the short 30 minutes. they re waiting for the debates. those meant a lot. if you re undecided now or some of the polls show 20, 25% of those who say now they re for each candidate, they are willing to switch their vote. there you ll have the debates where you re not stage managed. you re up there by yourself and they re waiting to see if they re get more specificity to these vague at times type of promises. that will be the determinant, on both domestic policy examine foreign policy, which is the last one that is going to be had. that s going to make a difference. you re absolutely right, joe. absolutely right. you saw what the debates did for mitt romney. they honed his skills. he was able to defeat a very, very good field, especially newt gingrich and rick santorum. i agree with joe, i think the debates are going to be the heavyweight version of the thriller in manila. a lot of people watching. heather: l. thank you both for joining us. thank you.
meddle in the 64 olympics. in 1970 smoke injoe became the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and the first to beat mohammed ali knocking him down in the historic fight of the century in madison square garden in 1971. that was the first of three epic battles between frazier and ali. ali would beat smokin joe in a rematch three years later. the 14-round fight known as the thriller in manila. ali defeated frazier when the fight was stopped by the referee. after that battle frazier would step into the ring only two more times, but would never recapture his heavyweight title. bitter for many years about the way ali treated him, traysier had only recently forgiven ali for his brutal taunts over the years. in the end smokin joe finished his professional boxing career with 32 wins, four losses and
because, number one, we fought together and let s say we touched each other and maybe he hugged me all night in one fight back in the 70s, you know what i mean? joe, you were a fight fan there in the 70s. my gosh. those three fights? best fight ever in 1971 at the garden, a 15-round desanction of course the thriller in manila in 75 where frazier never forgave his corner man, his trainer for not allowing him to go out for the 15th round. remember the trainer threw in the towel, wouldn t let him finish the fight. it was epic. there were a lot of people who live in new york city that are fight fans and will remember from 1971 to 1975 it was the golden age of boxing. nothing compares. it started with the fight of the century. it was the fight of the century. yes. it was ali, frazier, 71. and america was split dead straight down the middle. progressives were cheering on ali and a lot of conservatives certainly in my household were cheering for joe frazier. and it was a rem
welcome back to morning joe. boxing legend smoking joe frazier died yesterday at the age of 67. the former heavyweight champ was best known as the rival of muhammad ali both in and out of the ring. as a young fighter frazier won a gold medal at the 1964 olympics and in 1971 became the first man to defeat muhammad ali, knocking him down in the historic fight of the century at madison square garden in 1971. that was the first of three matches between frazier and ali including their final 14-round fight known as the thriller in manila. the two men did have a rocky relationship outside the ring. for years frazier held a grudge for most of his life actually against ali for ali s brutal taunts. ali called him a guerrilla and referred to him as an uncle tom. in april of 2009 frazier joined us here on morning joe and spoke about his relationship with ali. our relationship should have been like two lovers.
but actually the better fight was four years later. the thriller in manila, yeah. if frazier did not answer the bell in the 15th, and yet ali said it was the closest i ever came to dying. to death. listen to this. dave anderson today, who knows a thing or two about boxing in new york city said this. some people mean more together than they do apart. whatever the stage. churchill and hitler. bogart and bacall. ali and frazier. for all the deserved accolades for muhammad ali i ve always believed that at his best joe frazier who died monday at the age of 67 was the better fighter and the better man. wow. if you ve ever seen that documentary, and of course nobody went around praising joe frazier after his career was over. just went to the sidelines. but those documentaries are so sad when joe frazier would try to hand ali money when he couldn t get a fight and help him out.