Memorable moments of Joe Frazier.....a genius nevertheless....

[RAJ PATEL JR]

Joe Frazier poses in February 1968 during a workout for his title bout against Buster Mathis at the new Madison Square Garden

I have a lot of respect for Ali, but Joe Frazier was ma man!

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

Ali lunges at Frazier as he begins to slow down and tire in the 10th

 

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Frazier takes another right to the head

 

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In the 11th round Ali starts to dance more, and uses his speed to unload a series of fast combinations. By the end of the round Frazier's face is severely damaged, his eyes so swollen that only a tiny slit remains open

 

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Ali covers up as Frazier tries to retaliate

 

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With his left eye swollen shut and serious fatigue setting in, Frazier has to rely on intuition to avoid Ali's swinging fists in the 13th round

 

[RAJ PATEL JR]

RIP, smokin' Joe

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

Ali takes full advantage of the fact that Frazier can no longer see his right hand and he punishes him a number of times, at one point knocking Frazier's mouthpiece into the crowd

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

By the 14th round Frazier is virtually helpless, and although Ali is desperately tired and hurting, he is able to summon the energy to administer a fierce beating, including a left and right combination which rocks Frazier. Before the start of the 15th, Frazier's trainer Eddie Futch, against his fighter's adament objections, signals to the referee to stop the fight. "I want him boss," pleads Frazier, to which Futch responds, "It's all over. No one will forget what you did here today."

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

Ali is still the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. His trainers, handlers and doctors jump in the ring to celebrate

 

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As Ali watches Frazier's gloves come off, the monumental physical and mental effort he has exerted catches up with him and he collapses. The following day he famously says of the fight, "It was like death. Closest thing to dyin' that I know of"

 

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To the victor, the spoils. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, left, presents the President's Trophy to Ali. Between them are the fight promoter Don King and Ali's brother, Rahman. On the right holding the trophy is Ali's father Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

Everybody wants to hear what Ali has to say at the post-fight press conference

 

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Frazier cuts a much more solemn figure, swollen and bruised as he talks to the press

 

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Both men subsequently seem to recognise the enormity of the fight and how it affected them. Frazier says "He shook me in Manila. We were gladiators. I didn't ask no favours of him and he didn't ask none of me. I don't like him but I gotta say, in the ring, he was a man. In Manila, I hit him punches, those punches, they'd have knocked a building down. And he took 'em. He took 'em and he came back, and I got to respect that part of the man. But I sent him home worse than he came. He was the one who spoke about being nearly dead in Manila, not me."

Ali opined that "We went to Manila as champions, Joe and me, and we came back as old men" and "Why am I doin' this? What am I doin' in here against this beast of a man? It's so painful. I must be crazy. I always bring out the best in the men I fight, but Joe Frazier, I'll tell the world right now, brings out the best in me. I'm gonna tell ya, that's one helluva man, and God bless him"

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

This fight closed the golden era of true gladiators of boxing.................

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

[h=1] Joe Frazier had greatness in him too [/h] by Tony Parsons, Daily Mirror 12/11/2011
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Joe Frasier


FROM Madison Square Garden to Manila, Joe Frazier was always a match for Muhammad Ali in the ring. The humiliation only happened outside the ring.
Ali called Frazier an Uncle Tom, the "white man's champion" and endlessly said Frazier looked like a gorilla.
Nobody in sport was ever racially abused the way Ali abused Frazier.
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The fact that *conciliatory words were mouthed later doesn't wipe away the memory of that abuse and it explains Frazier's undying bitterness towards Ali.
Ali's greatness was easy to see. But Frazier was dehumanised and ridiculed by Ali. And how the world laughed.
Last night I watched their first fight again – and Frazier doesn't just knock Ali down, break his jaw and inflict Ali's first defeat. He gives him a good hiding.

But in the week that Frazier died from liver cancer, we see it at last.
Frazier had *greatness in him, too.

 

[RAJ PATEL JR]

Smokin' Joe, a true legend. RIP