Signed Muhammad Ali Training Shoes, ca. 1975
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GUEST:
These were the shoes that Muhammad Ali wore in the very famous heavyweight championship fight The Thrilla in Manila. It happened in 1975. It was their third and final fight. After the fight, he used these... Ali used these shoes to train in. And I don't know how long he trained in them, but eventually the right front toe came loose. And... there. And Angelo Dundee, the trainer, took them because they weren't useful anymore. Ali wanted to get... drop them. So he sent them to me, and I had them autographed later.
APPRAISER:
Well, let's talk about the fight again a minute. How did they come to determine the name Thrilla in Manila?
GUEST:
Ali was a bit of a poet, if you remember. He was, "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee," and The Rumble in the Jungle when he fought George Foreman. So he came up with a little bit of poetry for this fight. He always did it to promote the sale of tickets and all. And I think I'm paraphrasing here, but he said, "This fight is going to be the killa, and a chilla, and I'm going to beat the gorilla in the Thrilla in Manila." And they ended up... The press picked up that phrase and used Thrilla in Manila, and it's become one of the most historical heavyweight championship bouts ever.
APPRAISER:
When Frazier won the first match, Ali, with controversy, won the second fight.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And then Ali, of course, won the third and decisive fight with a TKO between the 14th and 15th round.
GUEST:
That's right. Both of them took a brutal beating. They both went to the hospital after that fight.
APPRAISER:
Now, you say you received these from Angelo Dundee. And what other provenance do you have with these? Any documentation?
GUEST:
No, I don't have documentation. What happened is I was the executive sports editor of the Philadelphia Enquirer at that time, 1980, and I had asked Angelo for some promotional material for a promotion I was doing for the paper. And he sent me a robe, an Ali robe, which I gave away as the winner of the promotion. And he threw these shoes in with a note that says, "These are the shoes that he wore in Manila. He discarded them because of the toe." And he said, "I thought you might like to have them." And that was in 1980. The fight was 1975.
APPRAISER:
And of course, with something like this, the provenance is so important. And in my research that I did, I have found another pair that was from the Thrilla in Manila, actually certified authentic as Ali's shoes that were worn in the Thrilla in Manila.
GUEST:
You're kidding. I had no idea.
APPRAISER:
So what we have on this one, with what you heard from Angelo Dundee, is we have the provenance that these were known for sure to be training shoes worn by Ali. Being an autographed pair of training shoes, we can put a value for these at auction for between $15,000 and $20,000. Similar Ali boxing shoes that are from one of the big fights have sold for up to $100,000. With the full provenance, the documented shoes from the Thrilla in Manila auctioned ten years ago, and at that time sold for $25,000.
GUEST:
Interesting.
APPRAISER:
But ten years ago.
GUEST:
Interesting. Well, I've learned something today.
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