Forty years ago yesterday was the first Muhammad Ali - Joe Frazier fight. It is hard for people today to imagine what a big deal this boxing match was. Madison Square Garden was packed with every celebrity who was breathing at the time. Frank Sinatra got ringside seats only by acting as a photographer. The fight was pay-per-view so most Americans had to catch it on the radio.
Unless, of course, those Americans happened to be serving in the US Army in Korea. Korean TV carried the fight live. With the time difference, the fight began around 11 AM local time. Every GI plotted and planned to be near a TV at that magic hour. Most of us succeeded. The North Koreans could have waltzed across the DMZ accompanied by a brass band that morning and we wouldn't have known until they were in Seoul or possibly surfing ashore in California.
We resourceful troopers of Alpha Company, 802d Engineer Battalion bribed the local bar owner to move his TV to our tents at Camp Brown where we defended the American Way of Life by making asphalt pavement in a 50 year old plant originally brought there by the Japanese when they occupied Korea. The roads near the DMZ badly needed paving, but the plant "broke down" and repairs would take at least until the end of the fight. This little white lie was never discovered since the Colonel was watching the fight himself in some Officers' Club back in Seoul.
Ali - Frazier was more than a boxing match. It was a referendum on race in America at the time. Ali was the new black American with his conversion to Islam, his stance against the Viet Nam War, and his refusal of the military draft. Ali painted Frazier as an "Uncle Tom", a modern-day Joe Louis trying to be "a credit to his race". This was patently unfair. Frazier fought his way out of a meat cutting job in Philadelphia (the real life inspiration for "Rocky"), had an all-black management team (unlike Ali), and established gyms in his old neighborhood for black youth. Ali claimed he began boxing when his bicycle was stolen by some bullies. Frazier noted that he never had a bike as a kid.
What really bothered me was when Ali called Frazier a "gorilla". To this day, there is no better-looking fighter than Ali - tall, handsome, and unscarred. Joe Frazier was short, lumpy, and showed every punch he had taken. Those blessed with good looks shouldn't mock those who are not.
The fight was exactly what most experts predicted. Frazier waded into Ali, taking three punches to deliver one. Ali had quicker hands and a longer reach. If it came to a decision, he would win easily. The Ali supporters in that tent in Korea (and that was most of us) eagerly anticipated his victory interview which would, no doubt, be full of rhymes and bravado. The New Black American would triumph (the term African-American was unknown in those days).
But a sporting event is not decided on the basis of good looks, quick-wittedness, or social change. Ali tired in the 14th round and Frazier dropped him to the canvas with a left hook that quieted that tent in Korea (and probably Madison Square Garden as well). Frazier won the decision. The asphalt plant magically repaired itself, and the DMZ was once again secure.
With 40 years perspective, Ali - Frazier was an example of karmic justice. Ali truly was the bully of the two - the handsome, athletic guy from high school that always got what he wanted without really working for it. Frazier was the victim - mocked by the bully for his looks and lack of talent who sat on the bench until one magic day when he got into the game and hit the winning shot.
Of course, Ali defeated Frazier the two times that they fought again. Karma doesn't work every time. But once is enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment