Muhammad Ali 'Thrilla in Manila' Trunks

A pair of trunks for the rubber match

By the autumn of 1975 Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier had fought twice. Frazier won the first meeting, the 'Fight of the Century' at Madison Square Garden on March 8, 1971, by unanimous decision, handing Ali the first professional loss of his career. Ali took the January 1974 rematch, a non-title fight, on a unanimous twelve-round decision. The third fight, for Ali's undisputed heavyweight championship, would settle it.

For it Ali wore a plain pair of Everlast trunks: white satin, black trim at the waistband, black piping down the side of each leg. The label on the front of the waistband is lettered 'Made Expressly for Muhammad Ali.' Nothing about the garment itself is exotic. What gives it weight is that it is the most easily identified and best documented pair of fight-worn Ali trunks known, matched to film and color photographs of a fight that many writers still call the greatest ever staged.

The fight's name came from Ali himself. In the buildup he called Frazier 'The Gorilla' and chanted that it would be 'a killa and a thrilla and a chilla when I get the Gorilla in Manila,' punching a toy gorilla at press events. Frazier, who deeply resented the taunts, trained in seclusion in the hills outside the city.

Fourteen rounds in the heat

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos sought and sponsored the bout to bring world attention to his country. To suit international television, the fight began at 10:00 a.m. local time inside the aluminum-roofed Araneta Coliseum, temporarily renamed the Philippine Coliseum. Frazier later estimated the temperature in the ring at more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit with the television lights, and Ali said he lost five pounds during the fight. 'It was so intensely hot, I've never before felt heat like that in my life,' said Denise Menz, who was in Frazier's party.

Ali's camp had won its terms on a 21-foot ring and 8-ounce gloves. He controlled the early rounds; Frazier came on in the middle of the fight with body punches and left hooks, landing two heavy hooks early in the sixth. After the ninth, Ali told his corner it was the closest he had ever been to dying. By the late rounds Frazier's eyes were swelling shut, and in the thirteenth a right hand sent his gum shield flying.

After the fourteenth round, trainer Eddie Futch stopped the fight over Frazier's protests. 'It's all over,' Futch told him. 'No one will forget what you did here today.' Ali was ahead on all three cards. He later told biographer Thomas Hauser that he had asked his own corner to cut his gloves off at the same moment, and that 'Frazier quit just before I did.'

Ali entered the ring 48-2 with 34 knockouts and a purse reported at $9 million; Frazier was 32-2 with 27 knockouts and a purse of $5 million. The Ring named it the Fight of the Year for 1975, and its twelfth round the Round of the Year.

The champion and his cornerman

Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. He began boxing at 12, won Olympic gold in Rome in 1960 and turned professional the same year. His refusal to be drafted during the Vietnam War, citing his religious beliefs and his opposition to the war, led to a three-year suspension from boxing. He retired in 1981 with a record of 56 wins and 5 losses, 37 by knockout, and died on June 3, 2016, at 74. Frazier died in 2011 at 67.

The writing on the trunks is attributed to Drew 'Bundini' Brown, Ali's assistant trainer and cornerman. Born March 21, 1928, in Midway, Florida, Brown spent seven years with Sugar Ray Robinson before joining Ali's team in 1963, and he stayed through Ali's career. He wrote some of Ali's verse, including the line that became Ali's signature: 'Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.' He also acted, playing Willy in the 1971 film Shaft.

Brown kept a large quantity of Ali's training and fight equipment in a storage locker near his home in California. He died in Los Angeles County on September 24, 1987, at 59, after complications from injuries in a car accident; Ali visited him on his deathbed.

From a storage locker to the auction block

After Brown's death the contents of his locker were sold in April 1988 for nonpayment of fees, each piece tagged and described in an inventory. The trunks appear on page three as lot RK8822: 'off-white satin, black satin trim,' with the Marcos and 'Trilla in Manila' writing and pinkish discoloration bleeding from the waist. Press accounts give the price as a reported $1,000; the locker inventory itself lists the figure 650.00. The sources do not reconcile the two.

The buyer, Andrew Heller, obtained Ali's signature on the trunks, which a boxing authenticator dated to the late 1980s or early 1990s. In 1989 the trunks were pictured in Sports Illustrated's 35th anniversary issue, on page 216, captioned 'The trunks Ali wore in Manila now bears Bundini's scrawl.' Heller consigned them to an auction held September 16, 2002, where they sold for $58,250.

The 2002 buyer consigned them again in 2012. A pre-sale announcement set that auction for May 12, 2012, while the later auction catalog's provenance dates it March 12, 2012; a further sale followed on August 2, 2012. Press reports put the last 2012 price at a reported $150,000, described by one outlet as just over that figure.

In spring 2024 the trunks were the top lot of a sports week at auction in New York, carrying an estimate of $4 million to $6 million. Bidding reached $3.8 million before premium, short of the estimate, and the sale was postponed, with the house citing more public viewing. They returned to the block with an irrevocable bid in place, so a sale was guaranteed. Bidding opened at $1 million, and on February 7, 2025, they sold for $1.2 million including premium. It is not clear how widely the trunks were shopped privately between the two offerings.

How to know this pair

The identifiers are the handwriting. One leg reads 'Ali-Frazier Fight/Trilla in Manila,' with 'Thrilla' misspelled, and the other reads 'Pres. F. Marcos/Manila, Philippines/Oct. 1, 1975.' The 1988 locker inventory already recorded the same text, which ties the trunks back to Brown's estate. Ali's black-marker signature sits on one leg; the 2012 catalog placed it on the left leg below the notation, while later press coverage describes it as on the right leg.

Condition details recur across every description: reddish or pinkish discoloration on the front and back, and black trim faded slightly with age. In 2012 the trunks were housed in a framed wall display measuring 34 by 28 inches.

The trunks have been photo-matched to video and color photographs of the fight, and the 2025 catalog states they were conclusively matched by three separate photo-matching firms. Other pieces of Ali's Manila kit have also changed hands; his boxing shoes from the fight are owned by Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay.

The fight that outlived its fighters

The broadcast was a landmark. The fight was televised worldwide, and on the night of the bout HBO became the first network to deliver a continuous signal by satellite, a step that helped turn cable from a retransmitter into a program provider. In the Philippines, the owner of the arena named a new shopping center near the coliseum after Ali, who allowed the use of his name free of charge; the Ali Mall opened in 1976.

The trunks' path mirrors the growth of game-worn memorabilia, which analysts cite as one of the main drivers of the sports collectibles market. From a reported $1,000 in 1988 they passed $58,000 in 2002 and roughly $150,000 in 2012 before the seven-figure sale of 2025. Another Ali relic, his championship belt from the 1974 'Rumble in the Jungle' against George Foreman, sold for $6.2 million in 2022.

In October 2025 the Araneta Coliseum hosted a card billed as 'Thrilla in Manila: 50th Anniversary,' with Ali's grandson Nico Ali Walsh fighting on the undercard.

The numbers

Date and venue

October 1, 1975, Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City, Philippines; 10:00 a.m. local start

Titles

WBA, WBC and The Ring undisputed heavyweight championship

Result

Ali wins by corner retirement (RTD) after round 14

Scorecards at stoppage

Padilla 66-60, Quiazon 67-62, Nadayag 66-62, all for Ali (5-point must system)

Pre-fight records

Ali 48-2 (34 KO); Frazier 32-2 (27 KO)

Weights

Ali 224 1/2 lb; Frazier 215 1/2 lb

Ages

Ali 33; Frazier 31

Purses

Ali $9,000,000; Frazier $5,000,000

Referee

Carlos Padilla Jr.

Rivalry

Ali won the trilogy 2-1

Timeline

1. Jan 17, 1942

   Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., later Muhammad Ali, is born in Louisville, Kentucky.

2. 1963

   Drew 'Bundini' Brown joins Ali's corner.

3. Mar 8, 1971

   Frazier beats Ali by unanimous decision in the 'Fight of the Century' at Madison Square Garden.

4. Jan 1974

   Ali wins the non-title rematch on a unanimous twelve-round decision.

5. Oct 1, 1975

   Ali wears the trunks as he defeats Frazier when Frazier's corner stops the fight after the 14th round.

6. Sep 24, 1987

   Bundini Brown dies in Los Angeles County; Ali equipment remains in his California storage locker.

7. Apr 17, 1988

   The locker contents are sold for unpaid fees; the trunks go to Andrew Heller for a reported $1,000.

8. Nov 15, 1989

   The trunks are pictured in Sports Illustrated's 35th anniversary issue.

9. Sep 16, 2002

   Heller's consignment sells at auction for $58,250.

10. Aug 2, 2012

    The trunks sell again, the last of two 2012 auction appearances; the reported price is about $150,000.

11. Jun 3, 2016

    Muhammad Ali dies at 74.

12. Apr 4, 2024

    The trunks go on view and up for bidding at auction in New York, estimated at $4 million to $6 million.

13. Apr 2024

    With bidding at $3.8 million, short of the estimate, the sale is postponed.

14. Feb 7, 2025

    Re-offered with an irrevocable bid, the trunks sell for $1.2 million including premium.

15. Oct 2025

    The Araneta Coliseum stages a 50th anniversary card for the fight.

The world in 1975

• Apr 4, 1975

  Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Micro-Soft in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

• Apr 30, 1975

  Saigon falls to North Vietnamese forces, ending the Vietnam War.

• Jun 5, 1975

  The Suez Canal reopens for the first time since the Six-Day War.

• Jul 17, 1975

  American Apollo and Soviet Soyuz spacecraft dock in orbit, the first such link-up.

• Oct 1, 1975

  HBO carries the Thrilla in Manila live, the first continuous satellite signal for a pay television network.

• Nov 20, 1975

  Francisco Franco dies; Juan Carlos is declared King of Spain two days later.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Muhammad Ali 'Thrilla in Manila' Trunks is number 62 of 100 in the memorabilia entries of the FLOAT 100. 100 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (61 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The cornerman's writing on the trunks misspells the fight: it reads 'Trilla in Manila.'
• The trunks first sold not at a glamorous auction but in a sale of a storage locker whose fees had gone unpaid after Bundini Brown's death.
• Ali's signature was not added in Manila; an authenticator dated it to the late 1980s or early 1990s, after the trunks left Brown's estate.
• Ali told his corner to cut his gloves off after the 14th round, but trainer Angelo Dundee ignored him. Frazier's corner stopped the fight first.
• Ali let a Philippine developer name a shopping center after him for free; the Ali Mall opened in 1976 near the arena.
• The fight started at 10 in the morning local time so it could air in prime time abroad.
• In 2024 bidding reached $3.8 million, yet the trunks sold the next year for $1.2 million including premium.