Frazier, Joseph
Boxing
b. Jan. 12, 1944, Beaufort, SC
Frazier dropped out of school at the age of thirteen to become a mule driver, went to New York to work in the garment district at sixteen, and then became a butcher's apprentice in Philadelphia, where he began boxing.
Buster Mathis beat Frazier in the finals of the 1964 Olympic trials, but hurt his thumb in the fight and Frazier was his replacement. He won a gold medal with three knockouts and a unanimous decision in four Olympic fights.
The following year, Frazier turned professional. He won 19 consecutive fights, 17 by knockout, before meeting Mathis for the New York heavyweight championship on March 4, 1968. Frazier knocked Mathis out in the 11th round.
He won the vacant world heavyweight title by knocking out Jimmy Ellis in the 5th round on February 16, 1970. However, many fight fans still considered Muhammad Ali the champion. Ali had been stripped of his title for refusing induction into the U. S. Army in 1967.
Frazier and Ali, both undefeated as professionals, met in one of the most ballyhooed matches in boxing history on March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden. Frazier knocked Ali down with a left hook in the 15th round and won a unanimous decision that made him undisputed champion.
After two defenses, Frazier suffered a stunning 2nd-round knockout against George Foreman on January 22, 1973, at Kingston, Jamaica. The lightly regarded Foreman knocked Frazier down five times before the knockout.
Ali beat Frazier twice in the next two years, first on a 12-round decision and then on a 14th-round knockout. After being knocked out by Foreman in 1976, Frazier retired. He toured and recorded for a time with a singing group called the Knockouts, returned to the ring for one lackluster fight in 1981, and then retired again to manage his son, Marvis, who lost a heavyweight title fight to Larry Holmes in 1983.
Known as "Smokin' Joe" because of his style of constantly boring in and throwing punches, Frazier didn't have a great knockout punch, but he wore opponents down with his relentless attack. He won 32 professional fights, 27 by knockout; lost 4, 3 by knockout; and fought 1 draw.
