Top 5 iconic Muhammad Ali fights

2. ”The Thrilla in Manila”

Photo via Twitter (@MuhammadAli)

”He brought out the best in me, and the best fight we fought was in Manila.”

In the iconic 1975 heavyweight bout, long-time rivals Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier clashed in Manila, Philippines. Both had one win each going into the last fight of their trilogy. The bout was befittingly dubbed ”The Thrilla in Manila”, and turned out to be one of the best – and hardest – fights in the history of combat sports.

The fight was scheduled for 15 rounds, in which the heavy-hitting rivals pushed themselves beyond all possible limits for normal human beings.

However, by round 14, Frazier was battered to a point where he could barely see, as both eyes had swollen almost completely shut, and his trainer was forced to throw in the towel to save his fighter from further damage.

Ali, now 2-1 against his rival, later claimed that Manila was the closest to death he ever came in a boxing fight.