Veteran promoter Bob Arum, who promoted the legendary 1975 trilogy bout between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, is planning a significant return to Manila later this year. This October will mark the 50th anniversary of that iconic heavyweight clash, famously held in the Filipino capital.
To commemorate this milestone, Arum intends to stage a likely rematch between Emanuel Navarrete and Charly Suarez at the very same venue, the Araneta Coliseum.
The two boxers recently faced off last Saturday in a controversial encounter. Emanuel Navarrete, with a record of 40-2-1 (32 KOs), successfully defended his WBO world super-featherweight title by way of a technical decision.
However, the fight was stopped after the Mexican challenger suffered a cut over his left eyebrow in the sixth round. The ringside physician halted the bout two rounds later.
Initially, the referee, Edward Collantes, ruled that the injury was caused by an accidental head clash. With all three judges` scorecards favouring Navarrete at the time of the stoppage, he was declared the winner.
Subsequent video replay footage, however, indicated that Suarez (18-1, 10 KOs) had caused the cut with a legal punch. Following this, Suarez has filed an appeal with the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC).
The CSAC is scheduled to make a decision on June 2. The result could potentially be changed to a no-contest or, less probably, a stoppage victory for Suarez.
Regardless of the appeal`s outcome, Bob Arum is keen on arranging an immediate rematch. He informed boxing journalist Dan Rafael that plans for a potential showdown in Manila, which would give Suarez home advantage, are already in motion.
According to Rafael`s report in Fight Freaks Unite, Arum stated, “What I’m working on, and I don’t know if I can pull it off, is October is the 50th anniversary of the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ and I’d love to go back to the same building, the Araneta Coliseum, which has now been remodelled, and do this fight in Manila as a celebration of the Ali-Frazier fight.”
