Joe Frazier
MARCH 8, 1971 TO MARCH 8, 2014
San Francisco– The first time I saw Joe Frazier was when he replaced Buster Mathis, Sr., on the 1964 Olympic team and won the Gold medal in Tokyo, Japan. Already living in the shadow of then heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, it was a position Joe was in for life. Having watched Joe Frazier fight for the first time against Oscar Bonavena, Joe got dropped and was hurt badly by the late Argentine known as “Ringo.”
BEAT ON “OVER THE HILL” MACHEN
Joe’s next fight was with my initial boxing mentor Eddie Machen in 1966. Bonavena probably beat him, but Eddie was beaten on by Joe before being stopped in ten. This was a fight that promoter Don Chargin looks back on and regrets for he had Machen and made the fight with the then “green” Frazier due to Joe looking so bad against Bonavena.
BEING CHAMP AFTER ALI BOTHERED JOE
After winning the vacant New York heavyweight title, stripped from Muhammad Ali, Joe stopped the original 1964 Olympic heavyweight boxer Buster Mathis Sr. inside of 11 fistic frames. Two fights later, Frazier would lick “Ringo” Bonavena in a rematch. Joe went on and defended a portion of, and then the undisputed world heavyweight championship a total of nine times. Having been around Frazier on numerous occasions, you never knew just what Joe Frazier was going to show up. Would he be contrite or polite? That was always the question regarding Joe.
WORLD STOOD STILL FOR “THE FIGHT”
The first fight with Muhammad Ali on March 8, 1971, “The Fight of The Century” was the biggest sporting event in history to this day. The world came to a halt on March 8, 1971, when Joe Frazier was awarded a unanimous decision over the man born Cassius Clay. Both men got a record $2.5 million for the fight. With the win over Ali taking a lot out of both men, Joe stopped non-entities Ron Stander and Terry Daniels, this before turning down a reported $5 million for an Ali rematch.
JOE’S ATTITUDE DANCE TRIPPED HIM UP BIG TIME!
His dislike for Ali not only cost him the money, but the title as well when George Foreman beat him senseless with six knockdowns (three in each round) in a January 1973 fight that was stopped in two. By picking George instead of Ali, this was surely the biggest mistake Frazier and manager Yank Durham ever made professionally. Of course Ali would beat Foreman a year and a half later, setting up the third Frazier-Ali fight in late 1975. The “Thrilla in Manila” is considered one of the greatest heavyweight encounters in history. Being prevented by trainer Eddie Futch to come out for round 15, a battered Joe didn’t know it then but Ali said later, “It was the closest thing to death” he had ever experienced.
REMATCH WITH FOREMAN ANOTHER MISTAKE
As a fighter, Joe was done and retired one year after the “Thrilla’ in Manilla” (1976) after George Foreman did another number on him and dropping him twice in round five bringing about the ending. Five years later in 1981, Joe made a comeback with fringe contender Floyd “Jumbo” Cummings and was “lucky” to have gotten a draw. Joe retired at 32-4, 27 KOs, with his only losses being twice to both Ali and Foreman.
NEVER KNEW WHAT JOE YOU WOULD ENCOUNTER
When I got to know Joe in the 1980s, it was at a time when he was exhibiting a split personality of sorts. When he was dampened, Joe was fun to be around. When he was dry, Joe was as direct as they come. I remember seeing the hatred for Ali in his eyes in an interview talking about a 38-year old Ali taking on Larry Holmes. Over the years, Joe would often say hideous things about Ali, things that were way across the line. All Joe could remember was Ali calling him an “Uncle Tom” and a “Gorilla.” Although he and Ali appeared to make peace, who really knows.
CALVIN GROVE ON TRAINING AT FRAZIER’S GYM IN PHILADELPHIA
Joe would manage his son Marvis Frazier to a title shot against Larry Holmes. Near the top of his game, Holmes throttled Marvis inside of one round. One weekday afternoon, ex-IBF 126 lb. champ Calvin “Silky” Grove told me that Joe went off and ran everybody out of the gym with a number of fighters still wearing boxing trunks.
WORKED VAUGHN BEAN’S CORNER IN HOLY FIGHT
When the undeserved Vaughn Bean got a second title fight, this after losing to Michael Moorer, the 31-1 Bean faced Evander Holyfield in Atlanta in September 1998. During the fight, the recently departed promoter/manager Butch Lewis and with Joe egging him on, called the referee Brian Garry a host of names over 12 rounds, this before Bean lost a UD 12. Before the fight, being part of the television team, I went into Bean’s dressing room and smelled booze emanating from both Lewis and Frazier. Had Florida’s Brian Garry been a thinner-skinned referee, or if the Georgia Commission had any stones, both Frazier and Lewis would have been jettisoned from the corner and escorted to the dressing room.
JOE USED TO CHARGE FOR AUTOGRAPHS!
“Smokin’ Joe” In Recent Years
As I said at times, Joe was a coin and you never whether he was “heads or tails” emotionally. When I used to see him at the International Boxing Hall of Fame of which he is a member, Joe used to set up a booth and charge those in attendance for a Joe Frazier autograph. In recent years, Frazier has said he forgives Ali for, but I never bought it as I saw the rage in Joe Frazier more than once when Ali’s name or wealth was brought up.
LIVER CANCER FATAL FOR SMOKIN’ JOE
Joe Frazier succumbed to the “Big C” on November 7, 2011. In closing, Joe was a hero to some and a grump to others. But the bottom line was he won the Olympics, the heavyweight title, and had a great career outside of his fights with Ali or Foreman. Sentiment aside, where does Frazier stand as an all time champion? Where do you think Joe should be in the all-time ratings?
Pedro Fernandez