September 16 - 30 , 2017 PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY 29
Since coming out of hibernation brought about by his suspension for refusal to be drafted into the military , Muhammad Ali had , noticeably been a predictable ring workman .
When he was allowed to return to action after three years and knocked Jerry Quarry out in the third round , in the City Auditorium in Atlanta on October 26 , 1970 , Ali showed he had considerably mellowed down , matured physically and mentally . His words once quippy and humorously arrogant turned expended with much thought .
The new Muhammad Ali became matured , business-like , decisive and took the dullness of fights as he did with Chuck Wepner , Ron Lyle , Joe Bugner and George Foreman from whom he took back his world heavyweight title , thus , becoming the only second man in the history of the division to win the crown as many times .
He had coined descriptives like “ Rope-A-Dope ,” “ Mirage ,” “ Russian Rank ,” “ Gorilla .” On October 1 ,
1975 , Ali put his heavyweight belt on the line against old nemesis Joe Frazier , whom he tried to disarm by calling the challenger “ Gorilla ,”
In his stunning title win over Foreman on October 30 , 1974 , Ali showed he world how his “ Rope-A-Dope ” worked effectively in his favour . He fought in spurts off with rapid-fire combinations , returning to his defensive rope posture and sapping the defending champion ’ s energy .
Against Wepner in his first title defense on March 4 , 1975 , Ali combined a little of his rope tactic with something he called “ Mirage ” that was really nothing special except to fake away his challenger ’ s pride and toughness . Ali caught him in the final round with the referee calling an end to the contest with less than a minute left in the bout .
Against Lyle four months later , the title pretender from Denver led on points after 10 rounds but Ali ended it in the next with a barrage of hea71vy blows . On July of the same year Ali ’ s bandwagon flew to Kuala Lumpur to face
Ali-Frazier III : More than fight
Englishman Bugner and under the scorching heat of 105 degree inside the Merdeka Stadium , like the others before him , it was the European titleholder who faailed to deliver .
Against Frazier in a 12-round non-title Super Fight II on January 28 , 1974 , Ali was effective with his combinations as well as his seemingly illegal tying tactics as he evened up he count to one victory apiece and necessitating the Grand Finale Thrilla in
Manila .
It was a close fight and although Ali was in control , pundits aske what would have happened had the encounter been for 15 rounds ? In their first classic match on March 8 , 1971 , Ali found himself lying on the canvas the 15th round giving Frazier a majority decision triumph .
There had never been a match up with such natural chemistry . The Super Fight III was designed to be that , a classic . There was genuine
San Miguel aims for All-Filipino Cup history
dislike for one another , but there also had a tremendous mutual respect to one another .
Only few athletes , if any , could ever duplicate the pride the two had been ale to generate in their previous meetings . These ingredients were expected to have a telling effect on the outcome of the final chapter of the trilogy . It was more than a fight to both . It was , too , more than a fight to boxing and the world . ( MT )
As its quest for a Grand Slam ended on Wednesday night , San Miguel Beer quickly shifted its focus on a different shot at history .
The Beermen now have their sights set on a fourth consecutive PBA Philippine Cup championship , a feat that has never been done before .
“ We just have to move on . We ’ re going to bounce back next conference . We can still make history with four straight All-Filipino titles ,” said June Mar Fajardo in Filipino after SMB got bown out
by Barangay Ginebra in the 2017 Governors ’ Cup quarterfinals .
It was a painful exit for the Beermen , who suffered their worst loss of the season .
The setback , however , also put things in perspective for San Miguel .
“ Just ‘ cause we don ’ t win the grand slam doesn ’ t mean we didn ’ t have a great year ,” guard Chris Ross said . “ We had a great year , we won two conferences , five out of nine championships , it ’ s not
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a failure .”
“ S o m e - times you fall short in life , sometimes it ’ s how you bounce back from shortcomings so I ’ m sure it will hurt , it hurts all of us in the locker room but there ’ s some smiles over there and we got something to play for in the All-Filipino is to win that conference four straight .”
Ross believes the title of being the best team in the PBA still belongs to the Beermen despite their early exit .
“ We are the defending champions of the All- Filipino the last three years , we ’ ve been the best team in the PBA for the last three or four years ” he said .
“ Just cause we fell short today doesn ’ t mean we ’ re still not the best team . I think a lot of people think that we ’ re still the best team in the PBA regardless of our shortcomings this conference .”
The 32-year-old Ross , who was the Finals MVP in the 2017 Philippine Cup , said the team can ’ t wait to be back on the court .
“ We ’ re eager to get going in the All-Filipino , we
By : Julian Ray Fortaleza
Answers from last week ’ s issue
1 . Maidana landed 221 punches in the first fight against Mayweather . 2 . The winner of their 3rd fight was Israel Vasquez 3 . Robert Horry has 7 championships
New Questions want to take a rest and rest our bodies because it ’ s a long year and we played more games by far than any team in the PBA so we need to rest our bodies , come back and defend our crown .” ( M . Giongco , inq )
1 . How many punches did Marcos Maidana land against Mayweather in their second fight ? 2 . Who is the longest reigning UFC champion of all time ? 3 . How many championships does Shaq have ?