The Greatest: Muhammad Ali

After several defenses against relatively modest opposition, the public was clamoring for a “rubber match” (tiebreaker) between Ali and Frazier, which, unlike their second fight, would be for the heavyweight crown. It was set for September 30, 1975, just outside Manila in the Philippines. Frazier remained bitterly resentful at Ali having denied him the status he had worked so hard to earn. Ali’s taunting of Frazier was particularly cruel, as he called him a “gorilla” due to his very dark skin and an “Uncle Tom” to turn Black people against him. Both men were at the twilights of their careers, but they were eager for one last showdown with one another. They knew what they were capable of doing to one another and that one was capable of sending the other into retirement and a lifetime of pain.

When the fight began, Frazier came in as he always did, and Ali tried the rope-a-dope, pegging Frazier’s head while absorbing painful blows to the body. Each inflicted enormous pain on the other, but unlike the second fight, Frazier did not tire, and in the middle rounds, he unleashed his left hook over and over again. Ali’s legs were buckling, but he kept throwing just enough punches to create major swelling around Frazier’s eyes.