Three Heavyweight Champs Were Ringside for the Thrilla Event
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 07 Oct 2025
Larry Holmes (L) sparring with Muhammad Ali (R).
From day one, public focus on the epic boxing match which went down in history as Thrilla in Manila had exclusively been on then reigning and defending world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali and former champion Joe Frazier.
This became more so when the two main protagonists arrived in Manila for final preparations and for prearranged media events which became tumultuous not only because Ali and Frazier displayed their genuine dislike of one another but due to the discovery that Muhammad brought with him the wrong Mrs. Ali after the real missus showed up smokin' ala Joe.
Lost amid the hullabaloo was the presence of another boxer who three years later would inherit the world heavyweight championship after Ali retired from boxing and two years later stopped a returning Ali to formalize his full ascension to the throne.
Yes, there was a third heavyweight champion present in Manila, the champion in waiting, Larry Holmes, then merely known as Muhammad Ali's favorite sparring partner.
Holmes was here not just to spar with Ali but to fight in the undercards against a certain Rodney Bobbick. However they were not the main supporting bout. That honor went to Rolando Navarette and Fernando Cabanela who were to battle over 12 rounds for the Philippine bantamweight title. Holmes somehow made an impression by knocking out Bobbick in the very first round.
Larry Holmes (R) in action against Ken Norton.
In Ali's first boxing appearance in Southeast Asia in Kuala Lumpur months earlier, Holmes also served as sparring mate to Ali in his main event bout versus UK's Joe Bugner in yet another defense of the heavyweight championship he regained by conquering the once mighty and undefeated George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire.
Amazingly, after regaining the crown from Foreman in October 1974, Ali was able to insert three more bouts, all successful title defenses before coming over to Manila for yet another title defense and all important rubber match against Frazier! Ali stopped Chuck Wepner in March 1975, Ron Lyle in May 1975, decisioned Bugner in June 1975 and barely three months later, he was about to face a life or death situation against archnemesis Joe Frazier. Talk about running a busy schedule.
Being with Ali could have rubbed on Holmes such work ethic.
Since winning the WBC heavyweight championship in an epic down the wire slugfest against another of Ali's great rival Ken Norton in June 1978, Holmes also became known as most active champion like Ali. Prior to Norton, Holmes defeated the tough and dangerous Ernie Shavers barely two months before.
Holmes was able to defend the heavyweight championship then a modern record 20 times, 16 with the WBC against many of his day's most talented and toughest heavyweights. At one point, he was about to equal Rocky Marciano's immaculate 49-0 record. But then Michael Spinks came along and the rest is history.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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