Smokin' Joe Frazier appreciation thread...

The man's an inspiration.

 

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Joe. Poised and ready to attack.

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He's a bad man.

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Still wouldn't mess with him now.
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Joe Frazier, like his those fighters with whom he shares stylistic kinship; Marciano and Dempsey, has become reborn in my own retrospective of bygone heavyweights.

For a long time, I discounted these smaller, shorter, walk forward fighters as too small to offer sufficient resistance to accomplished big men like Lewis. I was overlooking their indominatable spirit, underestimating their abilities and over-stating the usefulness of modern day bulk.

Joe Frazier's body of work is perilously shallow, his defining performances are obviously the Ali trilogy and the Foreman demolition. His low number of bouts, compared to contemporaries, is testimony to his willingness to take shots to land one.

He's a classic example of the short career that is an inevitable result of his style, but he fought in the most talent laden era and was a fabulous, fabulous fighter.

I love Joe Frazier.

 

Heart is an understimated quality, and just plain old fashioned toughness.

Would a Rahman really have kept off Dempsey despite a fathom of reach advantage and 80 pounds of weight.

Not for more than 5 rounds.

 

I agree that qualities like raw toughness are undervalued on this forum.

Frazier had toughness and will-to-win in spades, and in elite sport this can overwhelm just about anything else, whether being outmatched physically, having less skill and so on.

To illustrate my point, you seen gritty no nonsense 'grinders' win in sports like Tennis (e.g. Lleyton Hewitt) which is a non-contact sport!

Toughness is something which I think has diminished in recent boxing history. Probably because the money is greater which means boxers get soft and lose their drive earlier on in their careers.

An exception among recent HWs: Evander Holyfield...

 

An amazing fighter, definately top 10 heavyweight of all time

 

NickHudson,

All true. I think in America, and I say this from a detached perspective here in the UK, social and economic affluence has increased and the toughness of every day life, prevalent in the first half of the last century - the time that shaped the character of most of the notable American heavyweights of the 20th century - is no longer at work.

I think this is why boxing is increasingly becoming a global sport as new talent pools of Africa, South America and Eastern Europe are mined to find the tough, hardened, hungry fighters no longer coming through the US system.

Some of this toughness came from activity to, frequency of combat is something removed from modern day boxing and while, crucially, it has prolonged the career and health of many fighters, it has removed the seasoning, stubbornness and willingness to engage from contemporary fighters so readily available in their fistic forefathers.

On the flip side, nutrition and knowledge has helped advance the physical capabilities of fighters, though this is, it would seem, now making way for illegal physical enhancement.

Boxing is essentially the same sport, but I don't think it's populated by the same types of personalities it once was.

A Joe Frazier type on the modern heavyweight landscape would be a phenomenon.

 

I have fraizer in my top ten heavweights of all time, i just think h2h with alot of the other all time hevayweight he comes up short.

 

I think it's obvious Frazier is my favourite fighter. All hail King Joe!

 

Smokin' Joe is my favorite heavyweight ever. Such a great brawling style.

I watch Ali vs. Frazier I just about every day. That left hook in the fifteenth would have flattened anybody.

 

Agree with everything you say here.

 

Joe Frazier was the classic example of a working class, blue collar figure who emerged from humble surroundings. He was a very talented left hooker who grew up in Philladelphia and at one point worked in a butcher shop. Sound familiar? I think Stallone took a page out of Joe's life when writing one of the greatest films of all time.

Frazier was an inspiration to all people. He was a hero to the working class, the black community, the white population and essentially people of all different walks of life. He represented America fantastically in the 1964 olympics, and conducted himself as a true gentleman as a champion. Frazier represents to me the true spirit of what boxing is all about. Putting your best foot forward and taking on the challenges of not only boxing but life itself. Following a devastating loss to George Foreman, Joe developed signifant health issues including, high blood pressure, diabetes and even partial blindness. He did not let these problems become handicaps nor reasons to quit. He followed up by winning good fights against Quarry, Bugner and Ellis, then gave us one of the most memorable matches in history in Manilla. He even had the guts to step in the ring with Foreman a second time, something that neither Ali nor Norton would even consider doing. Joe also inspired and raised some fighters as well including Marvis, Tyrone and Rodney Frazier. None of whom ever came close to acheiving Joe's legacy, but were decent fighters nonetheless.