Those who are closest to me will agree that I have a lifelong love of boxing. Ever since, my father took me to my first boxing match at the age of six, there has been nothing more exciting than watching the sport live. Whilst many see it as a ruthless and dated sport, I think it is the ultimate. Man on man in age-old combat. It’s also statistically far safer than other sports.
My love of boxing was like a lesson when I was growing up as a child. I would not just be interested in the fighters of today, but I would also look back deep into the history of the sport to learn from it. Examine how the fighters of decades gone by would live, train and fight.
Each generation of boxing brings legends, yet alas today the heavyweight division is nothing of what it used to be. When I look at the majority of heavyweight boxers today I don’t see primed athletes taking their role as a professional boxer seriously, I see them as large men looking for a payday against one of the numerous champions around (The Klitschko brothers an exception).
It is often that I long to be alive in my fathers era where the heavyweight crown was the most prized possessions in the boxing world. The tales he would talk of Ali, Norton, Shavers, Foreman and Holmes were famous. Of course, there is another name that belongs in this group.
Joe Frazier.
Sadly Joe lost his battle against liver cancer yesterday, and it is a tremendous loss to the boxing world. He will ultimately be remembered for his trilogy of fights with Ali, three fights they still call the greatest matches in heavyweight history. Yet there is far more to this man than just the fights with Ali. The way he fought was relentless, pressuring his opponents into a state of near submission before they realized he was only just getting started.
He started his career shortly after winning the Gold Medal in the 1964 Olympics. In a professional career, that spanned seventeen years, he only lost four times.
Yet history will always talk about his fights with Ali. The first a brutal fifteen round victory in Madison Square Garden, the second saw Ali take revenge when Frazier lost on a points decision. But history will always talk about their last fight; “The Thriller in Manila” where Frazier was retired after fourteen of the most exciting rounds ever.
After retirement Ali and Frazier still spared verbally yet behind the scenes these two were close friends. In the following years, Frazier became a trainer though he could never quite recapture the glory days when he was heavyweight champion.
He would still be as sharply dressed and vocal when appearing on TV, this was just Joe. In these times when boxing seems to be all about money and politics the world has lost a true champion in Joe. Never afraid to face anyone, never afraid to back down.
R.I.P Joe “Smokin “ Frazier. Let the heavens ring the bell one last time.
