{"id":17196,"date":"2011-11-08T19:21:43","date_gmt":"2011-11-08T23:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=17196"},"modified":"2011-12-11T13:10:25","modified_gmt":"2011-12-11T18:10:25","slug":"smokin%e2%80%99-joe-frazier-rsr-says-goodbye-to-the-former-champ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=17196","title":{"rendered":"Smokin\u2019 Joe Frazier: RSR SAYS GOODBYE TO THE FORMER CHAMP"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Tribute by Geno McGahee<\/strong><\/p>\n

On March 8th, 1971, the world froze. Everyone was tuned in for the Fight of the Century, between the two men that had claim to the heavyweight title. In one corner, you had the man that refused Vietnam and was wrongfully stripped of the title, Muhammad Ali, facing the man that claimed the title, Joe Frazier. Both men were undefeated and both men had legions of fans, and it didn\u2019t take long for the prefight happenings to get ugly and for a lifelong feud to be born.<\/p>\n

Frazier dealt with the ridicule from the media and public, considered the \u201cwhite man\u2019s champion,\u201d with Ali manipulating the people onto his side. He was considered the man coming back for what was rightfully his and despite the fact that Frazier was responsible for his return, he treated Smokin\u2019 Joe quite poorly. <\/p>\n

Ali and Frazier had a war to remember, and it would be Smokin\u2019 Joe that would come out on top via 15 round unanimous decision, landing a booming left hook that would put \u201cThe Greatest\u201d on his back, bringing the point home that he was the rightful champion. Frazier\u2019s greatest moment was that night, arguably, but that was only the first chapter of the story with Ali, which became and still is one of the most interesting tales this sport has to tell.<\/p>\n

Frazier fought in the golden era of heavyweights, facing Ali, Jerry Quarry, Jimmy Ellis, and George Foreman on two occasions. His style may have been the blueprint for the creation of Mike Tyson, and his heart in the ring is something that will be spoken of by boxing fans for years to come.<\/p>\n

HBO recently made a documentary called \u201cThrilla in Manila,\u201d a reference to the third encounter between Ali and Frazier, a fight that was so brutal that neither man was the same at its conclusion. The documentary, for the first time, showed the Ali-Frazier feud from the side of Smokin\u2019 Joe. The playfulness of Ali was often mixed with incredible cruelty with no regard for the opponent\u2019s reputation or family. The psychological wounds that Frazier had ran deep, and rightfully so. He lived in relative poverty after conquering the world, but despite his lack of funds, he is still one of the best heavyweight champions ever to lace the gloves.<\/p>\n

The bad news came in that Smokin\u2019 Joe passed away from liver cancer. The reaction from the media and the world of boxing was amazing and shows just how much this fighter meant to the world and how much respect we have all grown to have for him.<\/p>\n

I will remember Smokin\u2019 Joe for his courage in the ring and a little bit of sadness for the cruelty that not only Ali placed upon him, but the world as well. He deserved more than he received but, in the end, the love from the public and the memories that we all have are enough to keep him alive forever. He will be missed. RIP Frazier.<\/p>\n

Note from CEO\/Publisher: “Joe Frazier’s legacy, of course is his ring accomplishments, in a time when the heavyweight division and boxing as a sport, were highly respected. However, meeting and talking with Joe, back in 2001, at Fight Night in DC, is a memory I will always cherish. You gave every ounce of your very soul in life. Rest in Peace Champ.” – “Bad” Brad Berkwitt<\/p>\n

Joe Frazier
\nNickname: “Smokin”
\nDivision: Heavyweight
\nProfressional Record: 32-4-1, 27 KO’s <\/strong><\/p>\n

Date Opponent Location Result<\/strong><\/p>\n

1981-12-03 Floyd Cummings Chicago, US D MD 10<\/p>\n

1976-06-15 George Foreman Uniondale, US L TKO 5
\nNABF Heavyweight Title<\/p>\n

1975-10-01 Muhammad Ali Quezon City, PH L RTD 14
\nWBC Heavyweight Title
\nWBA World Heavyweight Title
\n1975-03-02 Jimmy Ellis Melbourne, AU W TKO 9<\/p>\n

1974-06-17 Jerry Quarry New York, US W TKO 5
\n1974-01-28 Muhammad Ali New York, US L UD 12
\nNABF Heavyweight Title<\/p>\n

1973-07-02 Joe Bugner Kensington, UK W PTS 12
\n1973-01-22 George Foreman Kingston, JM L TKO 2
\nWBC Heavyweight Title
\nWBA World Heavyweight Title<\/p>\n

1972-05-25 Ron Stander Omaha, US W TKO 5
\nWBC Heavyweight Title
\nWBA World Heavyweight Title
\n1972-01-15 Terry Daniels New Orleans, US W TKO 4
\nWBC Heavyweight Title
\nWBA World Heavyweight Title<\/p>\n

1971-03-08 Muhammad Ali New York, US W UD 15
\nWBC Heavyweight Title
\nWBA World Heavyweight Title<\/p>\n

1970-11-18 Bob Foster Detroit, US W KO 2
\nWBC Heavyweight Title
\nWBA World Heavyweight Title
\n1970-02-16 Jimmy Ellis New York, US W TKO 5
\nvacant WBC Heavyweight Title
\nWBA World Heavyweight Title
\nNYSAC World Heavyweight Title<\/p>\n

1969-06-23 Jerry Quarry New York, US W TKO 7
\nNYSAC World Heavyweight Title
\n1969-04-22 Dave Zyglewicz Houston, US W KO 1
\nNYSAC World Heavyweight Title<\/p>\n

1968-12-10 Oscar Natalio Bonavena Philadelphia, US W UD 15
\nNYSAC World Heavyweight Title
\n1968-06-24 Manuel Ramos New York, US W TKO 2
\nNYSAC World Heavyweight Title
\n1968-03-04 Buster Mathis New York, US W TKO 11
\nvacant NYSAC World Heavyweight Title<\/p>\n

1967-12-18 Marion Connor Boston, US W TKO 3
\n1967-10-17 Tony Doyle Philadelphia, US W TKO 2
\n1967-07-19 George Chuvalo New York, US W TKO 4
\n1967-05-04 George Johnson Los Angeles, US W UD 10
\n1967-04-11 Jefferson Davis Miami Beach, US W TKO 5
\n1967-02-21 Doug Jones Philadelphia, US W KO 6<\/p>\n

1966-11-21 Eddie Machen Los Angeles, US W TKO 10
\n1966-09-21 Oscar Natalio Bonavena New York, US W MD 10
\n1966-07-25 Billy Daniels Philadelphia, US W RTD 6
\n1966-05-26 Memphis Al Jones Los Angeles, US W KO 1
\n1966-05-19 Chuck Leslie Los Angeles, US W KO 3
\n1966-04-28 Don Smith Pittsburgh, US W KO 3
\n1966-04-04 Charley Polite Philadelphia, US W TKO 2
\n1966-03-04 Dick Wipperman New York, US W TKO 5
\n1966-01-17 Mel Turnbow Philadelphia, US W KO 1<\/p>\n

1965-11-11 Abe Davis Philadelphia, US W KO 1
\n1965-09-28 Ray Staples Philadelphia, US W TKO 2
\n1965-09-20 Mike Bruce Philadelphia, US W TKO 3
\n1965-08-16 Woody Goss Philadelphia, US W TKO 1<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tribute by Geno McGahee On March 8th, 1971, the world froze. Everyone was tuned in for the Fight of the Century, between the two men that had claim to the heavyweight title. In one corner, you had the man that refused Vietnam and was wrongfully stripped of the title, Muhammad Ali, facing the man that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[105,5860,321,388,2278],"class_list":["post-17196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-boxing","tag-class-act","tag-heavyweight-champion","tag-joe-frazier","tag-rip"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17196"}],"version-history":[{"count":-2,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17196\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}