Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier Thrilla in Manila is greatest sporting event ever. It’s not close

In the 50 years since Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier fought the Thrilla in Manila, may as well add another 50 years in the future, too. There has never been another event like it. And there never will be.

The Thrilla in Manila is the greatest sporting event the world will ever see.

The World Cup men’s or women’s soccer final, which is generally the most watched event on the planet, will never generate a matchup that could surpass the third meeting of Ali and Frazier.

It would take some kind of statistical improbability like the United States national team reaching the final on multiple occasions and playing the same country for the title. That’s not happening.

The Super Bowl, even with the NFL’s slow-walked desire to one day become a global league, would take at least another full lifetime to expand the game to every continent and play a true world championship. And even then, it still could only come close, but not equal, the spectacle of it all.

Ali.

Frazier.

Part III.

Their personal beef took three fights and a combination of 44 rounds to finally be decided in what Frazier estimated was 120-degree heat in the outdoor ring in Quezon City, Philippines.

An epic battle, and I’ll get to the actual fight later, but the Thrilla was great for more than just the pugilistic pageantry of it all.

The fight became the benchmark for how we consume sporting events. It can even be said that it planted the seed for the exclusive livestreaming sold in digestible packages today.

The Thrilla in Manila was the first pay-per-view event broadcast by a fledgling cable television outfit called Home Box Office. The reported 500,000 homes that purchased the fight set a record at the time and gave the network the honor of being the first to deliver a continuous signal by satellite.

The fight took on its own folklore with some tales declaring it was watched by a billion people worldwide. There was no way to truly measure that back then — just like there’s no way to disprove it, either.

At the end of the day, the fight stands the test of time because it lived up to the overwhelming expectations that had been set by their two previous tangles that both went the 15-round distance.

How many times have we been collectively disappointed by a championship matchup that ends in a one-sided rout?

Not the Thrilla in Manila.

They were evenly matched, as was already proven in their initial two bouts with each fighter winning one. Adding to the intrigue was the fact that both were considered a bit past their prime. Frazier’s decline began after beating Ali in their first meeting which was deemed “The fight of the century” in 1971 when they faced off at Madison Square Garden.

Still, spectators either wanted to see one win or were hate watching, eager to see the other lose. Ali, the “Louisville Lip,” reveled in being brash and entertaining the masses. Frazier just showed up to the ring to fight, without the notoriety extended to the heavyweight champion back then.

The rivalry was real and exasperated by Frazier feeling shunned after supporting Ali when he was stripped of his heavyweight title and couldn’t fight for three years.

Every punch from Smokin’ Joe was like exacting payback.

There were rounds where one side was winning. Ali established himself in the early rounds; Frazier asserted his domination in the middle rounds. A back and forth of brutalization to be sure, but beyond that, it was a fascinating display of athleticism, strength and skill.

Most notably, their collective will.

Ali and Frazier stood toe to toe both willing to take another blow to the ribs or face with the belief that if they could land just one more good punch, it would end the bout.

Frazier said after the fight, “Man, I hit him with punches that’d bring down the walls of a city.”

Though the knockout never came, the end did, when Frazier’s left eye had become so swollen he couldn’t see and trainer Eddie Futch stopped him from returning to answer the bell for the 15th round with a prescient quip: “No one will ever forget what you did here today.”

Ali reportedly told his trainer Angelo Dundee to “cut ’em off” before the 15th like he had had enough, too. After the fight, Ali gave his famed quote that the bout was “like death. Closest thing to dyin’ that I know of.”

Can you recall another event where athletes have expended themselves to the limits of human capacity like that?

In the 50 years since, we haven’t seen anything like it. And we’ll never see another Thrilla in Manila again.

Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at [email protected], follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier Thrilla in Manila is GOAT of sporting events