{"id":170090,"date":"2025-09-30T09:38:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T09:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/170090\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T09:38:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T09:38:03","slug":"i-rewatched-the-thrilla-in-manila-with-muhammad-ali-he-still-winced-at-the-blows-years-later-muhammad-ali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/170090\/","title":{"rendered":"I rewatched the Thrilla in Manila with Muhammad Ali. He still winced at the blows years later | Muhammad Ali"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1989, with Muhammad Ali<\/a> sitting beside me, I watched a tape of Ali\u2019s historic triumph over Joe Frazier in Manila, which took place 50 years ago this week.<\/p>\n

For months, Ali and I had been reviewing his fights for a book I was writing as his authorized biographer. We\u2019d watched Henry Cooper knock Cassius Clay<\/a> to the brink of oblivion with a picture-perfect left hook. From the vantage point of my living room, that had amused Muhammad.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d seen Joe Frazier put Ali on the canvas in Round 15 of their first encounter at Madison Square Garden<\/a>, and Ken Norton break Muhammad\u2019s jaw<\/a>. Those punches were safely ensconced in the annals of history, as were the thudding blows that George Foreman landed in Zaire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Watching Ali-Frazier III, known widely as the Thrilla in Manila, was a different experience<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that it was one of Muhammad\u2019s greatest ring triumphs, there was no joy in his face as The Thrilla in Manila unfolded. Sitting beside me, he winced as some of Frazier\u2019s blows landed. He seemed to be reexperiencing the pain. When the tape ended, he turned to me and said, \u201cFrazier quit just before I did. I didn\u2019t think I could fight anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fifty years have passed since Ali and Frazier did battle in the sweltering heat and humidity of that late-morning hour in one of the most celebrated, brutal prizefights of all time. \u201cWhat it came down to wasn\u2019t the heavyweight championship of the world,\u201d Jerry Izenberg, a leading sports writer of that era, later noted. \u201cAli and Frazier were fighting for something more important than that. They were fighting for the championship of each other. I\u2019ve never witnessed anything like it. Both fighters won that night, and both fighters lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither man ever fully recovered from the physical damage that they inflicted on each other that day. Let\u2019s put what many consider the greatest prizefight ever in context.<\/p>\n

Ali in 1975 was the most famous, and possibly the most loved, person in the world. The hatred that had been directed at him for his views on race and his refusal to accept induction into the United States Army at the height of the war in Vietnam had largely abated. His 1974 knockout of Foreman in Zaire to reclaim the heavyweight throne had engendered worldwide joy.<\/p>\n

Frazier didn\u2019t share those good feelings. On 8 March 1971, in their first meeting, Frazier had defeated Ali in \u201cThe Fight of the Century\u201d at Madison Square Garden<\/a> to earn the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. But the victory had come with a heavy price-tag.<\/p>\n

The first Ali-Frazier fight was seen in the United States as a metaphor for the struggle between racist warlike elements (who embraced Frazier as the anti-Ali) on one side and those seeking peace and social justice (largely Ali partisans) on the other.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Frazier didn\u2019t want to be a symbol. He was uninterested in politics and rarely talked about religion or race. He\u2019d grown up as a sharecropper\u2019s son in the meanest circumstances that rural America had to offer. All he wanted to do was fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cClay got into boxing when he was 12 years old because his bike was stolen,\u201d Frazier said. \u201cI didn\u2019t have no bike when I was 12. I was working in the fields.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the popular narrative framed Ali as an outsider and Joe as a representative of America\u2019s white establishment. And Ali perpetuated that myth, attacking Frazier\u2019s blackness and character. He demeaned Joe as an \u201cUncle Tom\u201d and stripped him of his dignity in the public mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe was almost the stereotypic black person Ali claimed to be fighting for,\u201d writer Dave Wolf, who was later a member of Frazier\u2019s entourage, observed. \u201cYet Ali demeaned Joe at every turn. Look at the perception many people have that Joe is stupid because he\u2019s not facile with the language and because his particular brand of South Carolina English isn\u2019t easily understood by people who don\u2019t come from that part of South Carolina. Joe is not dumb. But Ali stuck that saddle on him, and Joe will have to wear it forever. Joe is not, and never was, an Uncle Tom, whatever that means. But Ali branded him with that label too. The damage he did to Joe was never undone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frazier wanted to be a hero. After beating Ali, he received condescending approval from much of white America. But he was never a hero where it mattered most to him \u2013 to his own people.<\/p>\n

Three years later in the build-up to Ali-Frazier II, which Ali won by decision, Muhammad branded Joe as \u201cignorant.\u201d In Manila, he labeled him a \u201cgorilla.\u201d Just as his ring battles against Ali defined Frazier as a fighter, Joe\u2019s relationship with Muhammad defined him, unfairly, in the eyes of the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do all the right things.\u201d Frazier lamented. \u201cAnd this is the way people look at me because of him.\u201d Later, he would add to that sentiment, saying, \u201cI know things would of been different for me if Clay hadn\u2019t of been around. I\u2019d of gotten a lot more respect. I\u2019d of had more appreciation from my own kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike Ali-Frazier I, Manila wasn\u2019t about Ali\u2019s social and political beliefs. The narrative had quieted by then. In some ways, Ali had come to represent the status quo and establishment while Joe had been tossed aside. But for both men \u2013 and particularly for Joe \u2013 Ali-Frazier III was intensely personal. Frazier\u2019s hatred toward Ali had grown to enormous proportions. Manila was his last opportunity to regain the dignity that he felt Muhammad had stolen from him.<\/p>\n

Ali was a great artist in the ring, as the world saw against opponents like Cleveland Williams and Zora Folley. But his greatest moments in boxing came when he had inquisitors like Sonny Liston and Foreman in front of him. Frazier was Ali\u2019s greatest inquisitor.<\/p>\n

Joe enjoyed fighting. No one ever enjoyed fighting Joe.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrazier never took a backward step inside the ring,\u201d Don Turner, who later trained Larry Holmes and Evander Holyfield, observed. \u201cNot for no one. He didn\u2019t come to dance. He didn\u2019t come to hold. He didn\u2019t come to box. He came to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frazier echoed that theme, saying of Ali, \u201cHe ain\u2019t no fighter. He\u2019s a boxer. I\u2019m a fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in Manila, Ali showed beyond all doubt that he was a fighter too.<\/p>\n

Associated Press boxing writer Ed Schuyler later recalled: \u201cThe Thrilla in Manila was the best fight I\u2019ve ever seen. As it unfolded, everybody at ringside understood they were watching greatness. The pace never eased. It was hell the whole way. I\u2019ve never seen two people give more, ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

The early rounds belonged to Ali. He outboxed Frazier, landed sharp clean punches, and staggered his opponent several times. Frazier kept coming forward. The tide turned in the middle rounds. Ali was tiring. Frazier rocked him with thunderous blows. Muhammad\u2019s arms came down as Frazier bludgeoned him against the ropes, pounding away. Ali regained the initiative in round 12, wobbled Frazier, and measured him for more. One round later, a jolting left hook knocked Frazier\u2019s mouthpiece into the crowd. He was shaken but finished the round. In round 14, Ali resumed his assault.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 14th round,\u201d Richard Hoffer later wrote, \u201cthe final three minutes of their shared agony, was a kind of scientific experiment, an investigation into the extremes of human behavior. Just exactly what was a person capable of? How far could he go? How deep could he reach? Nobody had ever seen it conducted at this level. Nobody really knew what desire and pride could accomplish, or destroy. Now they did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frazier\u2019s left eye was completely closed. The vision in his right eye was limited. He was spitting blood. Ali\u2019s punches were landing cleanly. Frazier couldn\u2019t see them coming. Both fighters had landed so many clean blows that the padding inside their gloves was separating. More and more, it was like hitting and being hit with ungloved fists.<\/p>\n

Frazier\u2019s trainer, Eddie Futch, stopped the carnage after the 14th round.<\/p>\n

Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier during the buildup to the Thrilla in Manila. Photograph: Jess Tan\/AP<\/p>\n

Frazier is now thought of in some circles primarily as a piece of the Ali legend. But that notion is unfair. He was far more. It\u2019s true that, without the three Ali-Frazier fights, Joe\u2019s career would be lacking in historical gravitas. But those three fights did happen.<\/p>\n

Frazier won Ali-Frazier I and came very close to victory in Ali-Frazier III. Did some of Ali\u2019s greatness rub off on him? Absolutely. But some of Frazier\u2019s greatness rubbed off on Ali too. Joe deserves to be remembered in his own right.<\/p>\n

In their later years, Ali and Frazier interacted occasionally, almost always for an economic incentive. But Joe\u2019s hatred toward Muhammad remained. He took pleasure in believing that the punishment he inflicted on Ali in Manila contributed to the physical difficulties that Muhammad endured late in life.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe shook me in Manila,\u201d Frazier acknowledged \u201cHe won. But I sent him home worse than he came. Look at him now. He\u2019s damaged goods. I know it. You know it. Everyone knows it. They just don\u2019t want to say. He was always making fun of me. I\u2019m the dummy; I\u2019m the one getting hit in the head. Tell me now; him or me; which one talks worse now? Manila really don\u2019t matter no more. He\u2019s finished, and I\u2019m still here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, adding to the ugliness of that sentiment, Frazier declared \u201cI\u2019ll outlive him. I\u2019ll dance on his grave.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t to be. Frazier died in 2011 at the age of 67<\/a>. Five years later, Ali died aged 74<\/a>. They weren\u2019t old by ordinary standards. But Muhammad\u2019s health was in ruins during the final decade of his life. Frazier was foremost among the fighters whose blows permanently damaged him physically. And Ali permanently damaged Frazier, both physically and psychologically.<\/p>\n

In Manila, they had a glimpse of the future and what would become of them.<\/p>\n

It saddens me that Frazier carried all of that anger and hate inside him. It cast a shadow on his life. But I\u2019ll give the final word to Ali who, decades ago, told me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think two big men ever fought fights like me and Joe Frazier<\/a>. One fight, maybe. But three times; we were the only ones. Of all the men I fought in boxing, Sonny Liston was the scariest. Foreman was the most powerful. Floyd Patterson was the most skilled as a boxer. But the roughest and toughest was Joe Frazier. He brought out the best in me, and the best fight we fought was in Manila. That fight, I could feel something happening to me. Something different from what I\u2019d felt in fights before. And God blessed me that day. He\u2019s blessed me many times, and that fight in Manila was one of them. It was like I took myself as far as I could go, and then God took me the rest of the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m sorry Joe Frazier is mad at me. I\u2019m sorry I hurt him. Joe Frazier is a good man. I couldn\u2019t have done what I did without him, and he couldn\u2019t have done what he did without me. And if God ever calls me to a holy war, I want Joe Frazier fighting beside me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 1989, with Muhammad Ali sitting beside me, I watched a tape of Ali\u2019s historic triumph over Joe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-170090","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}