(Originally published in my sports page column Self-Propelled in the Nov. 13-19, 2011 issue of the Baguio Chronicle --- a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines.)
I GET off my bike this week in tribute to one of the greatest athletes/boxers of all time: SMOKIN’ JOE FRAZIER.
More known as the first man to beat Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) in March 1971 at the Madison Square Garden, Smokin’ Joe passed away last November 7 after battling liver cancer for two months.
He was 67 years old and left behind a professional boxing record of 37 fights --- 32 wins (27 by knockouts; 4 losses and 1 draw).
Born Joseph William Frazier in Beaufort, South Carolina on January 12, 1944, Frazier took up boxing early after watching weekly fights on the black and white television on his family's small farm. He was a top amateur for several years, and became the only American fighter to win a gold medal in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo despite fighting in the final bout with an injured left thumb.
Frazier's style was often compared to that of Henry Armstrong and occasionally Rocky Marciano. He was dependent on bobbing, weaving, grunting, snorting as he grimaced with all out aggression wearing down his opponents with relentless pressure. His best known punch was a powerful left hook, which accounted for most of his knockouts.
After turning pro in 1965, Frazier quickly became known for his punching power, stopping his first 11 opponents. Within three years, he was fighting world-class opposition and, on February 16, 1970, beat Jimmy Ellis at the Madison Square Garden to win the heavyweight title that he would hold for more than two years.
On March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden, Frazier and Ali met in the first of their three bouts which was widely called the "Fight of the Century" in pre-bout publicity and the press feeding frenzy with a worldwide television audience and an in-house audience that included luminaries such as Frank Sinatra (as a photographer for Life magazine to get a ringside seat), comedian Woody Allen, singer Diana Ross, and actors Dustin Hoffman and Burt Lancaster (who served as "color commentator" with fight announcer Don Dunphy).
Newspaper accounts say that several factors came together for Frazier in that fight. He was 27 years old and at his lifetime peak boxing-wise, physically and mentally, while Ali, 29, was coming back from a three-year absence (after being stripped of his professional boxing license and his title for refusing military draft) but had kept in training, taking on Frazier three months after a bruising battle with Oscar Bonavena, whom Ali had defeated by a TKO in 15.
Joe did his 'homework' training with famed coach Eddie Futch, who had developed a strategy based on Ali's tendency to throw the right-hand uppercut from a straight standing position after dropping the hand in preparation to throw it with force. Futch instructed Frazier to watch Ali's right hand and, at the moment Ali dropped it, to throw a left hook at the spot where they knew Ali's face would be a second later. Frazier's major staggering of Ali in the 11th round and his knock-down of Ali in the 15th were both executed precisely in this way.
In a brutally competitive contest, Frazier lost a number of early rounds but took Ali's combinations without backing down. As Ali started to slow in the middle rounds, Frazier came on strong, landing hard shots to the body as well as the powerful left hooks to the head.
Consequently, Frazier won a clear, 15-round, unanimous decision. Ali was taken to the hospital immediately after the fight to have his badly swollen jaw x-rayed, and Frazier spent time in the hospital during the ensuing month, the exertions of the fight having been exacerbated by his existing health problems, such as hypertension and a kidney infection. Sometime later he fought a 3-round exhibition against Cleveland Williams.
In 1972, Frazier successfully defended the title twice, beating Terry Daniels and Ron Stander, both by knockout, in the fourth and fifth rounds, respectively.
It was his fights with Ali, though, that would define Frazier. Though Ali was gracious in defeat in the first fight, he was as vicious with his words as he was with his punches in promoting all three fights --- and he never missed a chance to get a jab in at Frazier.
Frazier's second fight against Ali took place on January 28, 1974, in New York City. In contrast to their previous meeting, the bout was a non-title fight, with Ali winning a clear 12-round unanimous decision.
Five months later, Frazier again battled Jerry Quarry in Madison Square Garden, with a wicked left hook to the ribs by Frazier ending the fight in the fifth round.
In March 1975, Frazier again fought Jimmy Ellis, the man from whom he had originally taken the WBA title in Australia, knocking him out again in nine rounds. The win again established him as the number one heavyweight challenger for the title that was now held by Ali, following an eighth-round knockout of George Foreman in the famous “The Rumble in the Jungle” in October 1974.
Ali and Frazier met for the third and final time at the Araneta Coliseum on October 1, 1975 in what was known as the “Thrilla in Manila” where took every opportunity to mock Frazier, again calling him The Gorilla, and generally trying to irritate him.
The “Thrilla in Manila” was the third and final famous boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier and was often ranked as one of the greatest fights of 20th century boxing, and is the climax to the bitter rivalry between Ali and Frazier over who was the legitimate Heavyweight Champion.
That situation came about after Ali was stripped of the title over his refusal to join the armed forces when drafted during the Vietnam Was. Some years later, Frazier petitioned President Nixon to restore Ali's right to box, thereby bringing about the so called Fight of the Century between two undisputed heavyweight champions in 1971.
During the whole period from before their first fight to their last face-off in Manila, Ali had used his wit, sharp tongue, and position with the press to take characteristic verbal pot shots at Frazier (as was his practice with all opponents and which made good copy and controversy) but these became particularly intense, controversial and at times ugly and this verbal battery heated the rivalry into new territory.
The fight proved far more action-filled than the previous encounter and was a punishing display on both sides under oppressively hot conditions. During the course of the fight, Ali said to Frazier, "They said you were through, Joe." Frazier's reply quickly followed: "They lied, pretty boy." After 14 grueling rounds, Eddie Futch stopped the fight after Frazier was determined to finish the fight despite both eyes being swollen shut. Ali won the battle, but said afterward that it was the closest he ever felt to death.
Frazier lost his undefeated record of 29–0 and his world championship in the hands of the unbeaten George Foreman on January 22, 1973, in Kingston, Jamaica. Despite Frazier being the overall favorite, Foreman towered 4" over the shorter, more compact champion, and soon dominated the brief bout. Two minutes into the first round, Frazier was knocked down. After being knocked down a sixth time, the referee stopped the contest. It was the first two knockdowns that were decisive.
He retired in 1976 following a second loss to Foreman. He made a comeback in 1981, fighting just once, before retiring for good. The International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO) rates Frazier among the ten greatest heavyweights of all time. He is an inductee of both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.*
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