The shorts worn by the great Muhammad Ali in his legendary 1975 boxing bout the "Thrilla in Manila" are expected to be sold for close to $6 million at auction at Sotheby's in New York next week.
Bids for the Everlast-branded white with black stripe shorts have been rolling in since March, including at least one bid of $3.8 million.
The trunks, signed by Ali, were sold for $150,000 in 2012 but are likely to fetch 40 times that sum now, according to Sotheby's.
The auction is open until April 12.
Ali's "Thrilla in Manila" fight against Joe Frazier was held in the Philippines and followed his "Rumble in the Jungle" bout in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Zaire) the year before.
Ali's fight in the Philippines went to 14 rounds before Frazier's coach threw in the towel. The fight is considered one of the greatest in boxing history.
"It was like death. Closest thing to dying that I know of," Ali said of the fight, which was held amid stifling heat and humidity, with temperatures heightened by TV lights. Ali, born Cassius Clay in the southeastern state of Kentucky, is known as both a sporting great and for his role in fighting for civil rights for African Americans. He died in 2016 age 74. Frazier passed in 2011 age 67.
As well as being signed by Ali, the Everlast trunks are also inscribed by his corner man, Drew 'Bundini' Brown, who died in 1988 – they fetched just $1,000 (£800) when auctioned after his death.
In 2022, Ali's WBC heavyweight belt from his 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” fight was sold at auction on Sunday for $6.18 million, making it fourth-most expensive piece of sports memorabilia ever sold.
Auction houses are increasingly tapping into the lucrative sports memorabilia market in recent years. Six shirts worn by Argentina captain Lionel Messi at the 2022 World Cup sold in December for nearly $8 million.
In December 2022, legendary basketball player Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls 1998 NBA Finals jersey sold for a record $10.1 million. In the same year, sneakers worn by Jordan – a pair of Nike Air 13s – sold for $2.2 million, making them one of the most expensive pair of trainers ever bought.
In May 2022, the famous 'Hand of God' shirt worn by Argentina footballer Diego Maradona during the 1986 World Cup quarter-final against England fetched £7.1 million at auction.
The sale comes as Sotheby's is auctioning off a slew of sports lots, including a uniform from NBA star Victor Wembanyama.
Despite a growing interest in historic sporting items, Sotheby's said that, as of Thursday, the minimum price agreed to by the seller of Ali's shorts has not yet been reached.
Also for sale is a raft of NBA jerseys, including French player Wembanyama's complete uniform from an exhibition game held earlier this year.
Interest in the game day goods also apparently extends to items from Wembanyama's locker – including a chair, water bottles and a towel.
The jersey, Sotheby's estimates, is expected to sell for $80-120,000. The locker contents are estimated to go for $5-7,000.
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Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
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LIVING IN...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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