Joe Fraser (photo in the article) - world champion in heavyweight from 1970 to 1973. Most of all, he was remembered in the fight for the title in Manila in 1975, which he lost to Muhammad Ali.
However, fights with Ali are only part of the story of his life. Born in the Laura Bay rural community in South Carolina, Fraser grew up in poverty as his parents struggled to support a family of 12 children. After leaving school and working as a farmer at the age of 14, Joe left South Carolina when his employer threatened to beat him. After moving to Philadelphia, the teenager worked in a slaughterhouse and began boxing to support his family.
Success came to Fraser after he won the gold heavyweight medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. It took another 4 years to become the holder of a title in a match organized by the New York State Athletic Commission. The victory in the fight according to the World Boxing Association in 1970 made Fraser the undisputed world champion in the heavy weight category. He defended the title for 3 years, but lost it to George Foreman in 1973. An attempt to regain the title in a fight against Ali in 1975 was unsuccessful, but this fight became the most famous in his career.
Early biography
Joe Fraser (Joseph William Fraser) was born January 12, 1944 in Beaufort, South Carolina. His parents, Rubin and Dolly, were farmers and raised 12 children in the village of Laurel Bay. They were descendants of former slaves. Mutual support from the community helped Joe increase his self-esteem, despite the poverty and racism he experienced in the southern United States. His father’s pet status also ensured him a happy childhood. Joe spent a lot of time with him, helping to produce and distribute illegal moonshine.
At age 14, Frazier dropped out of school and began working on the nearest farm. After he opposed the farm owner’s beating of a 12-year-old boy who accidentally damaged one of his tractors, Joe was immediately fired. After this incident, he realized that he had to leave his native places.
Relocation to Philadelphia
Having accumulated enough money for a long-distance bus ticket, Fraser went to New York in 1959 with his older brother Tommy. Not finding a permanent job to make some money, Joe sometimes stole cars.
Fraser then moved to Philadelphia, where his relatives lived. There he got a job at the Cross Brothers kosher slaughterhouse. Although he was constantly deceived with a salary, Joe worked there from 1961 to 1963. He sent part of his earnings home to support his children from his girlfriend Florence Smith and a woman whom he called Rosetta. The latter in the early 1960s gave birth to two of them, but Frazier married Florence in September 1963. The couple divorced in 1985, raising seven children.
Olympic champion
Inspired by watching boxing matches on black and white TV, bought by his father in the early 1950s, Joe Fraser developed his own training method as a kid using a bag full of rags, corn and Spanish moss surrounding a central brick.
He resumed training in 1961 when he started attending a local gym, and coach Yancy Durham noticed his impressive left hook. Durham began training Joe Fraser and in 1962 he won among the newcomers to the Philadelphia Golden Gloves tournament. In the same year, he began a 3-year marathon as a heavyweight champion in the Mid-Atlantic Golden Gloves League. Fraser was selected as a standby candidate for the US boxing team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics when main challenger Buster Mathis broke his thumb. Joe is back with a gold medal. Despite the celebrity status that he received along with the victory, another 4 years passed before he won his first championship title as a professional boxer.
With an 182-cm height, Joe Fraser weighed more than 90 kg.
Way to the top
Having become a professional in 1965, boxer Joe Fraser earned the nickname Smokin 'Joe for his lightning strikes and ability to withstand the toughest pressure of opponents.
Since heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali was stripped of his rank for refusing to do military service in 1967, many began to claim his place. Fraser won the title in a duel with Buster Matis, held in New York on March 4, 1968, knocking him out in round 11. He defended his title 6 times before after 2 years he got a chance to compete for the right to become the World Boxing Association (WBA). After winning a February 5, 1970 TKO over Jimmy Ellis in the 5th round, Fraser was able to claim the undisputed world heavyweight title.
First fight with Mohammed Ali
When Ali returned to the sport, his fans demanded a meeting between him and the current title holders. The battle took place on March 8, 1971 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Both participants received $ 2.5 million. The fight lasted all 15 rounds, and the judges unanimously declared Fraser the winner.
Although the outcome of the match was clear, Ali immediately stated that he was stripped of his title and demanded a rematch. In addition to his poor performance, he made a series of derogatory remarks about his opponent and called him Uncle Tom. Joe’s bitterness was reinforced by the media, glorifying Ali as a principled rebel and criticizing Fraser as a representative of the establishment. The fact that Joe won the first match was of secondary importance to many critics.
Losses to Foreman and Ali
In 1972, Joe Fraser successfully defended his league title in two fights. But then, on January 22, 1973, in the ring in Kingston, Jamaica, his fight with George Foreman took place . The challenger so severely beat Fraser that already in the second round the judge had to declare a technical knockout.
Joe Fraser was also defeated in his second meeting with Ali, which took place in New York on January 28, 1974. He lost on points after 12 rounds.
When Muhammad Ali regained the world title by defeating Foreman, he met Fraser in his third match for another title. The fight took place in the Philippines on September 30, 1975. For 14 rounds, Fraser was the leader by points, but after a serious eye injury, his trainer Eddie Fatch asked to stop the fight. Ali retained his title by writing a technical knockout.
"Thriller in Manila"
In the 13th round, Joe Fraser began to tremble and frown in pain under Ali's single blows. His blows seemed slow, and when they hit the target, they lazily glided over the enemy. Then the world champion sent the opponent’s bloodied mouthpiece into the seventh row of the auditorium, almost knocking him out with one chopping blow.
The 14th round was the most brutal in the duel of 41-year-old Ali and Fraser. Nine straight right fell on Joe's left eye, and in total he received 30 or so hits. When Joe's left side under the avalanche of punches turned right, Ali returned it with clear left hooks. At the end of the round, the judge helped Fraser return to his corner.
Eddie Fatch told his ward that it was all over and that no one would forget this fight. Both boxers of the last forces went to their locker rooms under the continuous roar of the audience.
Boxing Leave
In 1976, a second fight between Joe Fraser and George Foreman took place. After he was knocked out in the 5th round, he announced his retirement.
Later that year, Fraser starred in the cameo role in the movie Rocky.
He devoted himself to training local boxers in Philadelphia. Among his students was Dwayne Bobik and several of his own children.
Joe tried to return to the ring in a match against Floyd Cummings, held in Chicago in 1981. The meeting ended in his defeat after 10 rounds by decision of the judges. For Fraser, weakened by hepatitis and vision problems, this was the last entry into the ring. His professional record is 32 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw. Joe won by knockout 27 fights (73%).
In 1964, Fraser was a special referee in the NWA World Heavyweight Championship match with Rick Flair and Dusty Rhodes.
Carefully managing his finances, Fraser managed to avoid the fate of many of his colleagues. He enjoyed a successful career after boxing, working as the manager of the Smokin 'Joe's Gym gym in Philadelphia and singer in his own group Knockouts. He also helped his son Marvis begin a successful career in boxing: for his victories in 1980, he received more than $ 1 million.
Reconciliation with Ali
In 1990, Fraser's reputation as a boxer grew after the completion of his professional career. Ali finally apologized for his criticism, explaining in an interview with The New York Times in 2001 that in the heat of the day he had said many things that he should not have said, and apologized. He justified himself by the fact that he did all this for the sake of advertising the battle.
However, his opponent refused to accept an apology through the newspaper and demanded a personal meeting. On this occasion, the following quote from Joe Fraser is known: “We have to hug. It's time to meet and talk. Life is too short".
last years of life
Joe Fraser lived in Philadelphia, where he owned and managed a boxing gym. He sold it in 2009. Fraser had diabetes and had high blood pressure. From time to time, he and Ali made either public apologies or public insults. For example, in 1996, when Mohammed lit the Olympic flame in Atlanta, Fraser told the reporter that he would like to throw one into the fire. Joe also repeatedly stated that he no longer had bitter feelings for Ali.
Fraser made millions in the 1970s, but poor property management caused his economic problems. For example, in 1973, he acquired 140 acres of land in Pennsylvania for 843 thousand dollars. After 5 years, Fraser sold it for $ 1.8 million, receiving annual payments from a trust that bought property with his funds earned in the ring. When the trust went bankrupt, the money stopped flowing. Frazier's daughter Jackie, a lawyer, tried to return his funds to his father. Joe sued his business partners, claiming that his signature on the documents was forged, and he did not know about the sale. Today, the value of this land is estimated at 100 million US dollars.
The National Trust for the Preservation of Historic Monuments has included the Joe Fraser gym on its 25th list of America’s 11 most famous historical sites that are at risk. In 2013, the gym was entered on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1996, the autobiography of an outstanding boxer was released. Fraser touted it by taking part in the Howard Stern show. He also wrote a book about boxing Box like the Pros. It describes the history of this sport, the rules, the points system, training and sparring methods, the basics of defense and attack, and much more.
Joe Fraser continued to train young boxers, although after a car accident he had many back operations.
In recent years, he and Ali have tried to reconcile, but in October 2006, Joe still claimed to have won all three fights between them.
At the end of 2009, Fraser attempted to make music again. His song "Mustang Sally" was popular, and he, along with manager Leslie R. Wolf, teamed up with Welshman Jacy Lewis to release his repertoire in the UK. Then they visited the country and gave several dinners.
Death
At the end of September 2011, Joe Fraser was diagnosed with liver cancer. He was placed in the hospice, where he died on November 7th. Upon learning of the death, Muhammad Ali said that the world has lost a great champion, and he will always remember Joe with respect and admiration.
The funeral took place on November 14 in a Baptist church in Philadelphia, which, in addition to the friends and family of the deceased, was attended by Muhammad Ali, Don King, Larry Holmes, Magic Johnson, Dennis Rodman and others. Fraser was buried in Ivey Hill Cemetery.