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Postscript: How we covered the Ali-Frazier ‘Thrilla in Manila’
Front page of the Evening Express, Oct. 1, 1975. —IMAGE COURTESY OF RIZAL LIBRARY, ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY
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October 2, 2025October 2, 2025History

Postscript: How we covered the Ali-Frazier ‘Thrilla in Manila’

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(Last of three parts) In the predigital age of media, the printed word was king, and newspapers ruled. If an event wasn’t in the papers, it never happened.  In the mid-1970s, newsrooms were shifting from “hot metal” to “cold type”—from molten lead and oily typesetting machines to early computers, photo-typesetting, and paste-up. For many, that...

It was every bit the promised ‘Thrilla in Manila’—and more
Front page of the Philippines Daily Express, Oct. 2, 1975. —IMAGE COURTESY OF RIZAL LIBRARY, ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY
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October 1, 2025October 2, 2025History

It was every bit the promised ‘Thrilla in Manila’—and more

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(Second of three parts) This oft-quoted line from Dick Young of the New York Daily News has not lost its shine 50 years after Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier fought each other nearly to the death in probably the most brutal—and greatest—boxing match in history. Young was among the sportswriting gods who descended on the...

Barefoot and larger than life: My (un)forgettable exclusive with Muhammad Ali
Front page of the Evening Express, Sept. 15, 1975. —IMAGE COURTESY OF RIZAL LIBRARY, ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY
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September 30, 2025October 1, 2025History

Barefoot and larger than life: My (un)forgettable exclusive with Muhammad Ali

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(First of three parts) The elevator door opened to the ninth floor of what was then the Manila Hilton, which the then world heavyweight champion would call home for a fortnight before what he himself christened the “Thrilla in Manila.”  Photographer Eddie Alfonso and I were startled to see a bemoustached man waiting at the...