“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.”–Muhammad Ali
One of the finest boxing legends of the modern era has passed away:
Joe Frazier, 67, the former heavyweight boxing champion who was known for his fighting spirit, powerful punch and intense rivalry with Muhammad Ali, died Monday night in a hospice in Philadelphia. He had been suffering from liver cancer.
As a heavyweight in all senses of the word, Mr. Frazier was one of the best known champions of the latter decades of the 20th century.
While at the top of the heavyweight ranks, the elite of boxing, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mr. Frazier, who went by the sobriquet of Smokin’ Joe, was known for his knockout punch.
In more than two dozen fights, Mr. Frazier’s ferocious, brawling, slugging style sent his foes to the canvas for the full count.
Among boxing fans, and connoisseurs of popular culture, his bouts with Ali have become enshrined in memory. He was the first to defeat Ali in the ring. It happened in New York’s Madison Square Garden, long the world’s capital of prizefighting.
The contest went the full 15 rounds, neither able to dispatch the other, in what was described in the hyperbole of the sports world as the Fight of the Century.
In all they had four fights, and in one of them, the “Thrilla in Manila,” they outdid their previous efforts for the title.
In that 1975 slugfest, Ali emerged the victor when Mr. Frazier could not answer the bell for the final round.
In addition to his legendary battles with Ali, Mr. Frazier was also known for two fights with George Foreman. In the first, Foreman took his title from him.
But the rivalry with Ali was what he was better known for, a kind of face-off in the ring and outside it, that emphasized the contrasting styles and personalities of both men.
With a less flamboyant and engaging image than Ali’s Mr. Frazier seemed far less expressive, possessed of a stolid ruggedness of a hard-working man who let his fists and his dedication speak for him.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM2wZG0_0dg&feature=fvst[/youtube]
More from the AP:
he also was the only American fighter to win a gold medal in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. He was the heavyweight champ from February 1970 to January 1973, an era when that crown truly meant something. He was beloved as an adopted son of Philadelphia, embodying the city’s blue-collar grit.
And when the last round of his final fight ended Monday night, reaction to Frazier’s death poured in from every corner of the sports world.
“Good night Joe Frazier. I love you dear friend,” former heavyweight champion George Foreman, who stopped Frazier to win the title, posted to his Twitter account.
WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao said boxing lost “a great champion” and “a great ambassador.”
And it wasn’t only other boxers who were touched by Frazier. Tennis star Serena Williams called him an icon and a pioneer.
“Inspiring and loved. Your presence will be missed,” she tweeted.
Don King, who promoted the steamy fight in the Philippines that became known as the Thrilla in Manila, was described by a spokesman as too upset to talk about Frazier’s death.
WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins, a fellow Philadelphia fighter, said Frazier was so big in the city that he should have his own statue, like the fictional Rocky character.
“There’s no way in the world you should come to Philadelphia and not recognize who Joe Frazier is. It’s the perfect time to build the biggest statue in appreciation for all the heart and love he gave to Philadelphia,” Hopkins said. “It’s just to say how we regret when it’s not there to touch and see. We didn’t realize we had a super special person amongst us that we all in a way took for granted. I said this when he was living, I say this now. That’s the only thing.”
Bob Arum, who once promoted Ali, said the famous bout in the Philippines was “the greatest fight in the history of boxing.”
“Joe Frazier should be remembered as one of the greatest fighters of all time and a real man. He’s a guy that stood up for himself. He didn’t compromise and always gave 100 percent in the ring. There was never a fight in the ring where Joe didn’t give 100 percent,” Arum said.
Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, who hold all the major heavyweight belts, paid respect to Frazier on Tuesday.
“My brother and I are very sad about the death of Joe Frazier,” said Vitali Klitschko, the elder of the two brothers and the WBC champion. “He was one of the really great heavyweights. He was a great champion and Joe did a lot for the sport of boxing through his social engagements.”
Wladimir Klitschko is the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion.
Former German heavyweight Axel Schulz also praised Frazier.
“He marked the gigantic era of heavyweight in the 1970s. The news made me incredibly sad,” Schulz told the German news agency dapd. “I was shocked by how fast it all went.”
A former fetus, the “wordsmith from nantucket” was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1968. Adopted at birth, wordsmith grew up a military brat. He achieved his B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles (graduating in the top 97% of his class), where he also competed rings for the UCLA mens gymnastics team. The events of 9/11 woke him from his political slumber and malaise. Currently a personal trainer and gymnastics coach.
The wordsmith has never been to Nantucket.
Thanks, Word. Including the photos, videos, and link, it’s the best Frazier obit I’ve seen. I don’t know of a better series of 3 heavyweight fights than Ali v Frazier.
– Larry W/HB
Wordsmith, thank you for the good POST and VIDEO,
JOE FRAZIER was loved in MONTREAL TOO.
A SUPER ATHLETE, OF an era gone
At the time of the Frazier/Ali era I was a young teenager. Boxing was all the rage.
It was in reality a political event, politicized by many factors including race, idealism, religion.
But from a pure “boxing point of view”, these fights were just awesome.
I was a huge Frazier fan.
Ali clearly had a winning strategy. (Rope-a-dope).
Although I hated his self-flamboyance I had to respect a strategy of offering your body as a human punching bag at times to wear out an opponent yet then start dancing like a ballerina. (How could you DO THAT after being pummeled against the ropes for a half hour???).
If you don’t think that punches from a prize fighter to the arms or shoulders don’t hurt then allow me to hit you with a 2X4 for a half hour….see how you feel.
But unfortunately, an idiot named Don King RUINED THE SPORT.
Pay per View screwed it up further and the two are related.
The fact that a title-holder could take a year or more to defend the title was total bullshit.
And I always hated the split decision and for my entire life I thought that FOR TITLE FIGHTS:
A) The Title holder should be required to defend the crown within 3 months (C’mon, man, you’re just fine after 1/4 YEAR!) and
B) A Title Fight should be like a baseball game. No set amount of rounds. You fight until one drops and doesn’t get up. Remember, these fights have 8 figure (or MORE!) purses.
But the fact that I had to (HUMBLY) admit that Ali was the better fighter…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Frazier BEAT HIM!
Yeah, that’s right! Uh Huh!
Smok’in Joe! A REAL American hero.
He “Took it to the man” and he was a real idol for many inner-city kids.
In private life he was quite humble.
I was 16 years old in February, 1963, and had a job as a movie theater usher. The first Cassius Clay-Sonny Liston fight was being held at the (at the time palatial) Michigan Theater, in downtown (pre-riot) Detroit. Back when Detroit bore some resemblance to a functional city. I worked out in suburbia (Birmingham Theater), but got a gig working the fight downtown. Once I had everyone in their seats, I could (and did) watch the fight. Black and white closed circuit – shown on the big screen. Amazing. Liston didn’t answer the bell, mid-way through, but Clay was ahead on points, anyway. But the atmosphere for the whole thing was just electric. Can’t imagine any fight today generating that degree of excitement.
My favorite Muhammad Ali moment, however, was him receiving the Olympic torch from Janet Evans and lighting the cauldron, in Atlanta, in 1996.
– Larry W/HB
Frazier, Foreman, and Ali… Three class acts, no doubt about it.
To me that was the true era of boxing and nothing since has come close. RIP.
RIP Smokin’ Joe
Sad to see him go. But he was right in his assessment of current boxing, that they had turned the boxers into girls. Those fights in the 60’s and the 70’s were something to watch. Yes they were brutal, but to watch someone like joe and ali both experts in their profession was something to see. We gave up on boxing years ago when TKO became the call of just about every fight. But man were those guys good! And Foreman too.