Fifty years after the Thriller in Manila, South Africa’s Siya Kuse will have the honour of celebrating the famous fight when he headlines a commemorative tournament in the Philippines against WBC minimumweight champion Melvin Jerusalem.
Promoted by the Philippines’ most successful champion, Manny Pacquiao.
The Thriller in Manila between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier was in Quezon City in 1975 and was the third and final match in their trilogy of fights, which Ali won by technical knockout when Frazier’s corner stopped the fight before the start of the 15th round.
“This is a tremendous honour,” said promoter Rodney Berman, who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes to get Kuse his title crack. He said that one of his objectives will be to invite Pacquiao to his November 29 tournament at Emperors Palace.
Kuse has been on a tear, winning six straight fights, the most recent of them against Samuel Salva.
With the possibility of tens of millions of fans watching – the event will be streamed live on DAZN – Kuse has the chance to showcase his skills to a massive new audience. Berman has also secured broadcast rights for SuperSport, ensuring Kuse’s home supporters are catered for too.
This latest development now means that the Golden Gloves tournament at Emperors Palace on October 4, Destiny’s Decree, will be headlined by Beaven Sibanda in defence of his IBF International belt against Joey Canoy.
If the “Flame of Zimbabwe” wins, his next bout will be an eliminator for a mandatory ranking.
Berman boldly stated his objective, saying “the plan is to ultimately have two world champions from the same gym, in the same weight class representing different organisations.”
October 4’s action will include a top-class outing for DonJuan van Heerden, plus the Rising Titans final (Michael Head v Bryan Thysse) and Charlton Malajika.
The year gets even better because on November 29 Ricardo Malajika will make another defence of his IBO championship (and also fight for the mandatory IBF spot) with the four-man Survivor event kicking off with junior middleweight Roarke Knapp against Kagiso Bagwasi and Shervantaigh Koopman matched against Brandon Thysse. The two winners will roll onto a 2026 event where they’ll share a pot of R1,2-million.
Heavyweight Juan Alberts will also appear with young sensation Ethan “The Villain” Peters making his much awaited pro debut on the undercard.
