THRILLA IN MANILA 37 YEARS AGO TODAY: SIDELIGHTS OF ALI-FRAZIER III
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 01 Oct 2012
Muhammad Ali?s third fight with Joe Frazier was the final chapter in one of the most spectacular trilogy in world boxing history. The great heavyweights starred in the epic ?Thrilla in Manila? which is considered as one of the fiercest and harshest boxing bouts ever fought. It was the only bout of their three fights, lasting a total of 132 minutes, which did not last for the scheduled 15 rounds.
Ali was guaranteed a purse of six million dollars and Frazier received only a half of it. The prize was more than what Ali got in his last two fights with Frazier combined.
President Ferdinand Marcos used his influence that time to host the bout at the Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City to divert the attention of the social unrest brought by the declaration of martial law three years earlier.
Ali tried to promote the fight by doing a lot of antics against Frazier by punching a toy rubber gorilla meant to characterize Smokin? Joe and said, "It's gonna be a thrilla, and a chilla, and a killa, when I get the Gorilla in Manila."
Frazier responded with confrontational assertion, ?I want to hurt him. I don't want to knock him out. I want to take his heart out."
Frazier trained with a lot of determination while Ali practiced sparingly and had a lot of distractions like bringing his girlfriend with him. His wife followed him in Manila causing a lot of trouble in the Ali camp.
The fight was held on October 1, 1975 at 10:45 A.M. to suit the time for United States television viewers. It was witnessed by more than 25,000 spectators causing so much heat at the full-packed Big Dome.
The bout was a three in one fight: The first fight, Ali outscored Frazier, hitting him with stinging shots, from the first to the fourth round. The second fight, from the fifth to the 11th, Frazier reversed the fight by hammering Ali all over his head and torso. The third fight, from the 12th to the 14th round, Ali destroyed Frazier, with his eyes almost completely shut, forcing his corner to stop the fight.
Many Frazier fans thought that had coach Eddie Futch let him continue fighting in the 15th round, he could have won by TKO, because Ali instructed Angelo Dundee to cut off his gloves. When it was announced that Frazier's corner threw in the towel Ali collapsed on the canvas while Frazier remained on his seat.
"Of all the men I fought, Sonny Liston was the scariest, George Foreman was the most powerful, Floyd Patterson was the most skilled as a boxer," Ali once said. "But the roughest and toughest was Joe Frazier. He brought out the best in me, and the best fight we fought was in Manila."
"Man, I hit him with punches that'd bring down the walls of a city," Frazier said. ?Lawdy, lawdy, he's a great champion." Ali said, "It was like death. Closest thing to dying that I know of."
In 1999, ESPN's Sports Century ranked the fight as the fifth greatest sporting event of the 20th century, and it happened in the Philippines.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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