<P> Futch and his assistant, George Benton, believed that the key to winning the fight would be for Frazier to persistently attack Ali's body, including punches to the hips when Ali effectively covered up his torso along the ropes . Benton said, "My expression to Joe was what you've got to do is stay on top of him, and hit the son of a bitch anywhere, hit him on the hips, hit him on the legs . You hit him anywhere!" </P> <P> Frazier's strategy followed the boxing axiom "if you kill the body, the head will die ." As he described it, "Once I've stopped your organs--when those kidneys and liver stop functioning, he can't move so fast...The organs in his body have to be functioning . If you slow them down, he cannot do what he wants to do ." </P> <P> The Ali camp used the championship as leverage in negotiations, and won out on two key points . The ring size of 21 feet (6.4 m) square allowed him the ability to move and circle the ring if he so chose, which would enable him to use his superior boxing skills to his advantage . He also got his preference for 8 - ounce (230 g) gloves, which were smaller and less padded than those used in most heavyweight bouts . According to Ali's ring doctor, Ferdie Pacheco, Ali planned to take advantage of Frazier's reputation as a slow starter, and use his superior reach and hand speed to attack Frazier exclusively with punches to the head in the early rounds in the hopes of scoring a knockout, or at least doing enough damage to Frazier to prevent him from fighting effectively as the bout wore on . </P> <P> The fight took place at 10 a.m. local time, in order to accommodate an international viewing audience . Though it served the business interests of the fight, it was detrimental to the fighters . Ali's ring physician, Ferdie Pacheco, said "At 10am the stickiness of the night was still there, but cooked by the sun . So what you got is boiling water for atmosphere ." Denise Menz, who was part of Frazier's contingent, said of the conditions inside the aluminum - roofed Philippine Coliseum: "It was so intensely hot, I've never before felt heat like that in my life . Not a breath of air--nothing . And that was sitting there . Can you imagine being in the ring? I don't know how they did it ." Frazier estimated the ring temperature at more than 120 ° F (49 ° C), taking into account the effect of additional lights used for purposes of televising the fight . Ali said that he lost 5 pounds (2.3 kg) during the fight due to dehydration . </P>

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