The Thrilla in Manila was the third  and final boxing match between heavyweight titans Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Saving the best for last, the bout is considered one of the best, and most brutal, fights in the history of the sport. 

The first fight in 1971 , The Fight of the Century, between   Ali and Frazier was an epic  clash of undefeated champions won by Frazier by way of unanimous decision. The second fight, Super Fight II, in 1974 was a comparatively lackluster bout between two ‘washed-up’ former champions both coming off loses that Ali won by unanimous decision. Frazier followed the loss with a couple of wins in ‘74 and early ‘75 to reestablish himself as the top heavyweight contender. Ali had regained the undisputed heavyweight title after defeating George Foreman in the classic Rumble in the Jungle in ‘74. There were talks of a rematch between Foreman and Muhammad Ali, but Ali silenced them with four simple words “I want Joe Frazier”.  

After witnessing the attention on the world stage  that Zaire received from the Rumble in the Jungle, Philippine dictator Ferdinand  Marcos  jumped at the chance to host the fight in his country. Marcos and the fight promoters negotiated for the match to be fought at Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City part of metropolitan Manila on October 1 1975. In the hype leading up to the fight, Ali, as was his style, began constantly verbally taunting Joe Frazier. He nicknamed Frazier ‘The Gorilla’ and summed up  the upcoming fight  with the rhyme “It will be a Killa and a Thrilla and a Chilla when I get that Gorilla in Manila”; a quote that would give the match its nomenclature. Ali began physically training for the fight in Manila in full view of the spotlight, all the while still taunting Frazier whenever he had the chance, trying to get the Filipino fans on his side as he had done with the Congolese in the Rumble in the Jungle. Joe Frazier’s camp on the other hand decided that the city was a poor environment to train in and held his training in the relatively quiet mountainous outskirts of Manila. Unlike the previous two fights, Frazier kept mostly to himself and his trainers all while barely acknowledging the constant bantering of Ali. 

Finally on October 1 1975 the Thrilla in Manila would take place.  At the Tale-of-the-Tape: Fighting out of the Blue Corner wearing blue trunks with white stripes fighting out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  USA with a record of 32-2 (27 KOs) and weighing in at 215 and 1/2 lbs. with a height of 5’ 11 and 1/2” stood 31 years and 8 month old challenger “Smokin’” Joe Frazier! In the Red Corner wearing white trunks with black stripes from Louisville, Kentucky USA with a record of 48-2 (34 KOs) weighing in at 224 and 1/2 lbs at 6’ 3” entered 33 years and 8 months old undisputed heavyweight  champion “The Greatest” Muhammad Ali! Both fighters fought in the orthodox style. In order to accommodate an international audience(re: Eastern United States) the fight was scheduled for 10:00 am local Manila time. The outside temperature was sweltering, and the temperature inside the Araneta Coliseum was even hotter. It was estimated to be up to 120 °F (49 °C) in the boxing ring. Muhammad Ali’s fight physician said “at 10:00 am the stickiness of the night was still there, but cooked by the sun. So what you got is boiling water for atmosphere” One of Joe Frazier’s corner mentioned later on “ 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?” When the fighters and corners met in the center of the ring for the referee’s instructions , Ali started taunting Frazier “ You don’t have it, Joe, I’m gonna put you away!” Frazier smiled him off and simply said “We’ll see”

Muhammad Ali came out fast and hard in the opening rounds against the notoriously slow-starting Joe Frazier. Frazier tried in vain to bob and weave away from  the flurry of jabs from the Ali. Ali land a couple of solid punches that wobbled Frazier, and keeping  the challenger in the center of the ring, but unable to avoid the jabs. In Round 3 Ali amped up his taunting “ Jack be nimble Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candlestick! Is that all you can give? Come on, you ugly gorilla! Hit me!” Ali chanted a few times while making hand gestures urging Frazier to come closer.  During Round 3 Ali also began using his signature “Rope-a-Dope” strategy that proved effective against George Foreman in Zaire. However, in Manila, the Rope-a-Dope was far less helpful , as it allowed the shorter Joe Frazier to come in closer and hit Ali with more frequency. “Get off the damned ropes!” Ali’s corner can be heard yelling throughout the entire fight. As Round 3 came to an end Ali threw a volley of hard punches trying to finish off the challenger but most of which missed. In Round 5 Joe Frazier finally got in to his rhythm as his bobbing and weaving improved. Avoiding the champ’s attacks’ Frazier unleashed a flurry of lefts to Ali’s head then countering with body shots that put Ali against the ropes for most of the Round. As Ali began lowering his guard to avoid the body blows, he exposed himself to Joe Frazier’s best punch; a devastating left hook. Immediately after the bell to begin Round 6, Frazier landed a massive left hook to Ali’s face. Ali was brushed back from the punch and landed in the ropes behind him. Not outwardly appearing dazed, but the blow visibly stiffened Ali and he tried to counter with punches of his own. Frazier hit Ali with another huge left hook that once again sent Ali into the ropes behind him; though Frazier was unable to Ali down. Ali reaction to the barrage of the round by telling his opponent “They told me Joe Frazier was washed up”. Joe Frazier simply responded “They lied.” By Round 8 Ali’s Rope-a-Dope tactic began to completely fall apart. Ali started the round off strong with a flurry of shots in the center of the ring but,  with his opponent intentionally against the ropes, the shorter Frazier had the clear advantage. At the end of Round 8 Ali sagged against the ropes in a neutral corner as the challenger unleashed a barrage of punches to the head and body; visibly effecting Ali. After a tiring Round 9 in which both fighters went toe-to-toe exchanging punches Ali told his corner “Man, this the closest I’ve come to dying” Joe Frazier on the other hand was suffering from swelling in his face that was increasingly hindered his vision. When Round 11, in which Ali continuously hit his opponent with hard rights, ended Joe Frazier’s trainer asked him why was he opening himself up to the hits. Frazier responded that he barely see some of the punches he was being hit with. The trainer told Frazier what would ultimately be poor advice; telling the fighter to stand upright when coming in on Ali rather than bobbing and weaving.  Ali immediately noticed this in Round 12 as he unleashed a volley of punches with both hands that did even more damage to Frazier’s limited eyesight. Compounding to the punches that Ali was consistently landing was the fact that Frazier’s corner was unable to maintain functional ice packs due to the heat inside the stadium. By Round 13 Frazier could barely see. About midway through Round 13, Ali hit Frazier with a huge right hand that  knocked the mouthpiece out of his mouth. Round 14 began with Muhammad Ali used all his reserves he had left  to finish off Frazier with a knockout as he had done to George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle. Despite the barrage of almost thirty punches from Ali, most of which missed, Joe Frazier despite being almost blind would not go down. After Round 14 both fighters had exhausted the last of their energies. Seeing  the results of the 14th Round Joe Frazier’s trainer Eddie Futch decided that his fighter was finished. A gassed Frazier protested “I want him, boss” but Futch replied “It’s all over. No one will forget what you did here today” as he signaled to the referee to stop the fight. Unbeknownst to Frazier’s corner after Round 14, Muhammad Ali had told his own trainer, Angelo Dundee, to cut his gloves off; throwing in the towel of his own. Dundee either didn’t hear Ali or, more likely, deliberately ignored the champion. “Joe Frazier quit before I did. I didn’t think I could fight anymore” Ali would remark years later. At the time of stoppage; all three ringside judges had Muhammad Ali ahead in the fight.

The Thrilla in Manila was the last major fight for both boxers. Joe Frazier fought a rematch with George Foreman in 1976; losing in the 5th Round after being knocked down multiple times. After the loss, he announced his retirement; but would attempt a short lived and unsuccessful comeback in the early 1980’s. He later reemerge as a trainer for boxers in Philadelphia, notably his daughter Jacqui. Muhammad Ali would continue to box mostly unheralded fighters and circus-style exhibitions bouts (most notoriously against Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki) before relinquishing his championship belt in the late 70’s upon retirement. Ali would return to the ring in 1980 to face upstart Larry Holmes in a lackluster bout in which he was thoroughly manhandled by his much younger opponent. Muhammad Ali would fight once more in 1981 before retiring from the ring for good. Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali would remain mostly bitter for the rest of their lives. In his 1996 autobiography, Frazier consistently referred to Ali by his birth name ‘Cassius Clay’ and would later claim that Ali’s Parkinson’s Syndrome diagnosis was divine retribution for his past indiscretions. Ali for his part for years kept up the taunts he use toward Frazier in their fighting days still calling Frazier ‘The Gorilla’. The rivalry heated up once again in June of 2001 when the two boxers daughters; Jacqui Frazier-Lyde and Laila Ali, fought in  a match won by Ali in a majority decision. In 2009, Frazier announced he no longer had any hard feelings toward Ali and the pair were in the beginning of a reconciliation when Smokin’ Joe Frazier passed away from liver cancer on November 7th 2011 at the age of 67. Muhammad Ali attended the private funeral in Philadelphia paying his respects to his former rival  “The world has lost a great champion. I will always remember Joe with respect and admiration” Ali remarked