By Sharin Hussain via SWNS
The pair of shorts worn by boxing legend Muhammed Ali for his ‘Thrilla in Manila’ fight with Joe Frazier could fetch up to £4.75 million ($6m) at auction.
Ali met ‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier in 1975 for what was the toughest fight of his career which left him in his own words “the closest thing to dying” that he had done.
It was the third time the pair had met, with Frazier winning “The Fight of the Century” in New York City at the start of the 15th and final round.
They had a rematch in Madison Square Garden in January 1974, which ended with Ali the victor.
Ali’s victory in Manila on October 1 1975 in temperatures pushing 49 degrees centigrade (120 farenheit) under the lights, cemented his reputation as ‘The Greatest’.
Such was his fame, a billion people worldwide tuned in to watch the fight, still regarded as the greatest and most brutal boxing match of all time 50 years on.
The shorts should have been bloodied during his brutal bout with Joe Frazier but after 14 rounds they remained spotless.
Ali wore his trademark silk Everlast shorts, pure white save for the black beltline and thin black racing stripes down each leg.
The shorts, signed by Ali, are offered as part of Sotheby’s New York Sports Week running from 27 March to 10 April.
Of the fight, Ali said: “It was like death. Closest thing to dying that I know of.”
The event was hosted in the Philippines and was said to have been as hot as 120 degrees under the overhead lights and the pair fought for 42 minutes.
Ali added: “We went to Manila as champions, Joe and me, and we came back as old men.”
The Joe Frazier who stepped into the ring that muggy morning never left it.
His vision was compromised for the rest of his life, and the 31-year-old only fought twice more before retiring.
Ali boxed for six more years, retaining, then losing, then recapturing heavyweight titles.
In 1984, just three years after retiring from boxing, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
He died at the age of 74, after three decades of battling the disease, on 3 June 2016.
The sale will also feature Michel Jordan’s Air Jordan 11s from Game 5 of the 1996 NBA Finals, valued up to £317,000 ($400,000).
They form part of a collection of 50 sneakers worn by some of the NBA’s greatest-ever players.
