Fifty years later, and so much that has changed still resonates.
When Muhammad Ali defeated Joe Frazier in their famed trilogy meeting, otherwise known as the “Thrilla in Manila,” the leader of the Philippines was Ferdinand Marcos, whose son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jnr, now serves as the country’s president.
Ali’s riveting victory, clinched by a hellacious 14th-round punch that seemed to nearly decapitate Frazier and led to trainer Eddie Futch stopping the bout with a reeling Frazier on his stool before the 15th round, secured “The Greatest” moniker.
Ali, of course, became a role model to generations of human beings and fighters to follow, including Manny Pacquiao, the record eight-division champion who was born in the Philippines three years after the “Thrilla.”
And now, to commemorate the occasion, Pacquiao, 46, is promoting a stacked 14-fight card Wednesday at the same Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City where the “Thrilla in Manila” was staged.
Pacquiao’s idea was stamped by WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman, whose father, Jose, started his own 40-year reign in that position only a couple months after the event drove fervent global interest in a sport that is now beset by turbulence.
“Boxing right now is a mess, all over the place and I’m dizzy from it, how indecisive and slow it is as we wait for new things to start,” said Sean Gibbons, Pacquiao’s advisor and head of MP Promotions, which will stage both a smaller Philippines card on Sunday headlined by IBF minimumweight champion Pedro Taduran, and a November 29 card in Southern California.
“If one entity takes over, boxing won’t be in a good spot. But there’s room for us to come in and do the fights that promote our fighters.”
Pacquiao, who has reviewed the “Thrilla in Manila” many times, and Gibbons have urged their fighters to bring a similar intensity from October 1, 1975, to the ring next week.
The card is headlined by WBC minimumweight champion Melvin Jerusalem of the Philippines defending his belt versus Siyakholwa Kuse of South Africa in a bout Gibbons assesses as a “50/50 fight.”
Philippines’ Olympic bronze medalist Eumir Marcial meets a game Venezuelan, Eddy Colmenares, in Marcial’s most demanding test. Former junior featherweight champion Marlon Tapales and promising 122lbs fighter Carl Martin are on the card in separate bouts.
And Ali’s grandson, middleweight Nico Ali Walsh, will fight in a scheduled eight-rounder.
Bongbong Marcos is expected at ringside.
“Manny has been thrilled by this since the time we first started discussing it with Mauricio [Sulaiman] in March,” Gibbons said.
Jorge Araneta, 89, whom the coliseum was named after, is planning to attend the fight.
“He’s sharp as a tack, in the office every day,” Gibbons said of Araneta, noting that the nearby Ali Mall remains a thriving business center. “How does all that work in the universe?”
“We didn’t have the financing of the first one – we couldn’t bring the heavyweight championship here – but Manny’s idea was, ‘Let me showcase the greatest Filipino fighters I have,’” Gibbons said.
“It’s Manny’s way of celebrating the Philippines and the anniversary and giving back to the fighters and the people. Manny understands the significance of this so well. He got into boxing because of Ali and Mike Tyson. Everybody understands how great that [Ali-Frazier III] fight was, and how it put the Philippines on the map.
“And Manny’s back, dedicating himself full time to boxing projects after his Senate work has ended. He’ll do four to six shows in 2026.”
In addition to sending his former 140lbs champion, Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz to a December 6 main event against super featherweight champion Lamont Roach Jnr in San Antonio, Pacquiao is likely headed to a January 24 welterweight title fight in Las Vegas against WBA champion Rolly Romero.
Before that, he reminds all of when boxing had the world’s attention and rewarded it with a captivating event that still transfixes a half-century later.
“Manny spearheaded this, and now it comes to life,” Gibbons said.
