TOP Rank boss Bob Arum is keen on promoting the likely rematch between World Boxing Organization junior lightweight Emanuel Navarrete of Mexico and Filipino contender Charly Suarez to headline the golden jubilee of the “Thrilla in Manila,” marking the historic showdown of the late heavyweight boxing greats Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, on Oct. 1.
Arum, who was the ring impresario of the epic third clash between “Sting Like a Bee” Ali and “Smoking Joe” Frazier at the heritage-rich Araneta Coliseum, told boxing writer Dan Rafael of Fight Freak Unites that the highly-anticipated Navarrete-Suarez rematch was tops on his agenda.
“Absolutely,” Arum told Rafael on arranging a second fight between the two boxers after the match ended in a questionable unanimous technical decision win for the champion, who suffered a nasty cut on his left eyebrow that was first declared as being caused by a head butt that prompted the ring doctor to stop the fight after seven rounds.
This resulted in the match going to the scorecards, with two judges scoring the bout 77-76 and the third 77-76 in the Mexican’s favor to keep his crown.
A thorough video replay of the incident later showed that it was a glancing left hook and not the head butt that caused the gash, which would have awarded the match as a technical knockout win for the Pinoy fighter.
“It was clear that that after they reviewed, albeit late, the tape, it showed it was caused by a punch and not by a head butt,” Arum said.
With the promise of another rich payday for both Top Rank and the two fighters, Arum disclosed that regardless of what happens with Suarez’s appeal, or whether or not the WBO orders a rematch, he wants to do one and stage it in Manila.
“What I’m working on, and I don’t know if I can pull it off, is October is the 50th anniversary of the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ and I’d love to go back to the same building, the Araneta Coliseum, which has now been remodeled, and do this fight in Manila as a celebration of the Ali-Frazier fight,” the promoter said.
As reported by Malaya Business Insight, Suarez filed an appeal with the California State Athletic Commission last Monday (Tuesday in Manila) to overturn the result of the match.
CSAC executive director Andy Foster told Rafael that the commission would hear the plea during the commission’s meeting on June 2.
The “Thrilla in Manila” featuring bitter rivals Ali and Frazier was one of the – if not the – greatest heavyweight boxing matches in the annals of the sport.
It was the third and last encounter between the two celebrated heavyweight boxers.
Known as a hard-hitting slugger, Frazier won the first match by unanimous decision over Ali, who came out of retirement after dodging the draft in what was billed as the “Fight of the Century” on March 8, 1971 at the famed Madison Square Garden.
Although neither were world champions at that time, the crafty and taller Ali won the rematch, clinching and holding to keep Frazier at bay on the way to a unanimous decision victory over his nemesis on Jan. 8, 1984 at the Hartford Civic Center.
There was obvious bad blood between the two protagonists, especially when Ali taunted Frazier in the run-up to the third bout, which had the support of no less than the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
“It will be a killa and a thrilla and a chilla when I get the Gorilla (Frazier) in Manila,” Ali chanted while hitting a gorilla, which left his foe seething in anger, reports said at that time.
Held in the morning of Oct. 1 at the oven-hot Big Dome so it would could be televised primetime on pay-per-view back in the US, the two prizefighters duked it out in a battle royale eventually won by Ali after Frazier’s trainer, Eddie Futch, threw in the towel after the 14th round after seeing the severe punishment, whose eyes were shut, Frazier had suffered.
Due to the heat and intensity of the match, Ali and Frazier were depleted and drained after the hard-fought encounter, drawing praise from boxing fans worldwide for the indomitable will, courage and fortitude they showed in the contest.
