IT’S better late than never for Carlos “Sonny” Padilla who was inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame early in August.
Now 88, it took 47 long years for Padilla to be inducted for a nook in the Hall of Fame he rightfully deserves after showing to the whole world that he was indeed the right man to referee the epic “Thrilla in Manila” between two boxing greats—Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier—on October 1, 1975, at the Araneta Coliseum.
Padilla and the Class of 2020 had to wait two years after the Covid-19 pandemic shuttered the ceremony. Last August, they finally got what’s rightfully theirs at the Resorts World in Las Vegas in Nevada.
Born in 1934, Padilla is a retired actor and boxing referee, and judge. He’s now based in Las Vegas.
His shining moment came in that epic October 1 “Thrilla,” which had several names—“Fight of the Century” or “Super Fight 3”—to name a few. Ali won that 15-round duel via technical knockout in the 14th round.
The choice of Padilla—father of singer and actor Zsa Zsa Padilla to wife Esperanza—didn’t come that easy though Frazier’s camp, led by Hall of Fame trainer Eddie Futch, and fight promoter Don King himself expressing apprehension that a Filipino referee “was too small in size that he might not be able to control the fight.”
Futch’s apprehension stemmed from the second Ali-Frazier fight on January 28, 1974, at the Madison Square Garden in New York where Puerto Rican-American referee Tony Perez controversially stopped the bout in the second round when there still were 25 seconds left in the clock.
Futch then stressed that Torres failed to stop Ali’s illegal holding tactics and for pulling Frazier’s neck, allowing Ali to escape with a unanimous decision victory. Frazier won their first encounter in 1971 in the same iconic New York venue.
But then President Ferdinand Marcos intervened and instructed then Games and Amusements Board chair Luis Tabuena to convince the doubters of his recommendations—Padilla and Filipino judges Lary Nadayag and Alfredo Quiazon.
Marcos later revealed that he wanted Padilla and company for the fight “to prove to the world that the Philippines is capable not only to host an event of that magnitude but also to handle all the situations relevant to the fight including officiating.”
Marcos won and an all-Filipino panel was named to the fight.
Padilla, Nadayag, and Quiazon all handled their assignments well to the satisfaction of everybody, including Don King, the boxers’ camps, and the media.
Padilla, son of Los Angeles boxing Olympian Carlos Padilla Sr., proved sharper than expected. For all of 14 rounds—36 minutes—he prevented Ali from using his rope-a-dope tactics to his advantage.
“I know boxing, I grew up with boxing,” Padilla told reporters after the classic fight. “My father’s a boxer, and so is my uncle,” said Padilla, whose uncle Jose Padilla Jr. was also an Olympian and matinee idol.
“It wasn’t really that hard for me to officiate that fight. Both Ali and Frazier are intelligent and clean fighters—they had no intentions to play dirty,” said Padilla, who was voted Referee of the Year in 1975.
“I was very happy and at the same time-honored for having been selected to do the job, not only for myself and my family but for the country and our people,” he said. “Modesty aside, I believe I had a part in making the fight a real ‘Thrilla in Manlla.’”
He said: “In the first few rounds, I saw Ali tiring and trying to resort to holding and wrestling. Twice I warned him and Ali must have taken note. In the end, the fight turned out to be what everybody wanted, a real slugfest.”
Padilla was all praises for Ali and Frazier.
“Ali can really fight. He’s at his best when fighting,” he said.” He’s really a great fighter.”
Padilla hailed Frazier for his demeanor and courage.
“In my 11 years of officiating, I have never seen a fighter as clean and as brave as Frazier,” Padilla said. “For 14 solid rounds, he played it clean. He, too, is a great boxer. it’s a pity he turned out the loser, but in boxing, only one man wins.”
Padilla went on to officiate many of boxing’s most unforgettable duels, including the first Sugar Ray Leonard-Roberto Duran welterweight fight in Montreal in 1980, and Thomas Hearns’s two-round destruction of Duran in 1984.
He was also the third man on the right in the Salvador Sanchez vs Wilfredo Gomez featherweight clash in 1981.