Editing Joe Frazier (section)

==Relationship with Muhammad Ali==
Frazier and Ali were initially friends. During Ali's enforced three-year lay-off from boxing for refusing to be drafted into the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]], Frazier lent him money, testified before [[United States Congress|Congress]] and petitioned [[US President]] [[Richard Nixon]] to have Ali's right to box reinstated.<ref>Lotierzo Frank (April 14, 2009) [http://www.thesweetscience.com/columnists/david-a-avila/6723-ali-and-frazier-separated-by-three-measly-rounds Ali And Frazier, Separated By Three Measly Rounds]. Thesweetscience.com. Retrieved on August 6, 2014.</ref> Frazier supported Ali's right not to serve in the army: "If [[Baptists]] weren't allowed to fight, I wouldn't fight either."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ourweeklyav.com/antelope-valley/ali-frazier-i |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140205205619/http://www.ourweeklyav.com/antelope-valley/ali-frazier-i |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 5, 2014 |title=Ali-Frazier I}}</ref>

However, in the build-up to their first fight, the [[Fight of the Century]], Ali turned it into a "cultural and political referendum" by painting himself as a revolutionary and civil rights champion and Frazier as the white man's hope. Ali called him an "[[Uncle Tom]]" and a pawn of the white establishment as Frazier called him Clay.<ref name="yahoo">Arkush, Michael. (October 31, 2007) [https://sports.yahoo.com/news/getting-ready-fight-century-224600491--box.html Getting ready for the "Fight of the Century"]. Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved on August 6, 2014.</ref><ref>Romano, Brittany. (November 7, 2011) [https://web.archive.org/web/20140222055840/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/richard_hoffer/11/07/joe.frazier/?xid=cnnbin Frazier's legacy, record would have been greater if not for Ali trilogy]. Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Retrieved on August 6, 2014.</ref> Ali successfully turned many black Americans against Frazier because Frazier never spoke out about race issues, and Ali could easily paint himself as hero to oppressed black people. [[Bryant Gumbel]] joined the pro-Ali anti-Frazier bandwagon by writing a major magazine article that asked, "Is Joe Frazier a white champion with black skin?" Frazier thought that was "a cynical attempt by Clay to make me feel isolated from my own people. He thought that would weaken me when it came time to face him in that ring. Well, he was wrong. It didn't weaken me, it awakened me to what a cheap-shot son of a bitch he was." Ali's camp also hurled many insults at Frazier, calling him an "ugly gorilla", though Ali had also compared other opponents to animals. He noted the hypocrisy of Ali calling him an Uncle Tom when his [Ali's] trainer ([[Angelo Dundee]]) was of Italian descent.<ref name="yahoo" /> When told by Michael Parkinson that Frazier was not an Uncle Tom, he responded by saying, "Then why does he insist on calling me Cassius Clay when even the worst of the white enemies recognize me as Muhammad Ali?"<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEtCq6X7fUI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/rEtCq6X7fUI |archive-date=2021-10-30 |title=HBO Thrilla In Manila Documentary |date=February 27, 2015 |via=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

As a result of Ali's campaign, Frazier's children were bullied at school, and his family was given police protection after receiving death threats.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3563084/Joe-Frazier-Still-Smokin-after-all-these-years.html Joe Frazier: Still Smokin' after all these years]. Telegraph.co.uk (November 11, 2008). Retrieved on August 6, 2014.</ref> Ali declared that if Frazier won, he would crawl across the ring and admit that Frazier was the greatest. After Frazier won by a unanimous decision, he called upon Ali to fulfill his promise and crawl across the ring, but Ali failed to do so.<ref>Gilmore, Mikal (November 2011) [http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/how-muhammad-ali-conquered-fear-and-changed-the-world-20130205?page=6 How Muhammad Ali Conquered Fear and Changed the World] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103015832/http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/how-muhammad-ali-conquered-fear-and-changed-the-world-20130205?page=6 |date=January 3, 2016}}. Mensjournal.com. Retrieved on August 6, 2014.</ref> Ali called it a "white man's decision" and insisted that he won.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1915&dat=19740129&id=vusgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CXIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1502,4250192 Opposites Attract]. News.google.com (January 29, 1974). Retrieved on August 6, 2014.</ref>

During a televised joint interview prior to their second bout in 1974, Ali continued to insult Frazier, who took exception to Ali calling him "ignorant" and challenged him to a fight, which resulted in both of them brawling on the studio floor.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2005/sep/04/features.sport162 |title=The Unforgiven|website=[[TheGuardian.com]] }}</ref> Ali went on to win the 12-round non-title affair by a decision. Ali took things further in the build-up to their last fight, the [[Thrilla in Manila]], and called Frazier "the other type of negro" and "ugly", "dumb", and a "gorilla"<ref>[http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-thrilla-in-manila11-2009apr11,0,7941476.story#axzz2sHJPrdUZ 'Thrilla in Manila' on HBO]. Latimes.com (April 11, 2009). Retrieved on August 6, 2014.</ref> At one point he sparred with a man in a gorilla suit and pounded on a rubber gorilla doll, saying "This is Joe Frazier's conscience.... I keep it everywhere I go. This is the way he looks when you hit him."<ref name="sports.espn.go.com">[https://www.espn.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?id=2174061 Thrilla: An exhausting, excruciating epic]. Sports.espn.go.com (September 28, 2005). Retrieved on August 6, 2014.</ref> According to the fight's promoter, [[Don King (boxing promoter)|Don King]], that enraged Frazier, who took it as a "character assassination" and "personal invective."<ref name="sports.espn.go.com" /> One night before the fight, Ali waved around a toy pistol outside Frazier's hotel room. When Frazier came to the balcony, he pointed the gun at Frazier and yelled, "I am going to shoot you."<ref>[http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/marcos-used-thrilla-in-manila-fight-as-distraction-from-filipinos-plight Marcos used Thrilla in Manila fight as distraction from Filipinos' plight] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003061025/http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/marcos-used-thrilla-in-manila-fight-as-distraction-from-filipinos-plight |date=October 3, 2016 }}. Interaksyon.com (November 10, 2011). Retrieved on August 6, 2014.</ref> After the fight, Ali summoned Frazier's son [[Marvis Frazier|Marvis]] into his dressing room, and told him that he had not meant what he had said about his father. When informed by Marvis, Frazier responded, "You ain't me, son. Why isn't he apologizing to me?"

In his 1996 autobiography ''Smokin' Joe: The Autobiography of a Heavyweight Champion of the World'', Frazier consistently refers to Muhammad Ali as "Cassius Clay" and never deviates from that convention unless the book directly quotes someone else.

For years afterwards, Frazier retained his bitterness towards Ali and suggested that Ali's battle with [[Parkinson's syndrome]] was a form of divine retribution for his earlier behavior. In 2001, Ali apologized to Frazier via a ''[[New York Times]]'' article: "In a way, Joe's right. I said a lot of things in the heat of the moment that I shouldn't have said. Called him names I shouldn't have called him. I apologize for that. I'm sorry. It was all meant to promote the fight."<ref>Sandomir, Richard (March 15, 2001) [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/15/sports/boxing-no-floating-no-stinging-ali-extends-hand-to-frazier.html No Floating, No Stinging: Ali Extends Hand to Frazier]. New York Times. Retrieved on August 6, 2014.</ref>  Frazier reportedly "embraced it" but later retorted that Ali apologized only to a newspaper, not to him. He said, "I'm still waiting [for him] to say it to me." Ali responded, "If you see Frazier, you tell him he's still a gorilla."<ref>Sielski, Mike. [https://www.espn.com/classic/biography/s/Frazier_Joe.html Frazier battled Ali in timeless trilogy]. Espn.go.com. Retrieved on August 6, 2014.</ref> Ali also said in an interview, "I wasn't going to get on my knees and crawl and beg him to forgive me."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.oprah.com/omagazine/oprah-talks-to-muhammad-ali_1 |title=Oprah Talks to Muhammad Ali |website=Oprah.com}}</ref>

Frazier told ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' in May 2009 that he no longer held hard feelings for Ali.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.si.com/boxing/2009/04/22/frazier |title=Frazier gets his time to shine |access-date=May 27, 2009 |first1=Christopher |last1=Wink |publisher=SportsIllustrated.com |date=April 22, 2009}}</ref> After Frazier's death in November 2011, Ali was among those who attended the private funeral services for Frazier in Philadelphia. [[Jesse Jackson]], who spoke during the service, asked those in attendance to stand and "show your love" and reportedly Ali stood with the audience and clapped "vigorously".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/boxing/ali_attends_frazier_funeral_prl15CzYASZzi21Rv7zgUK |newspaper=[[New York Post]] |title=Ali Attends Frazier Funeral&#124;2011-11-14 |access-date=November 14, 2011 |first=Dan |last=Gelston |date=November 14, 2011}}</ref>