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RIP Joe Frazier

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Moderator1, Nov 5, 2011.

  1. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    Late writethrus of the AP obit (a helluva read, BTW) did have comments from Ali.

    I was in my mid-teens during all three Ali-Frazier fights, so didn't understand all the political ramifications of the fights. Hope ESPN Classic will run them soon. RIP Joe.
     
  2. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    RIP.

    Met him when I was a kid, had no idea who he was. My uncle pointed him out to me and then took me over to get his autograph, which if I can find, might be hitting eBay today...
     
  3. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    Without Frazier, Ali would still have been a champion and an important person in sports history because of his draft case. But he wouldn't have been revealed as a truly great fighter.
    The two men made each other legendary in the process of destroying each other.
     
  4. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    So true. Frazier said many times that he turned Ali into the mess he is today.

    The shame of it all, since they used their youths to destroy their quality of life later in life, is that Frazier got a fraction of the money for some of those fights that Ali did and ended up living out his life humbly in North Philly, while Ali sold his image for millions.

    Frazier won the fight of the century, the first fight, giving Ali his first loss. Ali won the second, but a lot of people thought that he had just danced his way away from Frazier's left hook, and clinched and held a lot, and that Frazier deserved the decision. The Thrilla in Manilla is one of my most vivid early memories. If Frazier's corner hadn't thrown in the towel before the 15th round, there was no way Ali would have been able to get up and fight. He collapsed and had to be carried out of the ring. Regardless of the outcome, that fight was a draw -- two guys who had beat the hell out of each other and were exhausted (blind in one eye in the case of Frazier, unable to stand in the case of Ali).

    The way I see it, those two were equals against each other.

    I do think the he way Ali treated Frazier was unconscionable, especially in the lead up to the Thrilla in Manilla with all the gorilla stuff. That is just the kind of shit you don't do to another black man, especially then when civil rights battles were still being fought. For anyone to be questioning Frazier's cred was beyond ridiculous, anyhow. He was a product of the hellhole that is North Philly and stayed true to that neighborhood for his whole life. How much "blacker" was he supposed to be? Ali had a bigger personality and that made him wealthy. Frazier was just a guy who could throw a mean left hook and was tough as nails. Unfortunately that didn't get him anything more than a room with a couch above a rank boxing gym for the last years of his life.

    RIP.
     
  5. trifectarich

    trifectarich Well-Known Member

    I don't get too worked up over boxing, but I never tire of getting the chance to see the first fight against Ali, at Madison Square Garden. I wish I'd been there.

    RIP.
     
  6. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    Ali was a cruel man when boxing was involved, often needlessly so. It's part of his greatness as a fighter people prefer to ignore.
    Ragu, Futch had to throw in the towel. His fighter couldn't see. The second fight was judged a draw by me, for what that's worth.
     
  7. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I am not arguing that Futch shouldn't have thrown in the towel. But what they didn't know was that Ali came back to his corner and was begging Angelo Dundee to cut his gloves off and call the fight, too. He could barely stand and was ready to give up. After Futch threw in the towel, Ali stood up and fell right down to the canvas exhausted. Neither fighter was fit to go on, but Ali got the decision, because Futch threw in the towel. Ali won the fight. But they fought each other to exhaustion and if Futch had actually listened to Frazier and let him go back out there, the outcome might have been different because Ali was in bad shape.
     
  8. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Frazier's paydays were comparable to those of other champions. He and Ali both earned $2.5 million for that first fight. But as it is with most other champions, the money all somehow evaporated.
     
  9. Drip

    Drip Active Member

    My heart is truly heavy with passing of Joe Frazier. I saw him in August and I had no idea I would be mourning his passing in November. A great champion who will always be respected as a great man. RIP
     
  10. Webster

    Webster Well-Known Member

    They were showing on ESPN this morning Ali getting up from his stool at the start of the 15th and he looked like death. His eyes were totally unfocused and he could barely stand. Not saying he wouldn't have been able to snap into it if he saw Frazier, but looked like he was done.
     
  11. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    I'm kind of stunned that Frazier couldn't make a living off of just being a former heavy weight champ.

    There aren't that many of them. Is the autograph/memorabilia circuit for boxing that much smaller than for baseball or other sports?
     
  12. heyabbott

    heyabbott Well-Known Member

    "Down Goes Frazier"



    1:27 into the clip


    RIP Joe.
     
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