Joe Frazier

Boxer

• Born: January 12, 1944
• Birthplace: Beaufort, South Carolina
• Died: November 7, 2011

Frazier’s powerhouse fighting style and legendary strength made him one of the greatest heavyweight boxers in history. His famous matches helped make boxing an internationally respected and lucrative sport.

Early Life

Joseph William Frazier (FRAY-zhur) was born to sharecropper parents in Beaufort, South Carolina, on January 12, 1944. When he was eight, Frazier’s uncle remarked that he could be the next Joe Louis, the first African American boxing champion. Frazier was so inspired that he began learning to box. Beaufort had no sports facilities for African Americans, so he practiced at home with homemade equipment.

At age fifteen, Frazier moved to New York for work. When that proved unsuccessful, he moved to Philadelphia and joined the Police Athletic League gymnasium, resumed boxing, and worked at a slaughterhouse where he used meat carcasses as punching bags. This image was later used in the film Rocky (1976). Duke Dugent and Yancey Durham recognized his potential and became his managers-trainers.

Frazier won Philadelphia’s Golden Gloves championships in 1962, 1963, and 1964 and tried out for the 1964 U.S. Olympic boxing team. After losing to Buster Mathis, the only person ever to defeat the amateur Frazier, he decided to quit boxing. Durham persuaded Frazier to accompany the team as a sparring partner and alternate. Mathis broke his thumb in Tokyo, and Frazier was given his spot. Frazier won the gold medal in the heavyweight division despite a devastating injury to his right hand, which he concealed from officials.

Life’s Work

In 1965, Frazier won his first professional fight against Woody Goss by technical knockout in the first round. He remained undefeated in his first year, winning all his fights by knockout. In 1966, trainer Eddie Futch joined Frazier’s team and helped develop Frazier’s characteristic bob-and-weave style. Frazier continued his winning streak from 1966 through 1969.

In 1967, Muhammad Ali was stripped of the heavyweight title after refusing to register for the draft, leaving the title vacant. Frazier petitioned for Ali to be reinstated. The New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) held a contested title fight between Frazier and Mathis, to whom Frazier had lost twice as an amateur. Frazier was victorious and was named heavyweight champ by the NYSAC. The World Boxing Association also held a contested tournament for the title, which was won by Jimmy Ellis. Frazier did not participate because he felt Ali deserved the title. However, in 1970, Frazier beat Ellis and became the undisputed world heavyweight champion.

When Ali was reinstated in 1970, he was determined to take Frazier’s title, beginning their lifelong feud. Ali called Frazier an “Uncle Tom”; Frazier insisted on calling Ali by his birth name, Cassius Clay. The feud persisted through the years and divided many boxing fans.

The title fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world occurred on March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden. This was the highest-grossing, most anticipated boxing match in history and remains known as “The Fight of the Century.” Frazier knocked down Ali in the fifteenth round, and although Ali quickly recovered, the title went to Frazier.

In 1973, Frazier lost the title to George Foreman, and in 1974 he lost a rematch to Ali at Madison Square Garden in the twelfth round. Ali went on to defeat Foreman, winning back the title. After defeating Jerry Quarry and Ellis, Frazier decided on a third match with Ali. In the 1975 bout dubbed the “Thrilla in Manila,” Frazier lost for the final time to Ali, in the fifteenth round. Despite his losses, Frazier contends that he was victorious in all three of the fights. He suffered his next loss in 1976 against Foreman and retired until his 1981 fight against Floyd Cummings, which ended in a draw. Then Frazier retired from the ring permanently.

Frazier was inducted into the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame (1980) and the International Boxing Hall of Fame (1990) and was named one of the ten best heavyweight boxers of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization. After retiring, Frazier purchased the boxing gym owned by Cloverlay, Incorporated, his management team, and worked training fighters there in Philadelphia. He continued to make public appearances and compete in charity exhibition fights through the 2000’s. Mismanagement by his financial team and a land deal that went wrong depleted much of the fortune he earned as a fighter. His children work in his businesses, and some of them also are professional boxers.

Significance

Frazier was one of the greatest boxers in history. His powerful punching and incredible stamina made him a deadly opponent. His rivalry with Ali helped to publicize the sport and make it both fashionable and accessible. He showed amazing courage and determination in the ring, and he remains the epitome of brawler-style boxing.

Bibliography

Arkush, Michael. The Fight of the Century: Ali vs. Frazier, March 8, 1971. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2007. Investigates the marketing, staging, and promoting of this fight. Placing the fight in a historical context, Arkush explains why this fight was seminal in American sports and culture.

Frazier, Joe, and Phil Berger. Smokin’ Joe: The Autobiography of the Heavyweight Champion of the World. New York: Macmillan, 1996. In Frazier’s congenial autobiography, he discusses his relationship with Muhammad Ali and tells stories about his career and life.

Kram, Mark. Ghosts of Manila: The Fatal Blood Feud Between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. New York: HarperCollins, 2001. Examines both men’s lives and the fateful meeting in Manila. Explores the ways the press determined the popularity of each fighter and the racial and political impact of their careers.

Sugar, Bert Randolph. Boxing’s Greatest Fighters. Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press, 2006. A sports historian provides a ranked assessment and analysis of one hundred of the greatest boxers in history.