Trilogies of Heat, Hate And Love

By Kunle Awosiyan

It was the anniversary of Nigeria’s independence on October 1, 1975 but a celebration of slugfest in Phillipine between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.

Dubbed Thrilla in Manila, the epic fight changed the face of boxing when two gladiators, Ali 33; Frazier 31 stepped into the ring as young men but left as old men.

The two champions remarked after the fight, “Man I hit Ali with punches that can bring down the wall of a city, he refused to fall,” Frazier said.

Muhammad Ali said “ The epic fight with Joe Frazier is the closest thing to death. “

The commentator said, “Both men came as Champions but left as old men.

Boxing fans and spectators across the world stood in awe of ovation to these two men whose hostility had lasted in the ring more than any two boxers in history.

The two threw a total of 1,591 punches out of which Ali threw 917 and landed 443 while Frazier threw 674 punches and landed 354.

It was a match Ali had decided on his own to quit in round 14 even though he was leading on the Judge’s scorecards and a match Frazier was begged by his corner to quit in round 14 to save his life.

If Frazier’s corner had not prevailed on him and Ali had refused to come out for round 15, the outcome of the thrilla in Manila would have favoured Frazier by technical knockout.

It favoured Ali and turned him to a deity of boxing after 44 rounds with Smokin Joe in four years.

Of course Ali also fought Ken Norton thrice, winning twice, the bouts created no nostalgia like the Thrilla in Manila.

Not until early 1990s that the world witnessed another memorable trilogy between two of the best of that era; Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe.

It began in 1992 when Bowe outboxed Holyfield and won the match that would later be reactivated in 1993 with Holyfield running away with a controversial victory.

They both settled the supremacy in 1995 when Bowe knocked out Holyfield to become the only man that would beat the “Real Deal” twice. In their second match, Bowe threw 786 punches, landing 363 against Holyfield who threw 514 and landing 253.

In 2018, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder started their hostility that ended in 2021 with Fury’s coming out the superior fighter.

In one of the bouts, Wilder threw 430 punches and could only land 71 while Fury threw 327 and landed 84, making it one of the poorest trilogy ever with both recording 17 and 26 per cent respectively in their throwing and landing.

Thrilla and Manilla saw Ali recording about 48 per cent ratio of his throwing and landing while Frazier recorded about 54 per cent.

Bowe and Holyfield recorded 45 and 49 landing ratio respectively which came via great tactics, power and love in the ring.

It was a trilogy that saw both boxers embracing each other after the match, which will make me to rate this trilogy as the second best in the anal of heavyweight boxing behind Thrilla in Manila that precipitated heat and hatred.

Frazier came to the ring with hate to kill Ali who had made mockery of him ahead of the fight, describing him as Gorilla but Ali gave him the heat he never expected in his boxing career. One of Frazier’s eyes was completely close, yet he wanted to die in the ring.

Nevertheless, Fury and Wilder produced blood and sweat in a tactless brawl of 21st century.