"Smokin" Joe Frazier: Juggernaut

"Joe Frazier's punch was like a Pontiac car coming at you at a hundred miles an hour."
George Chuvalo

Joe Frazier. The name itself conjures images of a relentless force. That is what Frazier was: by sheer force of will, Joe Frazier became a heavyweight juggernaut, the unstoppable force of the division's golden age. Frazier could be beaten, and he even suffered a few losses by TKO. Yet Frazier never quit. When he danced close to death with Muhammad Ali in Manila, it was his trainer Eddie Futch who threw in the towel. George Foreman dribbled him off the canvas like a basketball, but Frazier got to his feet after each and every knockdown. Joe Frazier might have lost some fights, but he never, ever stopped fighting.

Getting into Boxing

Frazier was born in South Carolina, the son of a sharecropper, but he grew up in fighting Philadelphia. Getting into boxing was an accident, as Frazier first started working out in the boxing gym to lose weight. He was soon discovered as a prospect, and rose rapidly as an amateur. He only lost his first amateur bout when he met Buster Mathis at the Olympic Trials. However, Mathis injured his hand and Frazier went to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics instead, where he won the gold medal. He turned pro in 1965, aged 21.

Struggling to the Title

Weighing in at about 210lbs in his prime, Joe Frazier was not a small heavyweight by the standards of the time, but standing only 5'11" he was a short one. In all the other weight divisions, the requirement of making weight imposes certain liabilities on unusually tall fighters: a 6'2" welterweight has great reach, but is skinny and likely to be fragile. Heavyweights, defined by being heavier than a minimum, have no such trade-offs. A short, average-sized heavyweight like Frazier would regularly meet taller, bigger mean like Ali or Foreman, and so a short heavyweight needs to work hard to overcome those limitations.

Frazier developed a style as a "swarmer," or pressure fighter. His trademark was relentless forward movement. "Smokin" Joe would come on and on, using his bobbing and weaving defense. Always coming straight on made him an easy man to target, but by constantly moving his head and upper body, Frazier made himself a very difficult target to hit dead on. The result sometimes worked to his advantage, as some opponents found him deceptively easy to hit and stayed to trade with him. Frazier was quick, incredibly strong, and packed the most fearsome left hook of the day. Frazier actually weaved his bobbing and weaving movement into pitching his left hook, increasing his awesome hitting power. Standing and trying to nail Joe Frazier was often a quick slide into doom. Frazier's style was described as "smoking" because it was so intense. He fought every second of every minute of every round, never stopping or letting up. He was incredibly durable, possessed of an implacable will, intensely pugnacious, and had seemingly limitless stamina. There was one thing a spectator could count on in a Joe Frazier fight: the man would never, ever stop.

In 1966, the coaches that trained Frazier as an amateur handed him off to LA-based trainer Eddie Futch, and a legendary partnership was born. Futch trained two of the greatest heavyweights of the division's golden age: Frazier and Ken Norton. With his great talent, a trainer of talent, and an exciting boxing style, the stage was set for Frazier's rise to the top, and he made the most of it. In September 1966, 11-0 Frazier met 21-2 Argentine contender Oscar Bonavena. Although Bonavena knocked the inexperienced Frazier down twice in the 2nd Round, Frazier got up off the canvas and came back to bang his way to a split decision victory. It was a stern test for a young heavyweight, and Frazier had passed it. Two months later, he scored a late round stoppage of veteran contender Eddie Machen.

1967 was an equally exciting year for Frazier. In May 1967, he fought the 1960's "gatekeeper" George "Scrap Iron" Johnson, winning a clear unanimous decision. Then in July, he fought Canadian tough guy George Chuvalo. Although Frazier's intensity and power were unable to knock Chuvalo off his feet, Frazier was one of the few men to stop the rugged Cannuck. Meanwhile, boxing was trying to establish who would become the new heavyweight champion following Muhammad Ali being stripped of his title for draft evasion. Futch advised Frazier and his camp to sidestep the WBA's proposed tournament in favor of seeking the New York State "world" heavyweight title instead. Prior to the rise of Las Vegas as a fight venue, New York was the major site for big fights, making its state athletic commission a world boxing power in its own right.

The result was that instead of a tournament, Frazier was matched with Olympic rival Buster Mathis for the NYSAC world title in March 1968. Mathis had become a talented boxer, but one who was never able to tame his appetites and who always came to the ring overweight and in questionable conditioning. Frazier beat him, scoring a TKO in the 11th Round, and winning half of the world title.

Early Title Reign

Frazier defended his part of the world title four times in 1968 and 1969. The first noteworthy defense was a rematch with Oscar Bonavena, which saw Frazier improve on his performance and win a unanimous decision by a wide margin. The second was Frazier's first bout with "Irish" Jerry Quarry. Quarry had participated in the WBA's tournament, and narrowly lost the final bout to Jimmy Ellis. Frazier considered him a worthy challenger, and gave the dangerous "Bellflower Bomber" a shot at his title. The result was a classic, won honors as The Ring magazine's 1969 Fight of the Year, and ended only when Quarry suffered a bad cut over the eye in the 7th Round.

Back then, boxing abhorred a vacuum, and the idea of having two heavyweight champions sat well with no one. It was therefore inevitable that Frazier would meet the WBA's champion, Jimmy Ellis, to establish a unified world champion. They met in February 1970. Ellis, a former sparring partner of Muhammad Ali, was a slick boxer, but also a blown-up middlweight. Frazier rumbled forward like a tank, his pressure tactics gradually wearing through Ellis' skills and leading to a devastating 5th Round knockout. Frazier had beaten the rival belt-holde, but he was still not the undisputed world champion because he had not beaten the man: Muhammad Ali.

The Fight of the Century

Frazier's next fight was against the world light heavyweight champion, Bob Foster. Foster was a fearsome puncher, and would establish a Hall of Fame career as one of the greatest light heavyweight champions of all time. However, against Frazier he was outmatched. "Smokin" Joe crushed the light heavyweight king, knocking him out at 0:49 in the 2nd Round.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Ali had been reinstated and was making a comeback. Frazier himself had long sought the bout with Ali: he had lobbied on Ali's behalf, and even helped with financial support for Ali during his exile from boxing. He therefore felt betrayed and angered when Ali took center stage and used it to label Frazier as an ugly, stupid Uncle Tom and the champion of an oppressive establishment. While Ali has always maintained that all the mudslinging was to promote the fight, Frazier has always responded that it was the biggest fight in history and didn't need all that talk to promote it. Frazier has never forgiven Ali for the slanders running up to their 1971 classic fight, and it was in Ali's great big ego and yapping mouth that the seeds of the greatest rivalry in the history of sports were laid.

The fight transcended boxing. Frank Sinatra, unable to secure a ringside seat, took a job taking pictures for Life magazine instead. Each fighter was paid $2.5 million, an unheard of purse at the time. It was also the first ever meeting between two undefeated heavyweight champions, as Ali had not lost his title in the ring and was still widely considered the legitimate champion. As great as the build-up to the fight was, it exceeded all expectations.

Ali owned the first fifth of the fight, sticking and moving beautifully. Then Joe started to "smoke," building the pressure and figuring out his man, repeatedly bulling Ali onto the ropes and slamming hook after hook into his body. The fight was roughly even until the 11th round, when Frazier pushed Ali into a corner and nearly knocked him down with a crushing left hook, with only the ropes keeping Ali on his feet. Ali survived, but the remaining rounds were all Joe Frazier. Dramatically, Frazier closed the fight by catching Ali with another smashing left hook that floored him. Ali got right back to his feet, but his jaw immediately began to swell up. Frazier pounced on Ali, seeking to finish him, but Ali was solid and finished the round. Frazier won the fight by clear unanimous decision, handing the great Ali his first loss. The fight was The Ring's Fight of the Year for 1971, and remains a classic not just of boxing, but of sports around the world. Finally, Joe Frazier finally held the most precious crown in sports: the undisputed, undefeated world heavyweight championship.

Ali's defenders rely heavily on Ali having been rusty, after coming back from a three year lay-off. While this is true, and Ali tired noticeably after the 6th Round, that tiring was not taking place in a vacuum: he was getting tired because Frazier was making him work. Ali had already beaten Jerry Quarry and Oscar Bonavena, both serious contenders, in his comeback. Finally, it is doubtful that waiting after another opponent or two would have really sharpened Ali up enough to have made a serious difference, because 10 fights later Ali still had his hands full in two bouts with Ken Norton.

In particular, Eddie Futch earned his fee as trainer. He and Frazier subjected Ali to intense scrutiny, and developed strategies to exploit deficiencies in his style. For example, Futch had seen that Ali dropped his right hand too low before pitching a right uppercut, a vital punch when dealing with a shorter swarmer like Frazier, and trained Frazier to pitch his left hook as soon as he saw it happening, right into the space where Ali's head was going to be a second later. That would have worked against Ali in 1965 or 1971. Finally, Frazier was 27, confident, at the peak of his powers, and hated Ali intensely. The latter was entirely Ali's own fault. Finally, it has to be said that Muhammad Ali had never fought anyone remotely like Joe Frazier in his career.

Unstoppable Force Meets Immovable Object

Frazier took 1972 easy and defended his title twice against capable, but unremarkable opponents. Then he went to Jamaica and met George Foreman. Frazier was the undefeated champion, a feared puncher, had beaten Muhammad Ali, and was heavily favored going into the fight with Foreman. However, styles make fights and too many commentators were not paying attention to the way Joe Frazier was tailor-made for George Foreman. Frazier was shorter and fought from a crouch, allowing Foreman to punch downwards, and Frazier came straight at him, giving Foreman an easy target for those ponderous, wrecking-ball bombs. Frazier's bob and weave defense meant that he was easy to hit with part of a shot, but hard to hit dead on. Against a wrecking ball like Foreman, being caught with part of a bomb was enough. Foreman infamously bounced Frazier off the canvas like the great champion was a basketball, knocking him down six times in two rounds. Each time, the indomitable Frazier climbed to his feet, willing to continue, but eventually enough was enough and the referee stopped the fight. Foreman had scored one of the biggest upsets in sports history. The bout was also honored as The Ring's 1973 Fight of the Year.

Rematch Years

After his shocking loss to George Foreman, Frazier began rebuilding his standing as a heavyweight contender. He journey to the United Kingdom and fought British-Hungarian contender Joe Bugner, pounding out a unanimous decision, knocking Bugner down in the 10th.

1974 was began a string of rematches for Frazier. First, the two former champions Frazier and Muhammad Ali met for the second time. The NABF title, a North American belt, was at stake, but with these two men in the ring hardly anyone noticed or cared. However, the bout did not live up to the drama of their first encounter. Many consider it a lackluster affair, as Ali handily boxed his way to a unanimous decision. Joe Frazier, ever passionate when it comes to his rivalry with Ali, continues to dispute that result to this very day, claiming that he won the fight and Ali received a "gift" decision victory. Then Frazier met old rival Jerry Quarry, and came away better in that rematch. The fight was very similar to the first: plenty of fireworks, close in the early rounds, but Frazier's aggressive, swarming style kept Quarry from employing his trademark counters and forced him to slug. Frazier landed crushing hooks and knocked Quarry out in the 5^th.

In March 1975, he met Jimmy Ellis for the second time, this time in Australia. Ellis lasted longer, but Frazier eventually beat his man, stopping him in the 9th. Meanwhile, his great rival Muhammad Ali had defeated George Foreman and won the world title back.

The Thrilla in Manila

Despite the wins, Frazier was widely considered to be shopworn by 1975. Coupled with the paradoxical fact that he had earned his way into title contention, Muhammad Ali's camp looked at him as a safe, lucrative payday for their man. In an early Don King production, the "Thrilla in Manila" was booked. In a repeat of the build-up to the Fight of the Century, Ali ran his mouth, slurring Frazier. Frazier heard every taunt and insult, trained ever harder, and waited for his chance to make Ali pay for every, consonant and vowel.

Ali, looking to end the fight early, came out to center ring and unleashed a blistering barrage of combination punching, hurting Frazier and amazingly making him back up! It didn't last long, though. When Ali stopped bombing him, Frazier shook off the damage and started forward again. Between the early effort to take Frazier out, and Frazier's relentless pressure tactics, Ali began to tire. Frazier turned up the pressure yet higher, dominating the middle stretch of the fight, slamming in his left hooks and staggering the champion. At the start of the 7th Round, Ali whispered in Frazier's ear "Joe, they told me you was all washed up." Frazier growled back "They lied!"

However, Frazier was not the same fighter as in 1971. He was now 31, had been in many brutal encounters, and was toiling away in the blistering heat of a Manila stadium. By the 10th Round, Frazier's assault began to falter, and with the pressure off Ali had the room to come back. Ali used the breathing space to move his feet, firing off quick combinations on Frazier and busting him up. Between the swelling and a cataract, Frazier was nearly blind as the fight came to an end. By the 14th Round, Eddie Futch wanted to stop the fight, but Frazier demanded he be allowed to continue and Futch decided to let it go for another round. Ali savaged the stalwart, but nearly defenseless fighter. Frazier came back to his corner, and Futch threw in the towel. Frazier desperately protested, but Futch famously replied "It's all over. No one will forget what you did here today." And no one ever will.

For his part, Ali was dead on his feet, exhausted and desperately hurting. He fainted onto the canvas shortly after Futch stopped the fight, and later described it as the closest to dying he had ever been. He also recognized Frazier as the greatest fighter in the world, after Ali himself of course. ESPN ranked the bout as the 5th greatest boxing match of all time, and The Ring's 1975 Fight of the Year.

The Legacy

Frazier attempted a comeback after the Thrilla in Manila, meeting George Foreman a second time in June 1976. He did better in the rematch, but was unable to do much more than delay the verdict of the first bout. Foreman knocked Frazier down twice en route to a 7th Round stoppage. Frazier retired, but came out of retirement briefly in 1981, drawing unheralded Floyd Cummings. He then returned to retirement, this time for good, with a 32-4-1 (27 KO) record. He fathered 11 children, was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and ran a Philadelphia gym that produced such fighters as champions Meldrick Taylor, Michael Spinks, and Bernard Hopkins.

Joe Frazier is often underrated as a heavyweight champion. While he regularly ranks in Top Ten lists, he is often overshadowed by his rivalry with Muhammad Ali, not fully appreciated on his own merits, and found in the bottom third. Frazier was the first man to win both Olympic gold and the world title in the heavyweight division (previous champs had won Olympic gold in lower weight classes). Frazier had a magnificent reign as a champion, defending either part or all of the world title 10 times in 5 years, winning 8 of those bouts by knockout. He was made The Ring's Fighter of the Year 3 times, and participated in four different fights that were awarded Fight of the Year. He was the first man to defeat Ali, the first to stop Jerry Quarry (on cuts) and Jimmy Ellis (knockout), and one of only three men to stop the tough George Chuvalo. Finally, he was the great arch-rival of the Greatest, fighting an astounding 41 rounds with Muhammad Ali. Indomitable Joe Frazier was truly one of the very greatest of heavyweight champions.