Thrilla in Manila
| Date | October 1, 1975 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue |
Philippine Coliseum Quezon City, Philippines |
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| Title(s) on the line | WBC/WBA Heavyweight Championship Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship |
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| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ali won via TKO after the 14th round |
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| Boxer | Muhammad Ali | Joe Frazier | |
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| Nickname | The Greatest | Smokin' Joe | |
| Hometown | Louisville, Kentucky | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |
| Pre-fight record | 48–2 (35 KO) | 32–2 (27 KO) | |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in | 5 ft 11+1/2 in | |
| Weight | 224 lb | 215 lb | |
| Recognition | WBC/WBA Heavyweight Champion Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion |
former champion |
The Thrilla in Manila was the third and final boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. It was contested in 1975 for the heavyweight championship of the world at the Philippine Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines, on Wednesday, October 1. The venue was renamed from Araneta Coliseum, specifically for the match. Ali won by technical knockout (TKO) after Frazier's chief second, Eddie Futch, conceded the fight prior to the 15th round. The contest's name is derived from the frequent rhyming boast made by Ali that the fight would be a "killa and a thrilla and a chilla, when I get that gorilla in Manila."
The bout is consistently ranked as one of the best in the sport's history and was the culmination of a three-bout rivalry between the two fighters that Ali won, 2–1.
The first bout between Frazier and Ali took place on March 8, 1971, in New York's Madison Square Garden. Frazier was the champion and won by unanimous decision over previously undefeated Ali in a fast-paced, 15-round bout, with Frazier scoring the fight's (and trilogy's) only knockdown, at the beginning of the final round.
When the rivals met in a January 1974 rematch, neither was champion; Frazier had suffered a second-round knockout at the hands of George Foreman a year earlier and Ali had split two bouts with Ken Norton. In a promotional appearance before the second fight, the two had gotten into a scuffle in an ABC studio during an interview segment with Howard Cosell. In the second round, Ali stung Frazier with a hard right hand, which backed him up. Referee Tony Perez stepped between the fighters, signifying the end of the round, even though there were about 25 seconds left. In so doing, he gave Frazier time to regain his bearings and continue fighting. Perez also failed to contain Ali's tactic of illegally holding and pulling down his opponent's neck in the clinches, which helped Ali to smother Frazier, and gain him the 12-round decision. This became a major issue in selecting the referee for the Manila bout.
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