The life and legacy of the great Eddie Futch — a true legend of the ring
“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 fourteenth round of arguably the most punishing heavyweight fight ever fought, when he faced Muhammad Ali in Manila on 1 October 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. Indeed, as Ali said of their rivalry after finally retiring from the ring: “I’m sorry Joe Frazier is mad at me. I’m sorry I hurt him. Joe Frazier is a good man. I couldn’t have done what I did without him, and couldn’t have done what he did without me.”
