Muhammad Ali His Life and Times by Thomas Hauser

Author:Thomas Hauser [Hauser, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781453241196
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media LLC
Published: 2011-03-15T22:00:00+00:00

12

Manila

MIKE KATZ: “Looking back, people say that Ali-Frazier II was a great fight. And it was; one of the greatest of all time. But going in, a lot of people didn’t even think it would be a good fight. Frazier had been turned into a yo-yo by George Foreman. Ali hadn’t looked good after Zaire, although he figured to have more left than Joe. There just wasn’t that much anticipation, but these are two guys who would probably do it to each other if they fought in their eighties. That’s just the way they are. Frazier was a warrior, and he brought out the warrior in Ali. And don’t kid yourself; there’s something inside Ali; even in his current condition, if they fought, Ali would find a way to make it hard on Joe.”

The spectacle of Ali versus Frazier in Manila was vintage Ali from beginning to end. In keeping with his status as the greatest drawing card in sports, the champion was guaranteed $4 million against 43 percent of all fight-generated income. “I remember signing the contract,” says Frazier’s trainer and manager, Eddie Futch. “Ali wound up getting six million dollars, and Joe received half that amount. But one thing about the contract that sticks in my mind is, Joe required accommodations for seventeen people, and Ali needed rooms for fifty. That’s how big his entourage had grown. And later, the president of the Hilton Hotel in Manila told me that, even though Ali had fifty rooms, when he got there he needed two more.”

By the time Ali reached Manila, his entourage was in full bloom. Not even Sugar Ray Robinson in his prime supported as many workers, hangers-on, and friends. The entourage basked in Ali’s glow, like the moon in the light of the sun. Because of him, they had the world on a string, but not everyone was enamored of their role.

ALEX WALLAU: “If you judge somebody by their friends, you’d have thought Ali was a lowlife, because he had an awful lot of scum around him. It was a horrendous collection of hypocrites and hustlers, people who had their hands in his pocket and were looking to make side deals whenever they could. Howard Bingham was the main exception. I’m a big Howard Bingham fan. Over the years—and he’s proven it time and time again—he was a guy who sincerely loved Ali. I’m not saying he never made money around Ali as a photographer, but that’s not why Howard was there. And I liked Angelo; he’s special too. It wasn’t just Angelo’s ability as a cornerman, which is his greatest strength; or his ability as a trainer, which is considerable. I was fascinated by Angelo’s ability to survive. He could be in the middle of that whole collection of crazies, from militant Muslims to the most corrupt con men on earth, and get along with everyone. Angelo was the greatest diplomat I’ve ever seen. He had his views but he kept them to himself, and you never saw him trying to make a fast buck off Ali.

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