to settle for a few words from Drew "Bundini" Brown, one of his handlers.

The rays proved negative and Ali, his jaw shut for a change with a massive bruise but not broken, returned to his hotel, took some medication and went to bed, his dreams of a quick return to boxing's pinna cle after a three year layoff ruined. But Ali, even in absentia. wasn I through predicting. "We'll be back," promised crown, "inree years aln gon na be three years no more. The cars the girage for three years but all the bumps and clinks are out now." He referred to Ali's lengthy absence from the ring while his tence for refusing induction into the armed forces was argued in the courts, "The first thing I asked him was, 'We ain't through, are Brown told reporters.

"He said, 'Get 'em ready; we're gonna set Ali read his prediction of a sixth round knockout on closed circuit television before the fight It went like this: "I predict first of all that all Frazier fans and boxing experts will be shocked at how easy I will beat Joe Frazier. who will look like an amateur boxer compared to Muhammad All, and they will admit that I was the real champion all the time. Fra zier falls in six." It wasn't to be. despite all nf Ali's tricks his yakklng at Frazier 'ghetto talk." Jn called it his shaking his head after numerous punches to indi cate he wasn't hurt, his waving a glove at Frazier as If to say, wu vcui IJUI I J11C. I Although Ali's law didn't take' on its lopsided look until he was' tioored 25 seconds into the isth round, Brown said the Injury occurred "sometime between th ninth and, 11th rounds." The first sign that All was hurt came late In the 11th, when Fra rler belted him Into the ropes aim suiggerea nun.

"He was on queer Brown said. "He took three or1 four good t' i and if I everi praved, I reall. prayed then." All was his cocky, confident, self during the early wunds taunting the shorter, Frazier byj keeping him at arm's "length, with first his left hand and (hen on his right cheek. He bled at the nose. He looked more butchered than Ali, despite Ali's en larged cheek, and even apolo gize for his hamburger counte nance.

"Let me go clean up my face," he told newsmen. "I'm not this ugly." The rugged Frazier, fighting from a crouch and always mov ing forward, disdained All's greater height 6 feet, 3 inches to 5 11V4 and a 6V4 inch longer reach. He hammered Ali Into the cor ners and rained him with blows like a woodsman seeking to fell a tree with an ax. At times. Ali's big brown eyes showed signs of fear.

At other times they were dull and glassy. But Ali always managed to come back. Frazier stole some of Ali's thunder. In the fifth round, he laughed at Ali through bloody teein. He dropped his arms to his side, dared Ali to hit him and taunted his' foe as he laced out with lunging lefts.

iraziers principal weapon was his lightning like left hook, almost too fast to see and dam aging enough to snap Ali's proud head tiack so hard it looked as it it might break at the neck. Ali, always the clown, teased Frazier frequently when he was backed against the ropes. He pawed at Frazier with his gloves, like a child fondling a toy. Frazier resented the disnlav and asked afterward, what he thought of Ali's antics, barked crisply: "Clowning? He wasn clown ing. He was too tired to move." Ali, wearing red velvet trunks and tassled white and red shoes, frequently shook off Frazier's hardest jolts and waved consolation to his body of admirers.

At the end of the sixth round, Ali, shaken by a succession of Frazier turned to the crowd and yelled: "No contest." "All, Ali, Ali! the crowd yelled back. Many observers at ringside had Ali ahead or at least even but the decision was unanimous. Judge Artie Aidala had it 9 6. judge Bill Recht had it 8 6 1 and referee Art Mercante had it 114, all favoring Frazier. The Associated Press scorecard had it 9 5 1 for Frazier.

All held his own in the earlv rounds. The middle rounds the eighth through the 13th were all Frazier. After being shaken in the 11th and falling to one knee on a slip, Ali appeared def initely Deaten. His legs wobbled. His eyes were glazed.

His 'once sharp punches were flabby and Ineffective. But he came back to win the 14th, while the crowd yelled. In the first 20 seconds of the final round Frazier cut loose a murderous hook "I brought from the country," he said and Ali hit the deck on his hack like a concrete block. He was ud at four, took the mandatory eight count and. then hung on only nerve keeping him erect.

men It was over. Frazier'i hand was raised. And Bundini cried. PMAAjMMttga Sole Authorized Dealer Electric Razor Repairs Compltta Una AccmmtIm Put rtpttre all makMi MEL'S WATCH A PICk JEWELRY M.I rlntf nt ball I LIBERTY POK, LUwly It. ilM WAHHHIMWKi BELLOWS CLUB (PKCIAl BIENDED SCOTCH WHIJKT MMCS ice i 4 4 W3 a appeal of a five year jail sen lhls right In the champion's face.

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