Editing Joe Frazier (section)

====Laying claims====
Frazier first defended his claim by beating hard-hitting prospect [[Manuel Ramos (boxer)|Manuel Ramos]] of [[Mexico]]. His victory came in only two rounds.

He closed 1968 by again beating [[Oscar Bonavena]] via a 15-round decision in a hard-fought rematch. Bonavena fought somewhat defensively and allowed himself to be often bulled to the ropes, which let Frazier build a wide points margin. ''Ring Magazine'' showed Bonavena afterwards with a gruesomely bruised face. It had been a punishing match.

In 1969, Frazier defended his NYSAC title in Texas and beat Dave Zyglewicz, who had lost only once in 29 fights, by a first-round knockout. Then, he beat [[Jerry Quarry]] in a seventh-round stoppage. The competitive, exciting match with Quarry was named ''[[The Ring (magazine)|Ring Magazine]]'' fight of the year in 1969. Frazier showed he could do a lot more than just slug by using his newly honed defensive skills to slip, bob, and weave a barrage of punches from Quarry despite Quarry's reputation as an excellent counter-punching heavyweight.