On October 1, 1975, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier would settle their boxing rivalry once and for all in a bout titled 'The Thrilla in Manilla'.
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This might be nostalgia speaking to some degree, but they don’t make rivalries like this anymore. The fierce rivalry between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier is seen by many as one that defined boxing in that era. At the time of their first clash, both were undefeated. But by the time of their third clash, both had not only secured wins over each other but their rivalry had reached boiling point. As such, it is little surprise that the match is remembered as one of the most brutal in boxing history. The ‘Thrilla in Manila’ as it was dubbed back then, is thus seen as a historic bout.
With 26 years having passed to the day, let us look back at this infamous boxing match.
Ali and Frazier were 1-1 in two bouts prior to this match. Ahead of their first match, both were undefeated but Frazier was the champion. The reason? Ali had been stripped off his titles for refusing to be drafted for the Vietnam War.
That fight – dubbed ‘The Fight of the Century’ saw Ali get handed his first pro loss by Frazier. The second bout saw Ali employ controversial tactics to wear down Frazier.
To make matters worse, the referee was unable to keep a hold of the bout properly. Thus, the final fight approached and it was set to be a decider.
The fight was dubbed the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ due to a boasting rhyme from Ali on his impending win. He said the fight would be “a killa and a thrilla and a chilla, when I get that gorilla in Manila.”
Thus, the fight was set for the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines. The reason it was held there was because then-president Ferdinand Marcos wanted to bring attention to the Philippines from around the world.
Ali’s strategy going into the match was simple: use the early rounds to his advantage. Frazier was a notoriously slow starter in bouts, and Ali was someone who anticipated and used weaknesses to his advantage.
Sure enough, the first two rounds when overwhelmingly in Ali’s favour. He peppered Frazier with punches, landing some sharp right jabs after throwing a left. To add insult to injury, Ali was taunting Frazier at the time too.
Anyhow, the match turned when Ali decided to use his ‘rope-a-dope’ technique in Round 3. This involved him resting against the ropes, ducking punches and then counter-attacking when his opponent tired.
Yet this worked well for Frazier, mainly because his lack of reach was something Ali was using as an advantage. However, with him fixed on the ropes, Frazier could go close and land punches aplenty.
Having gained the upper hand over Ali, Frazier made sure to keep it. Round 4, 5 and 6 saw him land many a nasty blow on his foe, who, despite absorbing some major punishment, did not seem ready to go down.
Yet Ali could not make a comeback, mainly because he kept faith in the rope-a-dope – the same tactic that gave Joe the advantage. Eventuallty, Ali would take his trainer’s subtle advice to “get off the damn ropes” to heart.
That did help to a degree, but by the end of Round 9 Ali told his corner that he felt close to dying. He didn’t know it at the time, but his sustained counter-punching after getting away from the ropes had paid dividends.
Frazier’s face had swollen up from absorbing blows to the head and his vision was impeded as a result. At the end of the 11th round, he had taken so many right hands from Frazier that his trainer Eddie Futch asked him what happened.
Frazier said he couldn’t see properly, and Futch gave him some ill advice – he said to stand straight instead of ducking and weaving. This actually helped Ali, who landed more punches when Frazier stood still in Round 12. This further compromised his vision.
Thus it came as little surprise when in Round 13, Ali clocked Frazier so hard that his gum shield went flying out of his mouth. In the 14th round, he ramped it up even further, hitting a number of punches that would have knocked out lesser boxers.
Futch, seeing what happened in that round, called for the bout to be stopped between rounds. Frazier protested but to no avail. Ali had won the match on TKO.
The match was also seen round the world by many. A global television audience of 1 billion people saw the bout, with around 100 million viewers in the US watching on CCTV. The pay-per-view buy rate was over 500,000 buys.
