Remembering Ali

MANILA, Philippines - Araneta Center, the site of Muhammad Ali’s most memorable fight Thrilla in Manila at the Big Dome, is paying tribute to the greatest of all time.

The Thrilla in Manila bout between Ali and Joe Frazier on Oct. 1, 1975 remains one of the greatest boxing matches ever fought. By many accounts, it was a sweltering Wednesday when the two fighters met for the third time on the ring at the Araneta Coliseum.

With over 25,000 spectators packed inside what was then the biggest enclosed coliseum in the world, the tension was palpable but nothing prepared the audience at the venue and all over the world for the fight that was about to unfold.

Coming from the improbable victory over George Foreman a year before to the World Heavyweight title, Ali seemed primed to handle Frazier. Still, the champ “took a beating like you wouldn’t believe...” shared Ali’s former physician and cornerman Ferdie Pacheco in the book Muhammad Ali: In Perspective (Collins Publishers San Francisco, 1996).

Frazier took a beating as well and was nearly blind from the swelling around his eyes. The fight ended in a TKO win by Ali when the former’s manager threw in the towel after the 14th round.

The day after the fight, the Araneta family hosted Ali at their ancestral home, BahaynaPuti, where, in a serendipitous moment, the Araneta Group president and CEO Jorge Araneta told the World Heavyweight champion he wanted to build a mall and name it after him. Ali was thrilled with the prospect and graciously agreed without asking for any royalty payment in return.

Thus, Ali Mall was born — the first shopping mall built in the Philippines, which stands as an appropriate monument to the fighter. Inaugurated on June 30, 1976 with the champ himself as the guest of honor, Ali Mall featured many firsts for a shopping mall ­— a multiplex with two cinemas, a food court and even a skating rink. Although bigger malls have since risen, Ali Mall set the blueprint for many to emulate.

Another structure indelibly linked to Ali is the Araneta Coliseum, the venue for the Thrilla in Manila ­— arguably the most significant sporting event ever held in the Philippines.

Visionary business tycoon and Araneta Center developer J. Amado Araneta foresaw a place where every Filipino can enjoy world-class entertainment. Opening in 1960, it was the largest indoor arena in Asia for a long time.

Days after Ali’s death, Ali Mall rightfully honors the man whose name it proudly bears with an exhibit billed Forever The Greatest: Remembering Muhammad Ali. Its main features include Ali-themed artworks as well as collectors’ items and memorabilia from Thrilla in Manila.

The exhibit was launched last Friday, in time for the boxing hero’s burial in the US, and will last until the last week of June.

Born Cassius Clay on Jan. 17, 1942, Muhammad Ali —­ the name he took after converting to Islam in 1965 — rose among the ranks of boxing greats with some of the most memorable matches. What truly made him “The Greatest” were his stand on social issues (like his opposition to the Vietnam War) and his advocacies.

After he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1984, just three years after retirement, he would support the Michael J. Fox Foundation (put up by the actor who also suffers from the illness) and put up the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center.

The world will forever remember his greatness. Photos by VER PAULINO