Joe Frazier
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| Joe Frazier | |
| Image:Joe Frazier.jpg |
|
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Joseph William Frazier |
| Nickname | "Smokin" Joe |
| Weight | heavyweight |
| Nationality |  American |
| Birth date | January 12, 1944 |
| Birth place | Beaufort, SC, US |
| Style | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 37 |
| Wins | 32 |
| Wins by KO | 27 |
| Losses | 4 |
| Draws | 1 |
| No contests | 0 |
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Boxing | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1964 Tokyo | Heavyweight | |
- For the Major League Baseball player and manager, see Joe Frazier (baseball)
Joseph William "Smokin' Joe" Frazier (born January 12, 1944 in Beaufort, South Carolina) is a former world heavyweight boxing champion, active mostly in the 1960s and 1970s. Frazier is considered one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, but he is perhaps most famous for his trilogy of fights with Muhammad Ali, the first of which, won by Frazier in a unanimous decision, has often been called one of boxing's greatest bouts. Frazier was known for a relentless pursuit of opponents, quickly cutting off angles of escape using a chugging locomotion reminiscent of a train's advance up a hill. The contrast with Ali's dancing, non-linear style could not have been greater. [1]
[edit] Life and career
[edit] Birth; childhood; early fights
Joseph William Frazier was born in Beaufort, South Carolina on January 12, 1944 and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He notes in his autobiography that he grew up poor but happy. Even as early as childhood, he was noticeably bigger and stronger than most others his age. As a pre-teen he often made deals with his schoolmates: in exchange for some of their lunch or some extra food every once in a while, he would walk them home from school and protect them from bullies.
Soon after his 20th birthday, Frazier won the Gold medal in the 84 kilograms (187 lb) and above category (heavyweight) at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He subsequently turned professional in 1965, defeating Woody Goss by a knockout in the 1st round. He won three more fights that year, all by knockout, none going past the 3rd round.
[edit] Late 1960s: The Olympian cuts a wide swath
In 1966 Frazier was undefeated in nine fights, winning eight by knockout before gaining a split decision over Argentine fighter Oscar Bonavena, despite Bonavena flooring him twice in round 2. Frazier's 1966 knockout victims included Charlie Polite and Eddie Machen.
In 1967 Frazier won all four of his fights, including a 6th round knockout of Doug Jones and a 4th round technical knockout of George Chuvalo.
In 1968 Ali was stripped of his world heavyweight title due to his conscientious objections to serving in the Vietnam War, and the New York commission decided to hold a fight between Frazier and Buster Mathis, the winner to be recognized as world champion by the state of New York. Although the fight was not recognized as a world championship bout by some, Frazier won it by a knockout in 11 rounds. Next, he beat Manuel Ramos of Mexico in 2 rounds to defend his title. To close 1968 he beat Bonavena in a tough rematch, retaining the title by a decision in 15.
1969 saw him defending his title in Texas, beating Dave Zyglewicz by a knockout in the 1st. He finished the year TKOing Jerry Quarry in 7, once again defending the New York title. The competitive, exciting match with Quarry was named 1969 Ring Magazine Fight of The Year.
[edit] Early 1970s: world champion; conquers Ali; conquered by Foreman
On February 16, 1970, Frazier finally became a universally recognized champion when WBA world heavyweight champion Jimmy Ellis defended against him at Madison Square Garden and Frazier emerged victorious with a 5th round knockout. Frazier was immediately recognized as the undisputed world champion. In his first defense he went to Detroit to fight world light heavyweight champion Bob Foster, who had set a record for the number of defenses in the light heavyweight division. Frazier retained the title by a knockout in 2 rounds. Then came what was nicknamed the Fight Of The Century, his first fight with Ali.
On March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden, Frazier and Ali boxed the first of three bouts. In front of a worldwide television audience, and an in-house audience including such luminaries as Frank Sinatra (acting as a photographer for Life magazine in order to score a ringside seat), comedian Woody Allen, singer Diana Ross, and actors Dustin Hoffman and Burt Lancaster, the two heavyweights met in the kind of media-frenzied atmosphere not seen since Joe Louis' youth.
Many factors came together for Frazier in this fight. He was at his lifetime peak both physically and mentally, while Ali was coming back from a three-year absence, taking on Frazier soon after a bruising battle with Oscar Bonavena. Frazier had exhaustively trained specifically for Ali under the tutelage of 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.[2] [3] Frazier's staggering of Ali in the 11th round and his knockdown of Ali in the 15th were both executed precisely in this way.
Perhaps the most important factor in the fight was Frazier's raging anger at Ali, who dubbed him a "gorilla" for all of their matches. He derided and insulted Frazier at considerable length, something Frazier has not forgotten or forgiven to this day. He even made a famous visit to Frazier's training site, a scene that nearly dissolved into a street brawl. Many fans felt Ali lacked class in these exchanges and cheered Frazier in the subsequent bout.
Frazier lost a number of early rounds but took Ali's combinations without backing down, and as Ali started to slow down in the middle rounds, Frazier came on strong, landing hard shots to the body as well as the powerful left hooks to the head by virtue of Futch's instructions. Frazier won a clear 15-round unanimous decision, handing Ali his first ever defeat. Ali was taken to the hospital immediately after the fight to have his badly swollen jaw x-rayed, yet Frazier spent considerably more time in the hospital in the ensuing week.
In 1972 Frazier retained the title twice, beating Terry Daniels and Ron Stander, both 4 round knockouts.
Then came January 22, 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica, and it was Frazier's turn to lose his undefeated record and position as world champion against George Foreman in startling fashion. Foreman dominated, stopping Frazier's famous tank-like advance with armor-piercing crosses and hooks in just 2 rounds, including 6 knockdowns, to Howard Cosell's famous call "Down goes Frazier, down goes Frazier!".
Continuing to fight, Frazier, showing serious signs of deterioration as a boxer, won a 12-round decision over Joe Bugner in London.
[edit] Mid 1970s: Thrilla in Manila; aging fast
- See also: Thrilla in Manila
In 1974 his second fight against Ali took place, once again, in New York. Ali was given a 12 round decision in a lackluster bout. Frazier finished that year with another rematch, knocking Quarry out in 5 rounds.
1975 was, once again, a year of rematches for Frazier, but this time around they were accompanied by more traveling to far away countries. He met former victim Jimmy Ellis in Melbourne, Australia, knocking him out in 9 rounds. That win made him again the number one challenger for the world crown, taken over by Ali after Ali brilliantly defeated Foreman by knockout in 8 at "The Rumble in the Jungle".
The now aging Ali and Frazier met for the third time in Quezon City (a district within the metropolitan area of Manila), the Philippines: the "Thrilla in Manila". Ali took every opportunity to mock Frazier, again calling him The Gorilla, and generally trying to aggravate him (and succeeding) at every chance. In 1974 the two nearly came to blows in a studio interview with Howard Cosell before their first rematch– this time during the Cosell interview with both fighters, Ali famously said, "It'll be a chilla, and a killa, and a thrilla, when I get the gorilla in Manila.". Frazier fumed in his seat but was determined to let his fists do the talking in the ring.
The actual fight, which was attended by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, caused another media frenzy and was seen live in many countries around the world. It was far more action-filled than the previous encounter, a punishing display that ended when Frazier's coach and cornerman, Eddie Futch, in an act of compassion rare in boxing, stopped the fight before the final round was to begin. Frazier never talked to Futch again.[4] Ali described the match as "the closest thing to death" he had ever experienced.
In 1976 Frazier lost badly to Foreman in a rematch and retired. Frazier's style was poorly suited to counter Foreman's outside power punching, and Frazier finally despaired of reaching the top again. Many critics believe that in most other eras in the heavyweight division, Frazier would have ruled easily for five or even eight years. But in an era that included Ali and Foreman he would have to settle for just under two years as the undisputed champ.
Smokin' Joe made a cameo appearance in the movie Rocky later in 1976 and dedicated himself to training many local boxers in his native Philadelphia, including some of his own children.
[edit] 1980s: one fight comeback; trainer and coach
In 1981 Frazier attempted a comeback which lasted only one fight, drawing in 10 rounds with Jumbo Cummings in Chicago, Illinois.
Ever since, Frazier, who likes to meet fans and sign autographs, has involved himself in different endeavors. Among his sons that turned to boxing as a career, he helped train Marvis Frazier, a challenger for Larry Holmes's world heavyweight title, and currently trains his daughter, Jackie Frazier-Lyde.
Frazier's record is 32 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw, with 27 knockout wins. He won 73% of his fights by knockout, compared to 60% for Ali and 84% for Foreman. He is a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame.
[edit] 1990s to present: bitterness; lost fortune; beyond glory
In 1990 Frazier joined Ali, Foreman, Norton and Holmes to appear on the cover of a boxing game, Champions Forever, produced for the Sega and Nintendo game systems. He appeared as himself in an episode of The Simpsons (Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?) in 1992 in which he would be beaten up by Barney Gumble. Frazier objected and he was shown beating up Gumble instead. He later appeared in another episode of the Simpsons ("Homer's Paternity Coot") in early 2006. In February of 2006 Joe appeared in Fight Night Round 2 & 3, a game made by EA Sports.
Frazier's autobiography is titled Smokin' Joe. He was widely criticized by Ali fans for relating many offensive actions of Ali in his book. Some feel that Frazier has hurt himself with his unrelenting bitterness toward Ali. In 1996, when Ali lit the Olympic flame in Atlanta, Frazier told a reporter that he would like to throw Ali into the fire [5].
An episode featuring Frazier was added to Fox Sports Net's Beyond the Glory television series, and premiered December 11, 2006.
Frazier is still training fighters. He needed multiple operations for back injuries sustained in a car accident. Mismanagement of certain real-estate holdings was cited by the article as a partial explanation for Frazier's economic woes despite winning millions in the ring during the 1970s. Frazier is known as a very generous and kind man, often giving to charitys and needed children in the rough area of Philadelphia where his gym is.
Reportedly, he and Ali recently attempted a reconciliation, but as of October 2006 Frazier still claimed to have won all three bouts against him (officially Frazier won one and lost two) and declared to the Times' reporter, when questioned about his bitterness toward Ali, "I am what I am."
[edit] Trivia
- Joe Frazier was the first American heavyweight to win an Olympic gold Medal
- Joe had a band "Joe Frazier & the Knockouts" that released songs in the Soul genre.
- In the 90's Joe trained award winning artist Richard T. Slone to fight.
- Joe has operated a boxing gym in Philadelphia since the late 60's, amongst the fighters trained there are Michael Spinks, Meldrick Taylor, Marvis Frazier, Bernard Hopkinsand many more.
- Joe is the father to eleven (11) children.
[edit] See also
- Frazier's portrayal in the film "Ali" (2001); directed by Michael Mann.
- List of heavyweight boxing champions
- List of male boxers
- List of WBC world champions
- Notable boxing families
[edit] External links
- Ali v Frazier - Fight Of The Century
- Ali v Frazier - Superfight 2
- Ali v Frazier - Thrilla In Manila
- Smokin Joe Frazier
- Joe Frazier's Talent Agency
- Dispute hits sour note with residents, Bucks County Courier Times
- Fire Still Burns Inside Smokin’ Joe Frazier, New York Times
| Preceded by Jimmy Ellis |
Heavyweight boxing champion (WBC, WBA) | Succeeded by George Foreman |
Categories: 1944 births | Living people | American boxers | Heavyweights | Olympic competitors for the United States | Boxers at the 1964 Summer Olympics | People from Philadelphia | African American boxers | People from South Carolina | Superstars competitors | World Heavyweight Champions | WBA Champions | International Boxing Hall of Fame
