As we reported yesterday, the former heavyweight champ had been in hospice care. Frazier handed Ali his first career loss in. By Frazier's own estimation, he slugged that thing for the next six or seven years damn near every day.'įrazier, 67, died Monday night. Roots of Fight clothing proudly honors boxing legend Smokin Joe Frazier. 2 hours ago &0183 &32 Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier famously fought three times over a four-year span from 1971 to 1975 in one of the greatest boxing rivalries of all time. But, he added, 'its origins stretch back a couple of decades to segregated South Carolina, where a young boy from a sharecropping family - Frazier was about 8 - fashioned a punching bag out of a burlap sack stuffed with rags and corn cobs and Spanish moss. The punch, which clinched then-heavyweight champion Frazier's victory over Ali in that fight, 'started around Joe Frazier's left hip,' Tom said. Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier fought for the first time on 8 March 1971, shortly after Ali's return from a three-year ban for his refusal to fight in the Vietnam war. ZURICH, Switzerland After shooting down Juergen Blin, Muhammad All has his. 'It put his bitter rival, Muhammad Ali, on his 'float like a butterfly, sting like a bee' keister at Madison Square Garden in what came to be known as the 'Fight of the Century.' Muhammad Ali Wont Get Another Shot At Joe Frazier Until Late Next Year. 'It was as crushing and symbolic' as any of Frazier's punches over his long career, Tom said on Morning Edition. As Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier started throwing punches before 11am on a sweaty morning in the Philippines, Gene Kilroy had a closer look at the Thrilla in Manila than most. Frazier died Monday.Ī 'sledgehammer left hook' that put Muhammad Ali on the canvas in 1971 pretty much tells the story of Joe Frazier's career, NPR's Tom Goldman says. Down goes Ali: In the 'Fight of the Century,' on March 8, 1971, in Madison Square Garden, heavyweight champion Joe Frazier put Muhammad Ali on the canvas with a hard left hook.

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