Joe Frazier in Hospice Care with Liver Cancer

Strange but I was thinking about him today and thinking I haven't heard anything about him in a long while. I once sat behind him at ringside, he is one wide dude.

The fights between him and Ali were boxing history and I was lucky enough to see all 3, not in person but in a theater or on TV.
 
Oh no. It's hard to believe that he is 67 already. To me he will always be Smokin' Joe Frazier and an amazing boxer. I saw his fights too, 73ss454. Had Ali not been around at that time, Frazier would have been even more famous than he was.
 
I remember back in around 1985, I was out east on business in a hotel lobby(I think in Altantic City) with some co-w*rkers. This guy just waiting, in the lobby, with a suit on looked kinda familar. Later on, a co-w*rker whispers to me "that's Joe Fraizer". Yes, indeed, then I recognized him, yes it was. We didn't bug him like a fan woiuld, and just left him alone. But from reading, kinda wished we would have said Hello as he's seems a real gentleman.

Ali/Frazier paved the way of televised fighting. Remember listening on a radio broadcast of the first fight as a kid.
 
W2R said:
Oh no. It's hard to believe that he is 67 already. To me he will always be Smokin' Joe Frazier and an amazing boxer. I saw his fights too, 73ss454. Had Ali not been around at that time, Frazier would have been even more famous than he was.
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I don't know, I think Ali is the one that made him more famous. Joe didn't have the personality of Ali, but he is a great guy.
 
The Ali-Frazier fights were all good ones, and so was their pre-fight buildups. Smokin Joe was a good fighter and its sad to hear about his deteriorating health.

As for Ali, I kind of both loved him and hated him. I can remember this line he made about Frazier: Joe Frazier's so ugly they ought to donate his face to the World Wildlife Fund.

Anyone remember Joe's son Marvis? He was pretty good too, not as memorable as Dad however.
 
I do not remember any of those fiights (I was born in 1965 and lived the first 25 years of my life in non-speaking English countries, hence the lack of US sport coverage in the media at the time).
DFW_M5 said:
The Ali-Frazier fights were all good ones, and so was their pre-fight buildups. Smokin Joe was a good fighter and its sad to hear about his deteriorating health.
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DFW_M5 said:
The Ali-Frazier fights were all good ones, and so was their pre-fight buildups. Smokin Joe was a good fighter and its sad to hear about his deteriorating health.

As for Ali, I kind of both loved him and hated him. I can remember this line he made about Frazier: Joe Frazier's so ugly they ought to donate his face to the World Wildlife Fund.

Anyone remember Joe's son Marvis? He was pretty good too, not as memorable as Dad however.
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That was when boxing was king. Frazier and Ali both made 2.5 million in the first 1971 fight, 40 years ago! I actually have fights 1 and 3 on tape. Oddly enough as I am watching the Rams/Cardinal football game they showed Ali in attendance at the game right now. Frazier didnt fight a lot like the others in his day, under 40 career fights. As far as his son Marvis, I only remember him getting pounded hard in first round knock outs to both Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson.
 
I'm too young to remember most of the "golden ages" of sport, but for boxing -- and particularly heavyweight boxing -- the "golden age" was clearly the 1970s, and I was growing up as it was occurring.

What a list of all-time greats: Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Norton, Lyle, and I probably forget some others. And all on free network TV! (Yes, folks under 35, championship boxing used to be on free television.) I suspect it was the combination of those characters, their skill and exposure on free TV that made me something of a boxing fan as a kid. When it went pay per view, it totally lost me. I can't tell you much of anything about boxing in the last 25 years or so. But those heavyweight bouts of the 1970s... to the extent two guys beating the crap out of each other could be magical, it was.
 
ziggy29 said:
I'm too young to remember most of the "golden ages" of sport, but for boxing -- and particularly heavyweight boxing -- the "golden age" was clearly the 1970s, and I was growing up as it was occurring.

What a list of all-time greats: Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Norton, Lyle, and I probably forget some others. And all on free network TV! (Yes, folks under 35, championship boxing used to be on free television.) I suspect it was the combination of those characters, their skill and exposure on free TV that made me something of a boxing fan as a kid. When it went pay per view, it totally lost me. I can't tell you much of anything about boxing in the last 25 years or so. But those heavyweight bouts of the 1970s... to the extent two guys beating the crap out of each other could be magical, it was.
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My thoughts are the same as yours. The 70s heavy weight division was more important than even the NFL was then. If you ever want to journey back in time you tube the Lyles- Foreman fight. The 4 th round was the most brutal all time round ever fought.
 
Mulligan said:
My thoughts are the same as yours. The 70s heavy weight division was more important than even the NFL was then. If you ever want to journey back in time you tube the Lyles- Foreman fight. The 4 th round was the most brutal all time round ever fought.
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I watched that fight a few hours ago on You Tube. I watched as it happened back in 76 also and remember it as a great fight. Even better than what I remember.
 
I know this is a Smokin' Joe thread. R.I.P.

But another transformation of a person is Foreman. In his prime, he was a thug who scared the h*ll out of his opponents. Who would have thought that he'd turn out to be this teddy bear of a person.
 
73ss454 said:
Here it is.

Foreman vs. Lyle - YouTube
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I forgot how brutal the 5th round was too! The closest fight I've seen that looked like a Rocky fantasy fight. As far as Frazier goes, I had forgotten until I read yesterday, that a Frazier-Ali 4 fight was going to be planned if he got by Cummings and Ali beat Berbick. They fought a week apart in 1981. Frazier got a generous draw decision and Ali lost a 10 round decision to Berbick. Neither one should have fought, and they both retired for good at that point.
 
easysurfer said:
I know this is a Smokin' Joe thread. R.I.P.

But another transformation of a person is Foreman. In his prime, he was a thug who scared the h*ll out of his opponents. Who would have thought that he'd turn out to be this teddy bear of a person.
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Ol' George had fists the size of a country ham...
 
Mulligan said:
I forgot how brutal the 5th round was too! The closest fight I've seen that looked like a Rocky fantasy fight. As far as Frazier goes, I had forgotten until I read yesterday, that a Frazier-Ali 4 fight was going to be planned if he got by Cummings and Ali beat Berbick. They fought a week apart in 1981. Frazier got a generous draw decision and Ali lost a 10 round decision to Berbick. Neither one should have fought, and they both retired for good at that point.
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If you had a fantasy fight, two fighters in the prime, who would you chose?

I'd say Cassius Clay (before he became Ali) and Mike Tyson. Would Clay dance and sting like a bee? Or would Tyson knock him out like he so easily did to his opponents?
 
easysurfer said:
If you had a fantasy fight, two fighters in the prime, who would you chose?

I'd say Cassius Clay (before he became Ali) and Mike Tyson. Would Clay dance and sting like a bee? Or would Tyson knock him out like he so easily did to his opponents?
Click to expand...

IMO Clay would win by a landslide! He'd be dancing around Tyson picking his punches and wearing him out, and Tyson wouldn't be able to land one on him.
 
W2R said:
IMO Clay would win by a landslide! He'd be dancing around Tyson picking his punches and wearing him out, and Tyson wouldn't be able to land one on him.
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I remember seeing videos of Clay, just standing, arms down and bobbing, having the opponents swinging and missing. Yet I do remember Tyson, bobbing back and forth and landing bombs on opponents a lot larger than himself.

Guess we can only wonder...
 
easysurfer said:
If you had a fantasy fight, two fighters in the prime, who would you chose?

I'd say Cassius Clay (before he became Ali) and Mike Tyson. Would Clay dance and sting like a bee? Or would Tyson knock him out like he so easily did to his opponents?
Click to expand...

I personally would have liked to have seen Larry Holmes fought Ali , while both were in their prime. Their bout wasnt a fair one, with Holmes close to his peak and Ali way past his. Holmes really layed off him in respect, and it still wasnt close. As far as Tyson-Ali, Im a little biased as I really didnt get to watch Ali much until early 70's, not old enough to have seen his 60's peak. I personally think the young peak Tyson would have won against Ali. He was an absolute beast the first few years. I still remember the fear in (then over the hill) Larry Holmes's eyes after he got decked by Tyson for the first time in his career in the 4th round.If they (Tyson-Ali) fought both in their mid-career, however, I would give the edge to Ali.
 
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