Philadelphia — He beat Muhammad Ali in the fight of the century fought him almost to death in the thriller in Manila. Then Joe Frazier spent the rest of his life, trying to fight his way out of the shadows Ali.
This was one battle, Frazier could never win.
He was the 1964 Olympic gold medalist and later heavyweight champion and a great one at that. Ali said as much after Frazier knocked him down in round 15 at Madison Square Garden in March 1971, ways to become the first man to beat Ali.
But Frazier bears the burden, Ali foil, and he paid the price. Bitter years of taunts his former Nemesis once thrown your way, Frazier only recently came up with what happened in the past and said that he had forgiven Ali for all that, he said.
Frazier, who passed away last night, after a short battle with liver cancer at age 67, will be forever associated with Ali. But no one in boxing would dream of anointing Ali as big, if he, too, was concerned with period Smokin Joe.
"You didn't mention Ali without reference to Joe Frazier," said a former Associated Press boxing writer Schuyler junior Ed "he beat Ali; don't forget that. "
They fought three times — twice in the heart of New York and one morning, steamy scene in the Philippines, with Ali winning the last two. They went 41 rounds along with neither giving an inch.
In its third and final fight in Manila in 1975, they traded blows with the fervor that seemed unimaginable among heavyweights. Fraser almost gave as good as it got 14 shells, and then had to be restrained by coach Eddie Futch as he tried to enter the final round, do not see.
"The closest thing to death, I don't know," Ali said afterward his experience.
Ali was as ruthless, with Frazier from the ring as he was inside it. He called it the gorilla and mocked him as Uncle Tom.
But he respects him as a wrestler, especially since Frazier won the decision to defend his title against unbeaten heavyweight Ali in a bout that was so big that Frank Sinatra shooting pictures at ringside and both fighters earned 2.5 million — an amazing amount then.
Night Garden 40 years ago remained fresh in the Fraser in mind as he talked about his life, career and relationship with Ali for a few months before he died. "I can't go anywhere where it does not mention," he said. "This was the greatest thing that ever happened in my life".
Although his speech was "in later years paid punches in the ring, Frazier active at autograph circuit in the months before he died.
Frazier was small for a heavyweight, weighing only 205 pounds, when he won the title by stopping Jimmy Ellis in the fifth round at Madison Square Garden in 1970. But he struggled every minute of every round, going forward for a vicious left hook, and several fighters can resist the constant pressure.
His reign as heavyweight champion lasted for only four fights, including a victory over Ali — before he ran into a George Foreman, who dropped him three times in the first round and three more in the second before their fight, 1973 in Jamaica was waved to a close.
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