Joe Frazier

Joe Frazier (born January 12, 1944, Beaufort, South Carolina, U.S.—died November 7, 2011, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American world heavyweight boxing champion from February 16, 1970, when he knocked out Jimmy Ellis in five rounds in New York City, until January 22, 1973, when he was beaten by George Foreman at Kingston, Jamaica.

(Read Gene Tunney’s 1929 Britannica essay on boxing.)

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During Frazier’s amateur career he was one of the best heavyweights in the United States, but he lost in the Olympic trials to Buster Mathis in 1964 and made it to the Tokyo Olympic Games as a replacement boxer only when Mathis injured his hand. He won the gold medal in his weight division and then began his professional career in August 1965. A chunky man (5 feet 11 inches [1.8 metres] tall and weighing 205 pounds [92.9 kg]) with an aggressive style and a powerful left hook, he was likened to an earlier heavyweight champion, Rocky Marciano.

After Muhammad Ali was stripped of his heavyweight title in 1967, the heavyweight championship became muddled. On March 4, 1968, in a title bout sanctioned by the New York State Athletic Commission and similar bodies in other states, Frazier knocked out his old rival Mathis in 11 rounds. The following month, Jimmy Ellis won a championship tournament (in which Frazier declined to participate) approved by the World Boxing Association (WBA). Frazier successfully defended his New York title four times before defeating Ellis in a fifth-round knockout to claim the WBA heavyweight title.

In 1970 Ali was reinstated to the sport, and a bout between the undefeated former champion and Frazier was inevitable. On March 8, 1971, the two heavyweights met in Madison Square Garden in the fight billed as “The Fight of the Century.” During the build-up for the fight, the media-savvy Ali characterized Frazier as a champion of the white establishment, even calling him an “Uncle Tom,” which sparked some genuine hostility between the boxers. The two fought at a furious pace for 15 rounds, but Ali had lost some of his speed during his absence from boxing, and Frazier scored a decision over him.

After his loss to Foreman in 1973, Frazier faced Ali again in 1974, losing a 12-round decision. On October 1, 1975, the two faced off in the Philippines for a third time. The fight, known as the “Thrilla in Manila,” was for the heavyweight championship, and this time Ali was the winner by technical knockout after 14 grueling rounds.

After a few more fights, Frazier retired in 1976. He staged an unsuccessful comeback attempt in 1981. He then retired again and began operating a gym in Philadelphia. Frazier was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. His daughter Jacqui began a professional boxing career in 2000.