Originally posted by Scott Christ at Bad Left HookJoe Frazier Passes Away at Age 67: One of Boxing's Greats, Gone Too Soon
by Scott Christ on Nov 7, 2011 10:06 PM CST
Former world heavyweight champion, boxing Hall of Famer, and all-time great legend "Smokin'" Joe Frazier passed away tonight after a battle with liver cancer. He was 67 years old. Family sources passed the news on this evening.
Came across this video (dailymotion.com) this morning.
Only the first couple minutes are relevant to Frazier, but it's worth watching the rest for an awesome pre-WM2 battle royal interview segment and Vince talking like John Moschitta.
Originally posted by DrDirtI know it's hard to believe today but his fights with Ali were incredible events at the time. Great Promos and fights with just incredible build.
The build-up to these events was monumental. You would look forward to these bouts for weeks. Without internet and social networking, these bouts were tremendously popular and polarizing. For the record, I was a Frazier backer.
To whoever fixes these sorts of things, the thread title says 2007 instead of 2011.
Originally posted by DrDirtI know it's hard to believe today but his fights with Ali were incredible events at the time. Great Promos and fights with just incredible build.
It is nearly impossible for people of my generation to truly understand, but for most of the 1900s, being boxing's world heavyweight champion meant to most folks you were the toughest man in the world. You were an instant worldwide celebrity, known on six continents, if you won that belt. Even in the time before television, a period which gave us Jeffries, Dempsey, Johnson, Braddock, and Baer, these men were internationally known. As popular as UFC is nowadays (and their numbers are declining, actually) being WHC was a much much bigger deal than being UFC Champion is today. Like, a hundred times a bigger deal.
I wish boxing could make a comeback, but I don't see it happening due to the outrageous purses and the thousand other things now competing for the entertainment dollar.
EF: iAn incredible fighter, and incredible fellow, unjustly wounded by theatrics and words
I think he just didn't understand the game of promoting. The first fight was Ali's real first chance to showboat after being locked down. Smokin just didn't get it. But he beat the shit out of Ali, and not too many people are in that category
Tha Thrilla, legend has it was that Ali was going to quit until Frazier said he couldn't see and quit himself. Who knows. Smokin Joe was the best around, but not better 1 for 3 vs. Ali. And man did that haunt him
FLEA
Demonstrations are a drag. Besides, we're much too high