page_title: Thrilla in Manila
section_title: Fight
hierarchical_section_title: Thrilla in Manila / Fight
caption_attribution_description: English: Araneta Coliseum during the 1960's.
context_page_description: 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 Araneta 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 after Frazier's chief second, Eddie Futch, asked the referee to stop the fight following the end of the 14th round. The contest's name is derived from Ali's rhyming boast 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 fight was watched by a record global television audience of 1 billion viewers, including 100 million viewers watching the fight on closed-circuit theatre television, and 500,000 pay-per-view buys on HBO home cable television.
context_section_description: In order to accommodate an international viewing audience, the fight took place at 10 a.m. local time. Though it served the business interests of the fight, it was detrimental to the fighters. Ali's ring physician, Ferdie Pacheco, said "At 10am the stickiness of the night was still there, but cooked by the sun. So what you got is boiling water for atmosphere." Denise Menz, who was part of Frazier's contingent, said of the conditions inside the aluminum-roofed Philippine Coliseum: "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? I don't know how they did it." Frazier estimated the ring temperature at more than 120 °F (49 °C), taking into account the effect of additional lights used for purposes of televising the fight. Ali said that he lost 5 pounds (2.3 kg) during the fight due to dehydration.
  When the fighters and their cornermen met at the center of the ring for the referee's instructions, Ali continued his verbal assault on Joe Frazier, finishing with the taunt: "You don't have it, Joe, you don't have it! I'm going to put you away!" In response, Frazier smiled and said "We'll see."
  Ali was sharp early, as the slow-starting Frazier could not bob and weave his way inside of Ali's jab. Ali won the first two rounds. He kept Frazier in the center of the ring, and landed several straight right hands immediately after his left jab. Frazier was wobbled or at least knocked off-balance by solid punches twice in the early rounds. Commenting for the U.S. television audience, Don Dunphy said, "Ali with his fast hands and sharp shooting keeps it his way." Viewing the fight for the first time some 31 years later, Frazier said, "Too far away, needed to get closer."
  Ali also continued to attack his opponent verbally, most noticeably in the 3rd round when he was performing well and had plenty of energy. Referee Carlos Padilla said, "During the fight [Ali] would say 'Ah one ah two and a three ... Jack be nimble and Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candlestick. Is that all you can give? Come on, you ugly gorilla—hit me!'" Several times, Ali made circular hand gestures at Frazier to encourage him closer.
  During round 3, Ali began using the "rope-a-dope", a strategy in which he used the ropes for support and rest while allowing his opponent to expend energy throwing punches. When it was effective, Ali would eventually spin off the ropes and unleash a volley of punches in rapid succession against an arm-weary opponent. In Manila, it did not always work out that way. Frazier landed his first good body punches of the fight in the 3rd round with Ali pinned in the corner. Due to his general lack of reach and arthritic right elbow, Frazier needed to be close to Ali to hit him with frequency, and the rope-a-dope enabled him to do that. About two minutes into the round, Ali threw a succession of hard punches, many of which missed. Commenting for the BBC, Harry Carpenter said, "I don't know when I've seen Ali in as aggressive a mood as this. He really looks as if he wants to nail Frazier to the canvas for once and all."
  During the fifth round, Frazier's timing and the rhythm of his bobbing and weaving improved. He was able to avoid the oncoming fists of the champion and, for the first time in the fight, land solid left hooks to Ali's head. Ali spent much of the round along the ropes. According to his trainer, Angelo Dundee, this "was the worst thing he could do because he's making Joe pick up momentum where he could drive those shots to the body." Ali's method of self-defense also worsened noticeably in the fifth. Boxing journalist Jerry Izenberg, who was ringside, said, "Somewhere about the 4th or 5th round Joe hit him with a right hand—I didn't think Joe could tie his shoes with his right hand—and Ali pulls back and says 'You don't have no right hand, you can't do that.' and bing! he hits him with another right hand. Suddenly Ali had to think 'Well there are two hands in this fight on the other side'—that was very important." Hi
caption: Philippine Coliseum (renamed from then-Araneta Coliseum for the boxing match)
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