---

Scene 28

New York / Press conference / Enter Don King, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Archie Moore stands by Foreman’s shoulder / Journalists 1,2 & 3 are present

Don King
Well, thank you all for coming here today
The Sunshine Showdown’s glowing in the dawn
O! what a day loaded in store for thee
& what a night of boxing out Kingston,
Jamaica, this January comingm
Whose arena of forty-two thousand
Stack’d rafter-pack’d above two boxers sees
Joe Frazier, the champion, George Foreman,
The Challenger; today they gonna sign
The contracts, but first, boys, lets see those fists…
I’m gonna call on Mister Joe Frazier
To say a few words, Joe

Joe Frazier
Good afternoon,
About George I’m not gonna say too much
For as you know my own lip-rapping skills
Aint so great, you know how it is, no mouth
Run-offer, like some people that we know
{Laughter}
Because of one particular reason
I’m stoked to bits this fight is coming off
For me & George are in the fighting game
For fighting aint no politician thing,
When sportsmen go off rapping, that aint right,
The ring no place to showcase opinions
Other than that which settles whose fought best,
& so, I feel this fight should entertain,
While George tries to strip away my title
I’ll do my very best to keep it close

Don King
Thanks Joe, so George, some words you wanna say?

George Foreman
I don’t wanna be as modest as Joe
For he’s already proved himself a king
I gotta get out here to preach & brag
& big me up & let you people think
I’m a monkey or something, so all yous
Can come along & see me do something
I want all the people in this country
Complaisant with all planetary parts
To light their eyes upon this special fight
I know myself it shall be mighty brawl
An evening when George Foreman will declare
Wars on Joe’s bones, & that’s a definite!

Crowd
Right On

Joe Frazier
Most people suggest a fighter
Loses his legs ascending certain age
But now my legs feel stronger than ever
I don’t know, I must have got one of those
The guy who run so fast

Journalist 1
A second wind

Joe Frazier
No – the Six Million Dollar man, yeah?

Journalist 2
Yeah

Joe Frazier
When I hit the road in the morning
I’m like the Six Million Dollar Man

George Foreman
You people are certainly gonna see
A mighty fight, in which avow’d am I,
The only way to take leave of that ring
Victoryless before the fifteenth end
Is stretcherborne, unconscious, void of force

Don King
We’ll see you all in Kingston on the night
It will be grand, it will be exotic
A royal, unforgettable battle
As if they were the houses roseate
White York & Red Lancaster, clamp’d by gore
Together on a sodden, windswept moor
But under sultry island sun instead
So a good day to you all
{To Frazier & Foreman}
This way boys

Journalist 3
Mr King, could you answer some questions

Don King
That will be all, thank-you

Journalist 3
But Mr King
Is it true there’s twelve thousand empty seats
On an island where the average wage
Is only twenty-five dollars a month
Was that to be expected… Mr King?

Exit King & the Boxers

Journalist 1
So how you think the fight is gonna go

Journalist 2
I can’t see Foreman lasting seven rounds
He’s barely hit the third before his foes
End the bouts, encrumpl’d upon canvas
But Frazier is a different being
& by the fourth or fifth Foreman will tire

Journalist 3
I don’t think it’ll even last that long
George Foreman’s just an old-fashion’d slugger

Journalist 1
But tough, I wouldn’t be so sure

Journalist 2
Come on
You’re kidding right, Foreman don’t stand a chance

Journalist 3
But Jamaica, hah, better than New York
In winter, don’t forget to pack your shorts

Journalist 2
I’ll be there Jack, & newly single too!

---

Scene 29

Jamaica / Joe Frazier’s hotel, poolside / The Knock-Outs are playing, Frazier is singing to a crowd of lithe Jamaican ladies & journalists

Repertoire
Knock On Wood
Like a Knock-Out Drop
First Round Knock Out
They Bigger They Come

Enter Eddie Futch & Yank Durham

Eddie Futch
Hey Joe, Joe Frazier, what are you doing?

Joe Frazier
Hey, guys, relax, we’re just having a jam

Eddie Futch
A jam, a jam, your fight is in five days

Yank Durham
This is insane, Joe, why ya not training

George Foreman
I was this morning

Eddie Futch
We heard about that
You were getting bested by Ken Norton
& that aint ever happened before, Joe

Yank Durham
We’ve told him his service no more needed
& have a nice vacation here

Eddie Futch
Like you
It seems, Joe, but this aint no holiday,
It’s hard work, its elite competition
It’s, it’s not this anyway

Joe Frazier
Eddie, Yank
Relax, I got this

Yank Durham
Singing by the pool
In this heat drains your strength – its just stupid

Eddie Futch
It’s time to get outta here, gals & girls
Go take your party to another pool

Jamaican Woman 1
Alright, alright

Jamaican Woman 2
See you later, Joe, thanks

Joe Frazier
Bye ladies, boys, nice music today

Knockout 1
Yeah

Knockout 2
You’d better hightail back to yer training
Mr Futch & Mr Durham don’t look pleas’d

Eddie Futch
Damn right we aint pleas’d, now get outta here

Joe Frazier
I don’t know why you guys are all upset
I got Foreman, he got nothing on me
All blunderbus & blunders, whats the fuss

Yank Durham
It aint him we’re worried about, its you,
Dwell we do upon your poor well-being,
Away from the grey-iron grasp of the gym
& that wet, wild & windy Philly
You’re losing your intensity & drive

Eddie Futch
And it’s not just this island’s soothing balms
We should have cut your gloves off once Ali
Hit canvas, too much damage that night dealt,
& now you’re just a shadow of the man
Who charg’d upon the title like a train
You’re now proud owner of a new-bought yacht
Loving to dive into the sun and fun

Joe Frazier
What you on about, Eddie, I’ll be fine

Yank Durham
He’s got a point, you’re losing something Joe

Joe Frazier
I gotta hear this bullshit from you too
& on the eve of a title defence

Eddie Futch
Joe, you got enough money, whatever
Happens next week, it’s time to give it up

Joe Frazier
Damn, give it up, what’s to gain, I’m World Champ
You think I’m gonna walk away like
that?
All the work and sweat, Climb this high mountain
Pain all the way, to come down on a plane
No, no chance, not happening, now lets work,
George Foreman’s record is a deception,
I got too much for him, I’ll be too strong
Then maybe, in a year or two, retire
Cos’ I still gotta make sure Clay stays down
You got my back

Yank Durham
We got it Joe

Joe Frazier
Good, Good
Now come on, lets get outta here, you’re right
A poolside aint no place for a fighter
Nor ringside too, but on the canvas he
Belongs – as the Zulu with his Assegai
Dwells natural in his tribal impi –
Knuckledust fists like burnish’d katana
In the hands of a silver samurai
I’ll show George Foreman & the watching world
Joe Frazier is a trueblood champion

Eddie Futch
Yeah-heah – that’s the spirit

Joe Frazier
I got this boys

Exit Frazier, Futch & Durham

---

Scene 30

The Sunshine Showdown / Don King arrives in a limo with Joe Frazier to the sound of Desmond Dekker & the Aces ‘Israelites’ – the crowd is excited as they enter the stadium – out of the car also steps Marvis & his aunt, Mazie

Marvis
This is all amazing Auntie Mazie
I’m so excited at this my first fight
Daddy watching, & in Jamaica too!

Mazie
All this is gonna blow your mind my boy
There is nothing like seeing your daddy
In action, so supremely does he flow

Enter Mavis & Mazie / enter Foreman

Journalist 1
Hey its Foreman

Journalist 2
Good luck George

Journalist 3
You’ll need it

Angelo Dundee
Hey George

George Foreman
Hello

Angelo Dundee
I’m Angelo Dundee
Ali’s trainer

George Foreman
O hi, here for the show

Angelo Dundee
We want to talk to you after you win
{Foreman laughs}
There are rumours rumbling of Africa

George Foreman
I heard them, in Zaire or something, right

Angelo Dundee
Right – I’m here to pin it on the rematch
But I’ve seen your jab, Sonny Liston style,
& well, you’d better get a passport boy!

George Foreman laughs & enters the stadium

Journalist 2
Hey Angelo, why ya backing Foreman
He’s a wide-swinging brute with no technique

Angelo Dundee
With his parries, pivots, blocks pivots & step-aways
He’ll act just like an agile matador
To Frazier’s raging bull, a clash of styles,
Foreman’s an old school fighter who prevents
A punch before it has even begun,
Pinning arms, pushing shoulders, pulling gloves,
I don’t think Frazier’s gonna land a blow

Journalist 3
You’re crazy man

Angelo Dundee
We’ll see, let’s watch that fight

The Journalists & Angelo Dundee enter the stadium

---

Scene 31: THE SUNSHINE SHOWDOWN

Referee: Arthur Mercante

Commentators
Howard Cosell
Don Dunphy

Dunphy
Here we ringside, Kingston, Jamaica
To see who’ll be the next World Champion
Of the global heavyweight division
Here comes the challenger, big George Foreman
This undefeated warrior was born
In Marshall, Texas, nineteen forty-nine
Which makes him twenty-four, in sixty-eight
He won Olympic gold, turn’d pro, sithen,
Guided by Dick Sandler, canny-handed,
He’s won all of his thirty-seven fights
With thirty-four by knock-out, six feet four
With a range of seventy-eight inches
George Foreman’s the man who floor’d Chavala

Cassel
We’re now awaiting the arrival of
Joe Frazier, the defending champion
To a twenty foot ring with a canvas
Like a mattress, very soft, the Frazier
Kind of canvas, that man does not bounce
This slugger coming at ya like a tank
Wait a second – in the background cheers I hear
{Joe Frazier arrives with Don King}
Now here comes Frazier, twenty-nine years old
Coming down the aisle, his strong arms hanging
Onto his manger, Yancy Durham
As always has his habit sent him in
This South Carolinan soul, Buford born
In nineteen forty-four, would win his gold
In sixty-four, by Hayes, Carr, Larrabee,
Under Yancy Durham’s style & wisdom
He’s won every professional fight
Twenty-nine victories straight, twenty-five
By technical or natural knock-out

Dunphy
But four men have ever gone the distance
With Joe, there’s Muhammad Ali, of course
In the never-to-be-forgotten bout
Of March eighth, nineteen seventy one
Oscar Bonnavena has done it twice.

Cassel
Joe is five feet eleven – with a reach
Of seventy-three & a half inches
Who says he’s not too happy with Foreman
Spitting disparages on his focus
& yearns to do away with Foreman swift

Dunphy
& now he’s thro’ the ropes, & in the ring
Powerful, in his colourful attire
Of white gown, trim gold-gleaming & a belt

Cassel
Joe Frazier came in at a surprising
Two hundred & fourteen pounds, that’s eight pounds
More than on the night he fought Muhammad Ali, who is also here at ringside
Watching on – we’ll survey his opinion
Upon the fight some moment opportune

Dunphy
The referee is Arthuyr Mercente
Who refereed the Ali-Frazier fight
A man who is gen’rally consider’d
The best boxing referee in the States

Cassel
They are trying to psyche each other out
& look, there is no fear in either man
Especially George Foreman knows no fear
He’s grown enormously in confidence
Of presence & speech, as well as boxing

Dunphy
Arthur Mercante makes his announcement

Mercante
This Heavyweight Championship contest
To decide the world title is govern’d
By the rules of the Jamaican boxing
Federation scoring rules – a clean fight
With legal punches up above the waste
Conform the ten point must scoring system
There will be a mandatory eight count
Even after three knockdowns in the round
The fight goes on, no saving by the bell,
Go wait for the bell & come out boxing

Dunphy
When phantom fortune proffers tangible
In title fights before a titan crowd
I hope excitement strikes thee as it me
We are all close to the start of round one
Come any second now & we may have
An interesting evening
{BELL}
Here we go

Cossel
Frazier’s status as the fight favorite
Is understandable, but Foreman flies
Out punching with a right, Frazier responds
With usual style, smoking he puts it
His job’s to get inside, his best weapon
The left hook, to which Foreman’s vuln’rable

Dunphy
Frazier’s in the white trunks, Foreman’s in red
George Foreman looks a little pensive, tense
But lands a left jab, pushes Frazier back

Cossel
Frazier is not landing any punches
Tho’ he is the aggressor

Dunphy
But Frazier
Rarely wins the first, I would be surpris’d
If he won one now

Cossel
Foreman has been struck
Struck good by Frazier’s left hook’s beastly best

Dunphy
Yes, Foreman looks a little looser now

Cossel
Now there’s another heavy left by George
Who’s getting punches into Frazier’s head,

Dunphy
We will find out tonight how much Ali
Extracted from Frazier, if anything

Cossel
& lets discover just how good is George
In punching & in taking of a punch

Dunphy
Foreman, there, with a good, smart, snappy jab

Cossel
He hurt Joe Frazier, Joe Frazier is hurt!

Dunphy
Foreman is having a very good round

Angelo Dundee
{ringside]
Frazier’s hurt, Joe Frazier’s hurt, oh my!

Cossel
Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!

Dunphy
The mandatory eight-count is taken
By the heavyweight champion, while pois’d
As can be, Foreman is pois’d as can be
Upon the neutral corner ropes, relax’d,

Marvis
{ringside}
Daddy, stop playing daddy, stop playing!
Why’s my daddy playing, get him daddy!

Dunphy
There’s a full minute to go in the round
& already this fight is proving out
What some expected

Cossel
Tis spectacular
Frazier’s in real trouble here – ooh, that left
Is getting in

Dunphy
Frazier seems to be hurt,
He’s being rock’d

Cossel
Frazier’s been dull’d & dazed
Getting hit over & over again
Same temple hit so often by Ali

Dunphy
Foreman’s winning the fighting completely

Cossel
Foreman steadily goes about his job
Determin’d, like a sheepdog on the holme

Dunphy
Tho’ Frazier fights back gamely, trouble’s spear
Seems but a step & a second away

Cossel
George Foreman is all over Joe Frazier

Dunphy
There’s only twenty seconds in the round

Cossel
George Foreman fires off right fist at Joe’s jaw

Dunphy
Frazier is down again

Cossel
Frazier is down
& he… maybe… no, he’s rising, he’s game!
He is dazed, he doesn’t know where he is

Dunphy
The mandatory eight count, Joe looks lost
& wobbling like the scarecrow in a storm

Cossel
The round’s about to end

Dunphy
Frazier looks beat
He’s never taken punishment like this
{BELL}
Frazier goes down again at sound of bell

Cossel
But look, he’s up & the bout continues

Dunphy
Three knockdowns in the first round by Foreman
Muhammad Ali, watcha make of that

Ali
George punches like a reckless amateur
& telegraphs each thrust as semaphore
With sweeping, sluggish movements of his arms
His left jab’s fine, but fails to follow up
All Frazier needs to do is keep away
But making mistakes is his insistance
Straight from knockdown he’s lunging at his foe
A times for pride, a time for common sense
He’s thinking as he is the champion
He’s gotta get his man, but runs instead
Into George Foreman’s mandament display
If he’d just step away from the slugfest
He could win the fight, George looks very tired
After one round only, his punches wild
But Frazier’s tenaciousness, lack of fear,
Intimates Foreman’s intimidation’
Remember when Joe fought Bonavena
Was two-times knock’d down in the second round,
But got back up, with non-stop punches won –
This fight could be Joe’s yet…

Bell

Dunphy
There goes the bell

ROUND TWO

Cassel
The Challenger’s scarily dominant
Joe’s hooks that even land have hardly phas’d
This cool marauder Foreman, all’s in awe

Dunphy
Joe’s coming out, wants come back hurrified

Cassel
You’ll find no man gamer than Joe Frazier

Dunphy
Foreman batters Frazier in his corner

Cassel
Oh – he is all over Frazier again
Frazier’s knees buckle

Dunphy
Joe goes down again

Cassel
He is down for the fourth time in the fight

Dunphy
Just forty-five seconds, now four-times down

Cassel
A quick left, & another, Foreman sent
A short & vicious compact to the chin

Marvis
Auntie Mazie, my Daddy aint playing

Mazie
No son, he’s human like the rest of us

Marvin
But, he’s the champion of all the world!

Dunphy
There goes Joe down again
Fallen for the fifth time in this fist-fight

Foreman
{to Frazier’s corner}
Yank, stop it or I’m going to kill him

Crowd yelling & shrieking Stop it! Stop it! Stop the fight! / Frazier gets back on his feet / Foreman resumes the attack

Cassel
It is target practice for George Foreman
But Frazier is ready to go again

Dunphy
Joe’s down again, a jamboree of jolts
Let us see if the referee stops it

Cassel
Three times down, the fight is stopped, no its not

Angelo Dundee
Stop the fight, stop it, someone stop the fight

Dunphy
Mercante has taken hold of Foreman
Tries to lead him to a neutral corner
While Frazier barely recognizes breath

Cassel
Angie Dundee is screaming out ‘stop it!’
It is over, it is over, the fight
Is over only in the second round!

Cassel
George Foreman wins it in the second round

Dunphy
I’m going up into the ring to talk
To Frazier, the loser, & Foreman
The winner because Joe Frazier has been
A great champion, thoroughly deserves Consideration

Cassle
Nancy Durham is hugging George Foreman
They’re going crazy about him up there

The ring becomes rapidly inundated by a swarm of men – two fist-fights spontaneously erupt / Don Dunphy with Dick Sandler & Don King get in the ring & head for Foreman who is just having a word with JF in his corner

Dunphy
This ring’s a madhouse, a stunning upset
A burst of brawling bedlam gone abroad
We have a new heavyweight champion
I cannot wait to interview this man
& hope to hold on to my microphone
I am trying to get to George Foreman
Out of my way, good fellows, if you please

King & Dunphy come together & get to Foreman – King graps his shoulder, Don his arm

Dunphy
George, George, do you have anything to say

Foreman
Joe Louis, I have more respect for him
Than all the world’s fellowship, next to him
Mister Archie Moore

King
My man, I got it

Foreman
What round is it?

Dunphy
You forgot when you won

Frazier
I thought it was the fourth

Dunphy
No, the second
D’ya know how many times you knock’d down Joe

Foreman
I can’t remember

Dunphy
George, I got to know
Your future plans, will you fight Joe again
Or will it now be Muhammad Ali

Foreman
My plans, right now, were to win the title
I’d like to tell the kids if work thee hard
& pray, then you can do just anything
I would like to spend my whole life preaching
My next fight is to work with juveniles
That’s my ring, the world is my true ring

Don King escorts Foreman out of the ring / Bryant Gumble & a cameraman find Ali

Bryant
Muhammad Ali, did you expect that

MA
No I did not, Foreman’s upset my plans
I’ll have to beat them both now for to prove
I’m true champ born, the greatest of all time

Bryant
So what do you think of Foreman right now?

MA
He hit Joe like all of his opponents
I will admit he’s hard, but if a man
Can stay out of his way for just five rounds
In good shape – stick him, move, stay out of range,
He’ll retire George Foreman, this man depends
On getting his man in the first two rounds
If he don’t do that he gets frustrated
If you stick him with left jabs, right crosses,
Tie him up in boxing, he will retire
& I know I’m gonna whup George Foreman
& I’m gonna whup him in Africa
In the Congo, where boys Lumbaba are

Bryant
Now then, Ali, answer me this question
How could that man go fifteen rounds with you
& only two with Foreman

MA
That’s easy
‘Cause George Foreman’s not as good a fighter
Scientifically as I am, right,
But I admit he’s stronger, hits harder
I’m not a hard puncher, people know that
But boxing ability will give me
Victory, with ease, whupping him on points
Over the distance if necessary

Bryant
So a fight in your home territory,
You couldn’t now be any happier
With what is coming up this September

MA
Why would you call Africa my hometurf

Bryant
You have been telling me that for ten years

MA
That’s right & if you lot come over there
Talking all like that we’re gonna cook you

Ali slams down the microphone mike & storms off

Bryant
Well there you have it folks, it’s all over
The Sunshine Showdown sets into the stars
& leaves a trace of glory in the night
That when pierc’d next by Dawn’s roseate dart
On Stanley’s peak her golden tint shall fall
That’s all from NBC, great fight, good night

Don King enters the ring, goes to George Foreman & acclaims him

Don King
George, I told you so, I told you so, George
{Cossel arrives trying to interview Foreman}
I got him, he’s my man

Cossell
Can we, can we

Don King
I came with the champion, & I’ll leave
With the champion, all of this adroit
Manoeuvring on my behalf, & now
We’ll all be flying out to Africa

---

Scene 32

The Foreman dressing room / Just after the Sunshine Showdown, George Foreman, his trainer, Dick Sadler, & Archie Moore

Archie Moore
My God, you are a monster in the ring
Frazier’s invincible aura shatters
Mighty the swings of your cannonball fists
Mixing an assassean attitude
With thunderous powerstrikes zeusean

Dick Sadler
Well, I aint seen its like since Fifty Nine
Johannsson floor’d Floyd Patterson five times

Archie Moore
It was seven

Dick Sadler
Whatever, what a rout
As out of the Eniwetok Atoll
This new age lurched with a TNT snarl
Blast brighter than ten suns, a two mile flame,
So, too, has boxing’s future just been born

George Foreman
Was that a dream? it feels no dream, my skin
Tingles with a sensation symphony
No sleep administers adrenaline
As that which now administers my world
& I, the bonnie champion of it,
From hoodlum youth to gladiator freed
From economic grinditude, applied
The best of prowess – train’d, innate, made good
Among the pantheons of tribe & time,
The undisputed, the undefeated,
Now the youngest ever champion to claim
The title as his own, my life is bless’d

Archie Moore
Not bless’d as such, success from hard work springs
& a real man attends to his own fortune

Sadler
Arguably a brutal dethroning
Nevertheless, an easy victory
You boss’d the man just as the Hohokam
Master’d desert, or, at the Leyte Gulf
The naval might of Nippon shatter’d bare
Unleashing devastations as brutal
As when Sherman struck Shenandoah’s vale
Ravag’d end to end, or when grasshoppers
Eat everything green between the Rockies
& Missouri

George Foreman
Long in paindays building
I guess that I just wanted it much more
Full forty months of sacrifice & sweat
While he lapp’d up the good life & money
A famous life of music & parties
But lost his appetite for the fighting
& drown’d his hunger in the Roman baths
Sate by fat senators while long I train’d,
Sparring with Carthaginians enslaved
Duelling Numibians for the thumb
Undistracted by liberal excess
& could not lose, only poor man being

Dick Sadler
Each devastating knock-down different
Fetch’d weapons from your ruthless armoury
Pulverizing hooks, uppercut rockets
& that last right half hook-half uppercut
That lifted Frazier clean up off his feet.

George Foreman
But he still got up again, didn’t he
I have never seen anything like it
I’ve seen him fight & as we fought I thought
Boy, you mess’d up now, you’ve knock’d Joe down
He’ll be angry, I’d better be careful
He’s gonna getcha, so I jump’d on him
& knock’d him down again, each time I did
I kept on thinkin’, boy, you’ve made him mad
This fight was all about keeping him down
I was thinking if I don’t hurry up
& end this thing then he’s gonna end me
But come that marvel moment, Mercente
Stopping the fight & all, I felt fulfill’d
Into my soul floated all the others
A gallery of angels inrushing
I saw Joe Louis, John O’Sullivan
& Rocky Marciano smiling on

Archie Moore
They’re not alone, whereby tomorrow morn
The world should ponder who this wonder is
The man who beat the man who beat Ali

George Foreman
That’s Me

{Knock on door}

Dick Sadler
It could be press

George Foreman
Yeah, I’m ready

Enter Joe Frazier

Joe Frazier
George, I just wanna say how fine you fought
Too good for me, I still don’t understand
Just how you did it, brother, but you did

George Foreman
Thanks man, it musta been my lucky day
I’ve more respect for you as a fighter
Than any man I know

Joe Frazier
If that is so
You could have lump’d on me less punishment
A bruising wall & you were cruising too

George Foreman
I wouldn’t go as far as saying that
I fear’d your punches whizzing pass’d my head
Like bullets from an unforgiving gun
If one of them had hit me, well, you know

Joe Frazier
I might be a sniper at a slugfest
But if my gun aint loaded, that’s the shunt
Your Houston Tornado tore my town down
I felt set on some underwater drift
With dull depth charges dropping on my head,
Or with a change of stance & shift of weight
You lifted me straight off the floor, both feet
But by the by, let me leave you to it,
For you’re the champ now, congratulations
I’ve had my victories, & they were sweet
Enjoy yours now, you deserve it brother

George Foreman
Thanks

Joe Frazier
No problem, see you at the rematch!

Frazier & Foreman share a laugh
Joe Frazier
But right now I got Sinatra’s trombone
In I’ve got you under my skin in my head
I need to be lazy with a hammock
A cool pool, pepsis & buckets of ice

George Foreman
I hear you brother

Joe Frazier
Take it easy, man

Exit Frazier

George Foreman
Angel-hearted, but boxing Samael
Who took a buzzsaw to an era’s swathe
& tore a host of glories

Knock on the door

Archie Moore
I’ll get it

Enter the Spirit of America

Spirit Of America
Impress’d by such pulverizing impact
The press are waiting for Big George Foreman
There’s cameras, reporters, radio
From various places, races, nations
Is he ready?

George Foreman
I’m ready, yes, lets go
But somebody order me fried chicken

Archie Moore
No sweat, brother

George Foreman
& grill’d cheese sandwiches
Such as were disavow’d by my training

Exit all but the Spirit – if possible, during the song, show Foreman leaving with Don King in the same limo that King arrived in with Frazier

Spirit Of America
You gotta love those cool gladiators
Like avatars of Vishnu from the void
This age’s lives rise as fortunate ones
When status inclinations of the day
Are all for voyeurism of elites
A golden era when best fought the best,
Doses of ultraviolence assur’d
With weapons devastating, never seen,
Especially those fists of George Foreman
So perfectly invincible evolv’d,
Frazier had taken him far too lightly
He’d never thought him special – big, strong, young,
Ambitious – yes – but very beatable
Alas, such is the cocky juice of fools
Who feel the flaming pinions of fame
Might only shine for them – no, Joe was wrong
As planets move in orbit round the sun
Our faces move & alter in the light
Like human moods they change, like fickle fate
Like woman’s love, like everything alive,
Our fame is but ephemeral, tho’ some
Might linger in the magic of the skies.

---

Scene 33

New York / TV studio / The Dick Cavett Show / on the guest couch is Jack Benny / Bill Cosby is playing saxophone along to Slinky Disco

Bill Cosby
…well, the guy starts blowing the saxophone,
Y’know, brr-brr-brr-bah-bah-brr-brr-bah
Then all of a sudden all the people
Sat before me, y’know, so cool, so still
They’re watching this guy clambour onto stage
The next thing you know he’s banging cymbals
Like ding-a-ding-ding, lots of ring-a-dings
& its Max Roache, y’know, hes rescued me
Well, he was just sat there doing his thing
So I made beeline to the wurlitzer
& said, ‘hey guys I want my money back!’

Cosby joins Benny on the couch

Jack Benny
I didn’t understand a word he said
But I still loved it

Bill Cosby
Ask Dick what I said

Dick Cavett
I will tell you right after the show, Jack
Trust me, it was funny

Jack Benny
It felt funny

Dick Cavett
So moving on t’where everybody knows
One of the most profoundly upsetting
Boxing events distinguish’d by giants
Was just play’d out in Kingston Jamaica
When, just one minute & fifty seconds
Inside the second round, the champion
Joe Frazier lost his title, being fell’d
Four or five times by the young contender
George Foreman, well… tonight we’re gonna try
& figure out just how, for Joe Frazier
The bout went south – ladies & gentlemen
Joe Frazier

Enter Joe Frazier

Joe Frazier
First thing first I’d like to say
I wrote down something before I came on
{reading}
I will not lose another fight this year

Dick Cavett
How ya not gonna lose anymore fights

Joe Frazier
That’s easy, I aint gonna fight again
Not this year, anyway, I still feel blue
About losing my title, but I lost
Fair & square, I got whupp’d, but my momma
Whupp’d me too

Dick Cavett
What do you put it down to
How does a champion lose his title

Joe Frazier
Over & over I’ve studied the fight
To isolate its worst mistakes, y’know,
So, for now, its back to the drawing board
There start from scratch, get myself together
& next time in the ring more careful be

Jack Benny
Can I just say one small thing

Joe Frazier
Sure you can

Jack Benny
You’re among the nicest fellas I’ve met
{applause}
Your attitude encapsulates honour

Joe Frazier
My terms are fair, I caught some wicked shots,
But vigourwith I should have dodg’d them all,
I been around far longer than young George
I know the fighting game & understand
Such debacle should never have occur’d

Dick Cavett
Tell me, during the fight, was there a time,
Of your locality you’d lost all sense ,
Of where you were, Joe, did you lose your track
Of your locality

Joe Frazier
That first dull blow
From Foreman short-circuited my life-force,
I said, hey, what, but an instant’s flashing
& I took another of those punches
With no time to convince myself I’m fine
& take a breath of peaceful steadying
Instead I stood, hotheaded & angry,
Me, Joe Frazier, champion of the world,
It’s like, I couldn’t believe it happen’d
& so it could never have happen’d, right?

Dick Cavett
Right, but it was happening, how did you feel,
Was your mind alive?

Joe Frazier
Tis not a dream you feel
But a titan shock, some gadfly surprise
Back in sixty-six or sixty-seven
Oscar Bannavenna left me flatten’d
On canvas floor, then nothing until George
Unflatteringly clatter’d me once more
I said to myself, what happen’d here Joe,
Y’know, this can’t be real, so up I got
Instead of using the old pro routine
& take precaution when a danger looms
& move around until my wits flew home
But groov’d on thro’ the fight just as before
So doing thus was lord of my mistakes
Cos the man hadn’t tasted my punches
But I’d just had a taste of his, ya dig,

Jack Benny
Might I ask one question

Joe Frazier
Sure

Jack Benny
In a fight
When being hit, do you feel pain at once
Or does it later hurt you

Joe Frazier
Well then Jack,
Tis something unexplainable & queer,
Not the lively pain of bullets & knives
No charge of Apis, when nerves raise legions,
But more a drifting to a higher state
Like taking, Jack, those pills you took backstage

Dick Cavett
There’s no dude in your brain sayong oh-oh

Joe Frazier
If you’re thinking your timings together
Like when you are doing a show, y’know,
Before an ambrosial audience
Even after I was fell’d the fourth time
I was happy in mine elementals
& readied myself for more performance
A little off-key, perhaps, but steady

Dick Cavett
How does your love of fighting fare, still keen?

Joe Frazier
Sure am, & shall be going back to work
To win my title back a wiser man

Dick Cavett
Are you aware, Joe, that the outside world
Is full of peoples’ deep ruminations
Upon your lack of realization
Such was the beating by Ali bestow’d
& came to Foreman fighting in fractions

Joe Frazier
Well, I cannot give any man credit
For anything another man has done
Twas Foreman who defeated me, not Clay
He’s a big, strong fella, I’m not sure yet
How good a fighter he’ll make, but one thing
I do know is… he packs a ten-ton punch

Bill Cosby
I’d rather bomb with a joke any day
Than be hit on the head by George Foreman

Jack Benny
Did you ever hear from Ali, after
Your epic adventure in life & ring

Joe Frazier
I never heard from Clay, no, not at all

Dick Cavett
It would be nice if Ali deliver’d
A small, little note saying I’m sorry
Apologizing for unpleasantness

Joe Frazier
A note could come, but never face-to-face
For we don’t be getting along so well
But as it stands if each of us desires
Once more to don the crown, we’ll have to duel

Dick Cavett
Thanks Joe… & please take up your microphone
& see this super show out in best style
{Joe moves to stage}
Let us say a big thank-you to our guests
Bill Crosby, Jack Benny & Joe Frazier
Great to see you guys… take it way Joe

Frazier sings My Way