Memories of ‘Rumble’ and ‘Thrilla’ rekindled
FROM Manny Pacquiao to left-wing activists, Filipinos in this boxing-crazy nation yesterday grieved the death of Muhammad Ali, which brought back fond memories of the epic 1975 “Thrilla in Manila” fight between him and Joe Frazier.
“We lost a giant today,” Pacquiao, the Filipino boxing legend, said on his Facebook account, offering prayers to Ali’s family. “Boxing benefited from Ali’s talents, but not nearly as much as mankind benefited from his humanity.”
Sports commentator Ronnie Nathanielsz, who was assigned by then-dictator Ferdinand Marcos to act as Philippines government liaison to Ali for the bout, said: “We lost a hero, a peacemaker and a truly charismatic human being.”
The October 1, 1975, heavyweight championship, one of the greatest boxing matches in history, the “Thrilla in Manila” was won by Ali on a technical knockout at the Araneta Coliseum in suburban Quezon City, watched by a worldwide audience.
The bout got its name from Ali’s widely publicised boast that the 15-rounder would be a “killa and a thrilla and a chilla, when I get that gorilla in Manila.”
Regularly rated one of the best fights ever, the “Thrilla” put the Philippines on the map, Nathanielsz told AP .
Ali’s punishing rivalry with Frazier was finally settled in the Philippines in this, their third battle, when Frazier’s corner retired him before the 15th and final round. Accompanying Ali from Hawaii on board a plane, Nathanielsz said Ali was welcomed by tens of thousands of Filipino fans “like the pope”.
The fight at the Araneta Coliseum lived up to all expectations. Afterward, the owner of the arena told Ali he would build a shopping mall and name it after him. The popular Ali Mall still stands in Manila The Rumble in the Jungle. A year before in Africa, Ali tapped into the psyche of the people like no other place, and the fight against Foreman in Zaire, now Congo, established much of his mystique.
None of the experts gave Ali, then 32, a chance against the strong, young and undefeated Foreman, who had destroyed everyone in his way. Foreman had the title, but Ali was the people’s champion, creating a crescendo of support for him- self from the local fans.
Weighed down by colonial oppression and now the dictatorial rule of Mobutu Sese Sesoko, the people identified with Ali, the fighter who defied authority and challenged the system. On his training runs through Kinshasa, he would be trailed by kids in ragged clothes mimicking his shadow boxing. Ali picked up a chant he heard, “Ali bomaye!” – “Ali kill him” – and used it wherever he went.
Already written off before the title clash, Ali adopted what reporters thought were suicidal tactics, the “rope-adope,” backing into the ropes and inviting Foreman to pummel away.
Foreman punched himself out. Choosing his moment at the end of the eighth round, Ali whirled away and knocked Foreman out with a lightning combination, to become the second man to regain the heavyweight title. – AP