By REYNALD MAGALLON
One less thrill to what some deemed as an already underwhelming take to reliving the legendary ‘Thrilla in Manila’.
Mark Magsayo won’t be fighting in the golden anniversary celebration of the iconic Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier duel on Oct. 29 after his title eliminator match against Michael Magnesi was moved to a later date.
Initially announced by the World Boxing Council to star in the Thrilla card alongside Melvin Jerusalem’s title defense against Siyakholwa Kuse, the super featherweight bout between Magsayo and Magnesi reportedly will happen instead in December as part of a Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) fight card.
Veteran American boxing writer Dan Rafael first announced the development and was later on confirmed by MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons in a series of reports.
The winner of the Magsayo-Magnesi fight will be the mandatory challenger to the WBC strap which current champion O’Shaquie Foster will stake in an Oct. 25 fight against Stephen Fulton at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The 30-year-old pride of Tagbilaran City, Bohol is the WBC rated No.1 boxer in the super featherweight followed by Magnesi at No.2.
With the Magsayo fight officially out on the card, the daunting task to deliver the same level of thrill as the original ‘Thrilla’ now falls on the shoulders of Jerusalem along with other Filipino up-and-coming boxers and prospects.
Eumir Marcial will lead the roster of Filipino boxing talent as he vie for the WBC international super featherweight crown.
Also announced to be in the fight card are two-time world champion Marlon Tapales, undefeated bantamweight prospect Carl James Martin, middleweight knockout artist Weljon Mindoro, and the up-and-coming Eman Bacosa.
Ali’s grandson, Nico Ali Walsh is also set to appear in the card.
Even then, Thrilla in Manila II pales in comparison to the original version of the event when the great Muhammad Ali engaged bitter rival Joe Frazier in a brutal heavyweight contest to cap their iconic trilogy.
After the fight, Ali likened the event to a “death” match.
He was even quoted as saying: “Closest thing to dyin’ that I know of. I was thinking at the end, ‘What am I doin’ here against this beast of a man?’ But after it’s all over, now I wanna tell the world that [Joe Frazer] is one hell of a man, actually, and God bless him.”
And many experts agreed that it was greatest rivalry of all time.
