FIFTY years on, we still watch in awe as Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier slash and swing at one another in the sweltering heat of the Araneta Coliseum in the Philippines.
“It was like death. Closest thing to dyin’ that I know of,” Ali later said of their historic Thriller in Manila.
Half a century from now, people will return to it again, because these two men are forever bound together by the savagery they unleashed across three unforgettable fights.
Countless words have been written about their rivalry, but what did Ali and Frazier themselves say in the build-up and aftermath of each encounter? Boxing News went back into the archives to find out.
The Fight of the Century
Monday, March 1, 1971 – Seven days to fight
“Mismatch of the century. You’ll be reporting that Joe Frazier didn’t land a blow. That’s what you’ll write next Monday.” (Chicago Tribune)
Ken Norton working with Frazier): “You fight three rounds with Joe Frazier you feel like you fought 10. Ali may say he’s sparring 13 rounds a day but the thing is he’s not fighting three minutes every round the way Joe is. And when he gets in the ring with Frazier he’s going to have to fight every minute of every round. I don’t see how he can do it.” (Chicago Tribune)
Tuesday, March 2
Frazier: “Yank [Durham] told me he’s seen what he wanted to see. I’m ready now. If they told me that fight was today, all I’d have to do is get my robe on and change trunks.” (San Francisco Examiner)
Fight night – March 8, 1971, Madison Square Garden
Frazier beats Ali on points
After the fight – Tuesday, March 9, 1971
Frazier on knocking Ali down: “I reached back for that one. That one came from the country.” (Tucson Citizen)
Ali’s trainer Angelo Dundee: “Just a bruise. We had the jaw x-rayed. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” (Philadelphia Daily News)
Ali hype man Bundini Brown: “The first thing I asked him [Ali] was, ‘We ain’t through are we?’ He said ‘Get ‘em ready; we’re gonna set tracks.’” (Staten Island Advance)
The Rematch – 1974
Monday, January 21, 1974 – Seven days to fight
Frazier: “You could say we couldn’t live in the same house, and we surely couldn’t sleep in the same bed.”
Ali: “Personally, I got nothing against him. I don’t like him as a fighter though. In the ring, he’s my enemy.” (The Signal)
Friday, January 25, 1974
Ali: “That’s where Joe Frazier is now… Cadillacs, mink coats, diamonds… high heel shoes – don’t he look like a woman in them heels? I went through that stage, but that’s where he is now. That shows he’s ignorant. Cultivated people want to live like I’m living now.”
Sunday, January 27, 1974
Ali: “I am boxing. They need me. I don’t need none of them. I don’t need the title. I don’t need the rankings. I’ve got a billion people with me.” (Independent)
Bob Arum: “I have never seen one fighter hate another fighter more than Frazier hates Ali – I mean, just absolutely hates him. Frazier is gonna come in and try to absolutely annihilate him.” (Independent)
Fight night – January 28, 1974, Madison Square Garde
Ali wins on points to even the score
After the fight – Tuesday, January 29, 1974
Ali: “Joe Frazier is good. I knew I was great. I didn’t know Joe Frazier was good.” (Los Angeles Times)
Frazier: “I see no reason to stop. I definitely want him again. I want him one more time.” (Los Angeles Times)
The Thrilla In Manila – 1975
Thursday, September 25, 1975 – six days to fight
Ferdie Pacheco (Ali’s doctor): “If he doesn’t spar soon he’s going to lose his range, his sighting of the opponent. (Evening Standard)
Eddie Futch (Frazier’s trainer): “These aren’t fights when they get together. They’re happenings. And in the minds of most of the world, this next one’s going to establish the clear superiority of one man or the other.” (Detroit Free Press)
Ali: “It is impossible for him to hit me with that right hand. Im-possible. I can take advantage of Frazier’s weaknesses, but he can’t take advantage of mine.” (Florida Today)
September 30, 1975
Frazier: “I’m getting paid $2 million or more… there’s people get mugged all the time and get nothin’ to show for it. ‘Gettin hit… that’s part of the game.” (Philadelphia Daily News)
Ali: “We’re like Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney, like Joe Louis and Billy Conn, it’s a legendary fight. It’s like goin’ back into history.”
Frazier: “Anywhere from one to 15, I’ll be there. I ain’t going nowhere.”
Fight night – October 1, 1975, Araneta Coliseum
Ali wins the rubber match. Trainer Eddie Futch retires Frazier at the end of round 14. “Sit down son, it’s all over. No one will ever forget what you did here today.”
After the fight – October 2, 1975
Eddie Futch: “Maybe Joe could have been seriously hurt in those three minutes. Is it worth it?”
Ali: “This might be my last fight. I’m gonna retire. Now let the young fellows fight.” Daily News
Frazier: “I’m not thinking about retiring now. I got a little careless.”
Mrs Florence Frazier: “He can’t take the punches any longer. I wish he’d retire.” (Florida Today)
Frazier: “My man fought a good fight. When you see him and me in there together, you know it’ll be a good fight.”
Ali: “I got nothing bad to say about Joe Frazier. Without me he wouldn’t be where he is today. Without him I wouldn’t be where I am. We’ve been a pretty good team for the last few years.”
