Excerpt from SI about Joe Frazier's disdain for Ali

You don't call a very proud man like Joe Frazier an "Uncle Tom"--ESPECIALLY in the social climate of March 1971. Frazier had every right to be furious at Ali--that wound never healed and I don't blame Joe one bit! Ali crossed the line!!

 

If everyone made a point of "getting back" at everyone that wronged them somehow, none of us would ever have time for anything but revenge.

What Joe lost sight of, sadly, was that the main reason most remember him today is because of what happened in his association with Ali. Like it or not, Joe had the money and recognition and adulation he did chiefly due to his hated nemesis.

It's okay to be angry about the things someone says about you. It's okay that it fueled Frazier to perform as he did against Ali. Whatever works. But there comes a time when it serves one best to look at things within their proper context and learn to roll with **** sometimes, and understand that especially in this case, Frazier actually benefited from all of that. At the end of the day, Frazier showed precious little in the way of emotional maturity and showed he just didn't "get it." He didn't see the big picture, and he never dug himself out of that hole, making him, not Ali, the really tragic figure.

 

Would you forgive a grown adult that cased your children to be bullied and harassed while young

 

You're kind of not getting it either.

 

I get the point but unless you have personally lived through it your perspective is just from an outsider, should Frazier have just forgiven and let it go - of course it’s easy to say this and it would have been better for his mental health however everyone is different and some people can’t just let things go

 

That's fair enough I guess. I'll have to disagree but that's okay.

 

Ray said Duran was on his best behavior.

 

Yes. That amazed Ray quite a bit.

 

Terrific post and a gracious subsequent exchange with @Boxing_Fan101. I thought you both made great points and kind of agreed with you both while ultimately coming down on the side of sal as, in honesty, Frazier should have moved on. As someone else pointed out, he called Ali 'Clay' which, as Ali had demonstrated with poor Ernie Terrell, he found very offensive. Joe wasn't totally blameless.

Final point. I can't believe a kid would bully Joe Frazier's kids that much. If Joe had made his presence known at the school, I can't imagine that wouldn't have ended fairly soon thereafter.

 

Agree totally with this post.

 

You have summed the whole situation up perfectly. Great post.

 

I don't think it is a case of "just letting go" ... it is most a case of how Joe allowed his grudge to control him, so at the end it backfired.

I mean, it is not about forgetting and forgiving, It is about becoming a more mature person and realize that staying bitter is the worst for you.

For example:
Screw my cheating High SChool GF. She was a real **** and maybe I am still upset for what she did..
But it doesn't mean I have to live embittered looking for the opportunity to cross the street to scream to her every time we cross paths.
Am I suppose to celebrate if her marriage is in shambles or she gets cancer?
Am I suppose to be happy if something goes wrong for her, because I feel vindicated?

It is not that I forgave her. It is just that with time and life in proper perspective, her cheating was a ridiculous petty pathetic teenager thing. I moved on decades ago and I just don't care as much as I cared when I was 15.

Joe should do the same. Not forgiving or forgetting, but keep that negative feeling under control and don't be overcome for that.

Joe was a great fighter, but attitudes like being happy for Ali's health condition diminish his image and legacy greatly in my eyes.

 

Howard Cosell was afflicted with Parkinson's. Joe said he "drank from the same chalice as Ali." That's a harsh metaphor. Cosell loved Ali but he never disrespected Ali's opponents. Even with Tex Cobb he didn't say Tex was a bad guy, he did say he was overmatched against Holmes.

 

Very disgusting, furthermore, very sad.
Joe must have been a very, very bitter human being.
Let's be generous and assume Joe's word were just reflecting his mental decline.

 

Interestingly Joe got along well with Tom Hauser who was Ali's biographer. Some would say he was Ali's hagiographer. So he could be rational at times.