Battle for Supremacy in Manila

The bell that ended the 14th round was the last one to ring. Muhammad Ali lay on the canvas in exhaustion. Joe Frazier stood in a fog in his corner. The fight was over, stopped by Frazier's manager, Eddie Futch, because Smokin' Joe could no longer see the punches pounding into his nearly closed eyes. Ali had successfully defended his world heavyweight boxing title against Frazier, but the long slugging battle had been as tough as any he had known.

While his bruises were still achingly fresh, the champ threatened once more to retire from the ring; a groggy Frazier, clutching his pride, refused to quit. Whether either man will live up to those first postfight statements remains to be seen, but there was no doubt that the fight itself was the best each boxer had fought since that epic brawl in 1971 when then Champion Frazier won a 15-round decision against Ali, inflicting a rare knockdown in the process.

The Thrilla in Manila more than made up for the routine prefight publicity. As expected, Blowhard Ali filled the tropical city with enough hot air to start a new front moving across Asia. He dubbed his opponent a punching bag and hinted at an early knockout. The act got out of control only when Wife Belinda flew into Manila and flew out less than twelve hours later, distressed by the publicity given Ali's companion, Model Veronica Porche. For his part, Joe Frazier had stayed in character, speaking briefly and bluntly. "Ali can't touch me," he said, "in ability or decency."

Third Encounter. The clowning stopped when Ali and Frazier faced off in the humid Philippine Coliseum before 25,000 spectators and an estimated 700 million closed-circuit and television viewers in some 65 countries. In their third encounter (Ali won a rematch in 1974), the two heavyweights were not fighting for the title alone; there was still the issue of personal supremacy to settle. Ali, at 224 1/2 lbs., came out as the boxer of patience and craft; Frazier, 9 lbs. lighter, was the slugger of bull-like impulse and strength.

In the 14 rounds, three separate battles were fought. The first three rounds belonged to Ali. He landed clean, quick, stinging shots that made Frazier sag, and he blunted Frazier's headlong attack by blocking punches as he backed against the ropes. When Ali went hunting, it was on flat feet, in search of the knockout punch. But he never found it. In Round 4, the second battle began. Frazier, having weathered his customary slow start, set to work, pounding lefts to the chin through Ali's gloves. He bothered Ali on the ropes with more uppercuts, body punches and fast, punishing combinations. No matter that Ah fired back with flicking jabs, speed-of-light combinations, straight rights and lefts--he could not wear Frazier down. The challenger kept moving with his jolting left hook; in the tenth round, Ali's legs wobbled after a fast-moving Frazier left caught him squarely on the side of the head.

Ali was beginning to think he had lost, and he looked it. But in the twelfth round, the champion tapped a last reservoir of energy, and the third battle was on. As Ali landed a succession of bloodying punches to the head, the younger challenger faded. Frazier's face, especially his eyes, visibly swelled. Ali continued to press, knocking Frazier's mouthpiece out and following with a stiffening right. In the 14th, Ali hit Frazier at will. Frazier's left eye was almost sealed. That did it; Manager Futch stopped the slaughter.

"What you saw was next to death," Ali gasped after the fight. "He's the greatest fighter of all time--next to me." Later, Ali said to newsmen: "I'll bet you thought two old warhorses couldn't do much." They could, and Ali earned $4.5 million for his pain; Frazier picked up $2 million in balm.

And what about the latest burst of retirement talk? No one really believes Ali, least of all high-rolling Impresario Don King, the fight's promoter. King's latest grand strategy calls for Ali to trek to Russia, then back to the U.S. for a $50 million Bicentennial extravaganza in Washington, D.C.

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