I rewatched the Thrilla in Manila with Muhammad Ali. He still winced at the blows years later

"Watching Ali-Frazier III, known widely as the Thrilla in Manila, was a different experience. Despite the fact that it was one of Muhammad's greatest ring triumphs, there was no joy in his face as The Thrilla in Manila unfolded. Sitting beside me, he winced as some of Frazier's blows landed. He seemed to be reexperiencing the pain. When the tape ended, he turned to me and said, Frazier quit just before I did. I didn't think I could fight anymore."

"What it came down to wasn't the heavyweight championship of the world, Jerry Izenberg, a leading sports writer of that era, later noted. Ali and Frazier were fighting for something more important than that. They were fighting for the championship of each other. I've never witnessed anything like it. Both fighters won that night, and both fighters lost. Neither man ever fully recovered from the physical damage that they inflicted on each other that day."

In 1989 Muhammad Ali revisited a tape of his triumph over Joe Frazier in Manila and reacted with visible pain, wincing as Frazier's blows landed. Ali later said, 'Frazier quit just before I did. I didn't think I could fight anymore.' The Thrilla in Manila took place fifty years earlier in sweltering heat and humidity and was a brutal, celebrated prizefight. Both fighters fought for dominance of each other, and both emerged both winners and losers. Neither man fully recovered from the physical damage inflicted that day. The fight cemented a legacy of excellence and enduring physical cost.

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