The Mark of Muhammad Ali is on You!When Ali lost to Frazier on the 8th March 1971, it was only a matter of hours until he convinced the planet Earth and its orbiting satellites that the fight officials were ignorant, that he in fact had won. “Joe Frazier is too ugly to be the champion.” On other occasions Ali said Frazier was “dumb,” and that the challenger’s trainer, Eddie Futch, was not worthy of a black man’s respect. “You can not walk into Harlem.” “The mark of Muhammad Ali is on you.” Ali said it with a mean sneer. In the last days of tub thumping Super Fight III, Ali contended that Joe Frazier was no fighter, a pug hardly worthy of notice, a man lucky to be in the same ring with an immortal. But that is Ali acting in his promotion role to promote the fight. If anyone doubted Frazier’s ability, of course that doubt would have disappeared by now. Frazier was indomitable in the first fight with Ali, an d only the passage took its toll of him. After The Thriller In Manila was over, Ali said of Joe Frazier, “Next to me Joe Frazier is the greatest fighter of all times. Frazier: The Son of a South Carolina SharecropperFrazier Lost To Mathis But Gained Revenge Winning The Gold Medal Born: 12th January. 1944, Bouts: 37 Won: 32 Lost: 4 Drew: 1KOs: 27 Induction: 1990 Joe Frazier was a country boy who lived by the old country adage that: when you go to the big party, you dance with the one who brung ya. In Frazier's case it was a left hook. But to classify Frazier as merely a left hooker would be like saying Marilyn Monroe was a blonde. The son of a South Carolina sharecropper, he became a boxer by accident. He first went to a gym to work himself into shape. Shortly after, he began fighting competitively and became one of the best amateur heavyweights in the nation. Joe Frazier didn't lose a fight until he ran into big Buster Mathis, who decision him in the 1964 Olympic trials. But, Mathis suffered a hand injury and Frazier replaced him at the Summer Games in Tokyo and came home with a gold medal." Frazier turned professional under the guidance of Yank Durham in 1965 and ran off 11 straight wins until he ran into tough guy, Oscar Bonavena in September 1966. Joe Frazier Got Up From Off The Canvas To Win a 10 Round Decision The Argentine dropped Frazier twice in one round, but Smokin Joe came off the canvas showing the Madison Square Garden crowd the heart and character that would mark his career to gain a 10-round unanimous decision. After Bonavena, Frazier knocked out contenders Doug Jones (KO 5), George Chuvalo (TKO 4) and closed out the campaign with a 19-0 career record. With Muhammad Ali's exile from the sport, the heavyweight division was in turmoil. While the WBA held an elimination tournament, Frazier was matched with his nemesis from his amateur days, Buster Mathis, for the New York State world title on the 4th of March 1968 at Madison Square Garden. Black "This time Buster Mathis was not able to dance his way to victory over three rounds. A relentless Frazier wore down the bigger, heavier man, and stopped in the 11th round. From 1968 through to 1970, Frazier made six defenses, including a fifth-round TKO over WBA champ Ellis in a unification fight. The Build Up To Fight Between Frazier And Ali Was Unparalleled In HistoryBut in the summer of 1970, former champion Muhammad Ali was granted a license to fight and the demand for a showdown between the former undefeated champ Ali and the reigning king Joe Frazier was boiling hot. In fall of 1970, Muhammad Ali knocked out top contenders Jerry Quarry and Oscar Bonavena, setting the stage for the most anticipated heavyweight title fight since the Louis, Billy Conn rematch of 1946. Muhammad Ali should have had more fights before tackling Frazier especially after a three year lay off from boxing, but big money talks. Each fighter was offered the then unheard of purse of $2.5 million each. The build up to the fight was unparalleled in boxing history; transcending the sport and the sporting world to fever pitch heights. On the 8th of March 1971, before a sell-out crowd at the Madison Square Garden boxing arena in New York. Ali and Frazier waged one of the greatest heavyweight battles ever seen in boxing. In the 15th round, Joe Frazier landed perhaps the most celebrated left hook in history, catching Muhammad Ali flush on the jaw dropping the former champion for a count of four that was the punch that cause the judges at ringside to give the decision in favour of Frazier. |
Ali Lost, But Joe Frazier Got a WhuppingHowever, at the end of 15 of the most gruelling rounds, Frazier got the nod from all three judges and left the ring as the undisputed champion. But the fight took a hell of a lot out of Joe Frazier, he was a spent force at the end of that fight, as Ali made Frazier realised that he was really in a fight. "Most of us in the United Kingdom stayed up late to watch the fight on TV and felt Ali had beaten Joe Frazier." Of the two Gladiators in the ring Muhammad Ali looked in far better condition after the fight than Frazier. Joe Frazier was badly beaten so much so that he did not fight again for the rest of that year. Frazier did get a whupping. Frazier returned to the ring in 1972, and defended his title against two journeymen. | |
