By Dallan O’Donnell: The Thrilla in Manila, arguably one of the greatest fights of all time, the self proclaimed “Greatest” Muhammad Ali in a third fight with “Smokin” Joe Frazier at the Araneta Coliseum, Manila in the Philippines. The climax of an epic trilogy would be forever remembered as one of the greatest fights of the twentieth century, if not of all time. And now do we have a bout that would match, if not eclipse the 1975 classic, 35 years in the making. Of course the only two boxers that would be able to headline such an event are two of the best boxers alive today the greatest of their generation Manny “The Pac-man” Pacquaio and “Pretty boy” Floyd Mayweather.

Bob Arum has already delivered his verdict on Manny’s upcoming fight with Antonio Margarito eyeing another Pac-man win and he is now looking forward to 2011. Reports suggest the fight should be held in Manila as a sequel to the first fight what a fitting sequel too. If Manny does overcome Margarito are we going to see this super fight with Floyd? Only of course if both parties can agree on the terms which is highly likely yet highly unlikely. For boxing fans everywhere this fight needs to happen this fight needs to happen for boxing itself. We have not seen a fight like the Thrilla in Manila or anything close to it since Ali’s iconic victory over Frazier. But as usual with boxing these days and making the super fights happen there is always a snag hit in the contracts, a fighter looking for the biggest purse, random blood testing or whatever it may be.

A huge problem with this concept is that of course Manny is from the Philippines and I can’t see Floyd fighting in Pacquaio’s backyard. But if it were to happen it would break every box office record it would be the highest grossing fight ever with both men walking away with huge checks, both with even higher iconic statuses, but only one walking away with the label of the greatest, ever.