Thrilla in Manila

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Thrilla in Manila was a famous boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, fought at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City of the Philippines on October 1, 1975.

1 Pre-fight
2 The Thrilla
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Pre-fight

Pre-fight poster

Produced by Don King and broadcast to many countries worldwide with HBO's antenna, The Thrilla in Manila had a tremendous media following.

Some boxing fans call it the greatest fight ever. Ali and Frazier seemed honestly to dislike each other outside the ring as well as inside, and they had already split two fights between them, with Frazier retaining his World Heavyweight crown on their first meeting, at Madison Square Garden in 1971, but Ali taking a 12 round decision over Frazier in 1974.

The city of Cairo had apparently been considered as a possible host to the fight: The August 1975 issue of Ring Magazine had a fictitious fight-poster of Ali-Frazier III on its cover, which listed Nasser Stadium in Cairo as the place the fight was taking place.

Ali spent his time in Manila taunting Frazier at every opportunity, even taunting him with his poem, "It's gonna be a chilla, and a killa, and a thrilla, when I get the Gorilla in Manila." So, when they got into the ring Frazier was, as he was in the first bout, an angry warrior. Ali, however, did not train as hard as he usually did for fights. This was because Ali considered Frazier to be through and washed up.

[edit] The Thrilla

At 10:45 A.M, the bell for Round 1 rang. Ali had previously told his trainers that he was about to "put a whoopin'" on Joe Frazier. He came out and walked flat footed to the center of the ring, where Frazier met him. Ali then proceeded to unleash a flurry of combinations to Frazier, who would continue to be hurt under Ali's onslaught in the first few rounds. In the sixth round, however, Frazier came back and threw multiple hooks to Ali's head, which staggered him in turn. At the beginning of the seventh round, Ali reputedly came out and whispered in Frazier's ear, "Why old Joe Frazier, they told me you were washed up." To which Joe Frazier replied, "They told you all wrong, pretty boy."

It was here that Frazier started to dominate the fight. Ali even tried to use the rope-a-dope technique, but it appeared to have little effect on the Frazier's relentless assault and power. Finally, in the tenth round, Ali again turned the tide. He unloaded a rapid firing flurry of fast combinations on Frazier, which severely disfigured his face by the end of the round - his eyes swelling to the point where nothing but a tiny slit appeared. In Round 13, Ali landed another blistering combination on Frazier, this time which sent the already injured fighter's mouthguard flying into the crowd. Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, wanted to stop the fight at this point. Frazier, however, refused, asking his coach to give him one more round. In round 14, Frazier was almost blind as he stepped in, and was met once more with punishing blows from Ali.

After 14 brutal rounds, and seeing the condition of Frazier's eyes and his inability to properly see, Eddie Futch had to do something. He told Frazier he was going to stop the fight as they spoke in the corner. "I want him boss", Frazier shouted, to which Futch replied, "It's all over. No one will forget what you did here today."

Ali was therefore declared the victor and shortly after, fainted on the canvas. He claimed that this was the closest to dying he has ever been. After this, Ali finally showed his respect to Joe Frazier, and with that, the trilogy of Ali-Frazier ended.

See also: Fight of the Century, Ali-Frazier II.

[edit] Trivia

The Philippines' first multi-level commercial shopping mall was named after Muhammad Ali as a tribute to his victory. [1] The mall is named "Ali Mall" and is located in Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City right beside the Araneta Coliseum which the "Thrilla in Manila" took place.
Despite the name, the bout was not held in the City of Manila, but in adjacent Quezon City. Both cities, however, are within the district of Metro Manila.
President Ferdinand E. Marcos along with First Lady Imelda Marcos were on hand to watch the event. President Marcos sponsored the fight's purse [2].
The Philippines was under "Martial Law", being declared by then Pres. Ferdinand Marcos, when the fight occurred.