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Thriller in Manila
Sunday November 20, 2011 at 10 pm ET/PT on CBC News Network
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The Thriller in Manila was the greatest fight of all time. It was the third and final confrontation between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, two men who hated each other. It was a personal hatred born out of the explosive racial politics of 1970's America. Yet, eight years earlier, these two men had been friends.
In 1967 Muhammad Ali became a conscientious objector, and refused to fight in the Vietnam War. He was subsequently stripped of his heavyweight title and license to box. The boxing establishment and much of mainstream America held Ali's decision in contempt. But Joe Frazier, who took Ali's vacant heavyweight crown, stood by him respecting his courageous religious beliefs and even petitioned Washington to get his license back.
In 1971, after three and half years in the wilderness, Ali got his license back but dramatically turned on his one time friend and ally, Joe Frazier. Ali saw Frazier as inferior. They were two men caught in a battle for the soul of black America, and Ali resented that his rival was backed by a group of white Philadelphia business men called Clover Lay. While Frazier was being backed by the white businessman, Ali was being backed by the black militant organization, the nation of Islam. Ali was the mouthpiece for a religious group and Ali, portrayed Frazier as a traitor to the black community. It was an insult that cut to the core of his being.
The two finally met at Madison Square Garden, in March, 1971. Muhammad Ali verses Joe Frazier was the first fight ever between two undefeated champions and was dubbed, The Fight Of The Century. The fight gripped the nation but to the surprise of many, Joe Frazier dominated the fight and won by a unanimous decision - the first man to defeat Ali. Frazier went on to lose his title to George Foreman, who in turn lost it to Ali. Frazier was determined to win it back. He got his chance in 1975 when the two met for a rematch in Manila.
The Thriller in Manila would prove to be the greatest heavyweight bout of all time. The fight lasted 14 rounds with the advantage continually shifting between the two heavy weights as both men hit each other with a relentless savagery. Towards the end of the fight, Frazier, who only had vision in one eye, was virtually blind as his good eye swelled up and closed. Ali was also exhausted and neither seemed able to fight the final round, but it was Frazier's trainer Eddie Futch who finally called an end to the fight despite his protests. Ali had won, but Frazier had gained his respect. Ali would later say. "If God ever calls me to a holy war, I want Joe Frazier fighting beside me".
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