A member of one of Boxing Pantheon's has sadly passed away on November 8th 2011. Smokin' Joe Frazier, one of the few men to defeat Muhammed Ali, was admitted to a hospice on November 6th with liver cancer and although they were still looking for treatments, it was too late.
Frazier boycotted WBA tournaments from 1967 onward because Muhammed Ali was stripped of the title due to refusing military conscription for the American army against Vietnam. In 1970 he won the WBA Heavyweight Championship when he stopped then-champion Jimmy Ellis by knocking him down twice in the fourth round.
The first fight against Muhammed Ali came on March 8 1971 when Frazier (and many other boxers) boycotted tournaments and petitioned for Ali to be reinstated as a legitimate boxer (Frazier also financially helped Ali). Ali was coming off a three year absence (with the exception of a TKO in the 15th round to Oscar Bonavena). Frazier-Ali I went to Frazier as he managed to stagger Ali in the 11th round and knock him down in the 15th; his strategy was to hit Ali with a left hook after Ali dropped both his hands to throw a right uppercut.Ali had his jaw badly swollen and the match also made Frazier's kidney problems and hypertension worse.
On January 22 1973, George Foreman (yes the man who now sells grills) handed Frazier his first professional defeat and won the title from him. Foreman managed to knock Frazier down six times in two rounds through his heavy punching and after the first two floorings, it was over for Frazier.
On the 28th January 1974 in New York city, it was Frazier-Ali II. This match hardly lived up to the excitement of the first and both men were not in top condition and much more passive than usual (a lot of clinch work and hit-and-run from Ali and only from round 8 and 9 onwards did Frazier get Ali on the ropes). The match was clearly a win for Ali; both men now had a win over one another. Before this match ABC's Wide World of Sports had an interview with both men at the same time and a video highlight of their first fight; Ali insulted Frazier and called him ignorant for thinking he won the first fight.Both men ended up fighting each other on television and were fined.
On October 30,1974, Muhammed Ali knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round of a title fight; the first high profile promotion by Don King.
The Thrilla in Manilla on the 1st October 1975 saw the final, and decisive match up between both men for both the WBC and WBA titles. Before this fight, Ali regularly insulted Frazier by calling him a gorilla and an Uncle Tom (derogatory term that accuses blacks of ignoring their lineage/ choosing to associate with the whites rather than their own kind) due to his appearance and the fact his management team was white.
The Thrilla in Manilla was what one could call the Fight of the Century and was like a Rocky movie! Not only did the fight entertain, but Ali's first wife Belinda found out about his affair with Veronica Porsche was so severe that he even claimed her to be his wife.
The fight saw Ali jump in and unleash on Frazier to try and finish him early, although it staggered Frazier and the first four rounds went to Ali (who shouted "You stupid chump you!"), round 5 saw the tide begin to turn and Frazier use his patented hooks and power to punish a tiring Ali. In the 6th round Ali whispered "Joe, they told me you was all washed up" , Frazier growled back, "They told you wrong, pretty boy." Frazier began to dominate until the end of round 10. Round 11 saw Ali go back to his stick-and-move strategy and by round 12, Frazier's eyes were swollen. Into round 13, Frazier's mouth guard went flying out and was replaced at the end of the round,after the onslaught that cut his mouth badly. Frazier's cornerman Eddie Futch threw in the towel by round 15 because he did not want Frazier to suffer irrepairable damage or die (Frazier was ready to go more). Both men said they were close to death that day and both had haemotomas around their waist,legs and on their head. Although Ali was not in his greatest shape, he said some very important things regarding this match.
"Joe Frazier, I'll tell the world right now, brings out the best in me. I'm gonna tell ya, that's one helluva man, and God bless him...He is the greatest fighter of all times, next to me." He even said later that if there was a war, he'd want Joe Frazier on his side.
Although Frazier had many fights after this, he was already 30 by the time he and Ali fought their second match. He had a rematch with George Foreman and avoided the big blows from him but was knocked down two times by the fifth round. Frazier and Ali's daughters fought each other in 2001 and the latter's daughter won over the eight rounds.
Frazier had mixed feeling about Ali, regularly both alternated between insults and apologies, most notably Frazier said (regarding Ali lighting the torch for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta) that he would like to 'throw Ali into the fire'. In October 2006 he claimed to have won all three bouts he had with Ali but told Sports Illustrated in May 2009 that he no longer held hard feelings toward Ali.
Many stars paid tribute to Joe:
Mike Tyson "Today is a sad yet remarkable day as we mourn the death of boxing legend Joe Frazier & honor him by celebrating his amazing accomplishments...Frazier and Ali were quintessential the apex of pedigree fighting (sic) in which each man would not give an inch until they were dead (sic). Their era was competitive fighting at the highest level. As a young fighter it has always been an honor to be compared to Frasier (sic)...My family and I are sending our sincerest condolences to the Joe Frazier family."
Don King "The courage Smokin' Joe showed in answering every Ali onslaught with an equally withering response will remain in the hearts and minds of boxing fans around the globe forever...It was one of the most dramatic fights in history. Although the warrior inside Joe wanted to answer the bell for the 15th and final round, his chief second and friend, Eddie Futch, acted as more than a cornerman to step in and refuse to let him continue, so he could live to fight another day."
Floyd Mayweather "RIP Smokin Joe. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Frazier family. We lost an all time great tonight...TheMoneyTeam will pay for his Funeral services"
Manny Pacquiao "Joe Frazier was a great boxing champion and a great ambassador of the sport... His third fight with Muhammad Ali is legendary for all Filipinos. My prayers go out to his family."
Bernard Hopkins "His legacy in the city of Philadelphia is up there with the greats, maybe even surpassing the 76ers' Dr. J (Julius Erving)...I expected it to come, but the denial of it coming is something that people that know Joe and have been around him tried to block out. I knew he had been sick for a while, but now it is real and he is really not here with us anymore."
Jill Cosell (daughter of the late Howard Cosell) "I didn't know him as well as I knew Ali...But he was lovely, he was always so sweet. When he came to the service, he told me, '(Your father) was my friend, even though I always thought he was rooting for the other guy.' I said, 'no, no, no, he was very fond of you.'"
Al Bernstein "...Frazier was a great champion in his own right and while the Ali trilogy certainly enhanced his legacy, it didn't truly define it. If there had never been a Muhammad Ali, we would still be talking about Joe Frazier as a great champion."
George Foreman"He would not back up from King Kong... I know. I knocked Joe down six times. When our fight was over, Joe was on his feet looking for me."
Muhammed Ali "The world has lost a great champion...I will always remember Joe with respect and admiration...My sympathy goes out to his family and loved ones."
Joe Frazier never have beat (or fought) a prime Muhammed Ali or George Foreman;he also died sooner than both. One thing to remember is that it's not such a bad thing being number 2 or 3.
Video credit to Borges Production
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