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Muhammad Ali after his victory over British Heavyweight champion Henry Cooper at Wembley, in 1963
“SIT down, son. It’s all over. No one will forget what you did here today.”
The aforementioned words, spoken by trainer Eddie Futch to Joe Frazier at the end of the 14th round of arguably the most punishing heavyweight fight ever fought, when he faced Muhammad Ali in Manila on October 1 1975, have justifiably gone down in boxing folklore as the best and most humane example of a trainer saving a fighter from himself.
The sheer courage displayed by Futch in pulling his fighter out of the fight at such at late stage was only matched by the courage displayed by Frazier in the final bout of the trilogy he fought against Ali — his nemesis without whom he himself would never have reached the heights he did in the sport.
SYLVIA HIKINS recommends a fascinating, revealing, superbly acted evening of theatre
The Khelif gender row shows no sign of being resolved to the satisfaction of anyone involved anytime soon, says boxing writer JOHN WIGHT
When Patterson and Liston met in the ring in 1962, it was more than a title bout — it was a collision of two black archetypes shaped by white America’s fears and fantasies, writes JOHN WIGHT