Muhammad Ali's shorts from his legendary fight with Joe Frazier in the Philippines are to be auctioned off, with the price expected to reach a staggering $6 million.
The match, known as the "Manila Thriller", took place in October 1975 and is considered one of the greatest in the history of the sport. Four years earlier, Frazier inflicted the first loss of Ali's professional career to defend his world heavyweight title. Ali won a rematch in 1974, and so it came to a third and decisive clash in the capital of the Philippines, in which, after 14 brutal rounds, Frazier's corner threw in the towel.
Ali's white shorts, autographed by him, sold for $120,000 in 2012, but the price is now expected to increase 40 times. The auction, which is conducted by Sotheby's, continues until April 12, and as of April 5, the highest bid was $3.8 million.
Ali, considered by many to be the greatest boxer in history, died in 2016 at the age of 74 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Joe Fraser died at the age of 67 in 2011. /BGNES
