PHILADELPHIA,
Pennsylvania: Joe Frazier, who battled Muhammad Ali in a famed 1970s
boxing trilogy, has died after a battle with liver cancer, his family
said Monday. He was 67.
The family issued a news release confirming the boxer's death on Monday night.
Frazier took on Ali in three dynamic fights in the 1970s, including the epic "Thrilla in Manilla".
He
had been under home care after being diagnosed a couple of weeks ago
with the advanced liver cancer that took his life, a family friend said.
Frazier
was the first man to defeat the legendary Ali, with a unanimous
15-round decision over Ali in 1971 at Madison Square Garden in what was
dubbed the "Fight of the Century".
Ali won a unanimous 12-round
decision in a 1974 rematch and famously completed the trilogy with a
victory in 1975 at the "Thrilla in Manila" by stopping Frazier after 14
rounds in their epic slugfest in the Philippines.
A year later
"Smokin' Joe" lost for the fourth and final time in his career when
George Foreman knocked him down twice before the fight was stopped in
the fifth round.
Frazier won the World Boxing Council and World
Boxing Association heavyweight titles in February 1970 by stopping Jimmy
Ellis in the fifth round of their fight at Madison Square Garden.
He defended the title four times before running into the bigger and stronger Foreman in their first fight in 1973.
Frazier
began his career with 29 consecutive wins before suffering his first
loss, and losing his heavyweight title, when he was knocked down six
times in two rounds by Foreman in 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica.
He retired following the second Foreman fight in 1976 but returned for one more bout in 1981 at age 37.
In recent years, Frazier had turned to singing, forming a back-up group called the Knockouts.
- AFP/fa
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RIP
I only know Mike Tyson...
Originally posted by ^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~:I only know Mike Tyson...
Mohamad Ali u know or not? George Foreman leh?
Originally posted by Rooney_07:
Mohamad Ali u know or not? George Foreman leh?
i find george forman scary. he is damn big.
Originally posted by dragg:i find george forman scary. he is damn big.
huh which part of him is big
his precious ma
Joe Frazier is a one eyed fighter.
In one fight with Muhammed Ali his good eye was swollen and he just barely can see, and his coach forced him to stop. While Joe was arguing with his coach to let him continue the fight, Muhammed Ali was also discussing throwing the fight away.
Just his luck, if his coach has allowed him to fight while almost blind, he could have won against Muhammed Ali.
Sometimes victory is just a decision away.