Editing Joe Frazier (section)

==Career==
===Amateur boxing===
During Frazier's amateur career, he won Golden Gloves [[heavyweight]] championships in 1962, 1963, and 1964. His only loss in three years as an amateur was to [[Buster Mathis]].<ref name="Joe Frazier p. 30">[[#Frazier|Frazier]], p. 30.</ref> Mathis would prove to be Joe's biggest obstacle to making the 1964 U.S. Olympic boxing team. They met in the final of the U.S. Olympic trials at the New York World's Fair in the summer of 1964. Their fight was scheduled for three rounds and they fought with 10-oz gloves and with headgear, but the boxers who made it to Tokyo would wear no headgear and would wear 8-oz gloves. Frazier was eager to get back at Mathis for his only amateur loss and knocked out two opponents to get to the finals. However, once again when the dust settled, the judges had called it for Mathis, undeservedly Joe thought. "All that fat boy had done was run like a thief- hit me with a peck and backpedal like crazy," he would remark.<ref name="Joe Frazier p. 30" />

Mathis had worn his trunks very high so that when Frazier hit Mathis with legitimate body shots, the referee took a dim view of them. In the second round, the referee had gone so far as to penalize Joe two points for hitting below the belt. "In a three-round bout a man can't afford a points deduction like that," Frazier said. He then returned to [[Philadelphia]] and felt as low as he had ever been and even thought of giving up boxing. Duke Dugent and his trainer, Yank Durham, were able to talk him out of his doldrums and even suggested that Frazier make the trip to [[Tokyo]] as an alternate in case something happened to Mathis. Frazier agreed and was a workhorse there, sparring with any of the Olympic boxers who wanted some action. "[[Middleweight]], [[light heavyweight]], it didn't matter to me, I got in there and boxed all comers," he said. In contrast, Mathis was slacking off. In the morning, when the Olympic team would do their roadwork, Mathis would run a mile and start walking and say, "Go ahead, big Joe. I'll catch up."<ref name="Frazier, p. 31">[[#Frazier|Frazier]], p. 31.</ref>

Frazier's amateur record was 38–2.<ref name="Frazier, p. 31"/>

===1964 Summer Olympics===
{{Further|Boxing at the 1964 Summer Olympics}}
In 1964, heavyweight representative Buster Mathis qualified but was injured, and so Frazier was sent as a replacement. At the [[Boxing at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Heavyweight|heavyweight boxing event]], Frazier knocked out [[George Oywello]] of [[Uganda]] in the round of 16, then knocked out [[Athol McQueen]] of [[Australia]] 40 seconds into the quarter-finals. He was the only American boxer left at the semi-final stage, facing the 6'2", 214-lb [[Vadim Yemelyanov]] of the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fr/joe-frazier-1.html |title=Joe Frazier |access-date=November 8, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724001959/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fr/joe-frazier-1.html |archive-date=July 24, 2012}}</ref>

"My left hook was a heat-seeking missile, careening off his face and body time and again. Twice in the second round I knocked him to the canvas. But as I pounded away, I felt a jolt of pain shoot through my left arm. ''Oh damn, the thumb,''" Frazier said. He knew immediately the thumb of his left hand was damaged, but he was unsure as to the extent. "In the midst of the fight, with your adrenaline pumping, it's hard to gauge such things. My mind was on more important matters. Like how I was going to deal with Yemelyanov for the rest of the fight." The match ended when the Soviet's handlers threw in the towel at 1:49 in the second round, and the referee raised Frazier's injured hand in victory.

Now that Frazier was into the final, he mentioned his broken thumb to no one. He went back to his room and soaked his thumb in hot water and [[Epsom salts]]. "Pain or not, Joe Frazier of Beaufort, South Carolina, was going for gold," he proclaimed. He went on to fight German [[Hans Huber (boxer)|Hans Huber]], eight years his senior. Frazier was now used to fighting bigger guys, but not with a damaged left hand. When the opening bell sounded on fight night, Joe came out, started swinging punches, and threw his right hand more than usual that night. Every so often, he would use his left hook, but nothing landed with the kind of impact that he had managed in previous bouts. He won a 3–2 decision.<ref>[[#Frazier|Frazier]], p. 34.</ref>

===Professional career===
After Frazier won the only American 1964 Olympic boxing gold medal, his trainer Yancey "Yank" Durham helped put together Cloverlay, a group of local businessmen (including a young [[Larry Merchant]]) who invested in Frazier's professional career and allowed him to train full time. Durham was Frazier's chief trainer and manager until Durham's death in August 1973.

Frazier turned professional in 1965 by defeating Woody Goss by a technical knockout in the first round. He won three more fights that year, all by knockout and none going past the third round. Later that year, he was in a training accident that left him legally blind in his left eye.<ref>{{cite web |title=Thriller in Manila |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzyJPpIzQYQ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625001154/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzyJPpIzQYQ |archive-date=2014-06-25 |publisher=BBC Films |access-date=January 11, 2013}}</ref> During pre-fight physicals, after reading the eye chart with his right eye, when prompted to cover his other eye, Frazier switched hands but covered his left eye for a second time, and state athletic commission physicians seemed not to notice or act.<ref>[[#Frazier|Frazier]], p. 213</ref>

Frazier's second contest was of interest in that he was decked by Mike Bruce. Frazier took an "8" count by referee Bob Polis but rallied for a TKO over Bruce in the third round.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=16110&cat=boxer |title=Mike Bruce—Boxer |publisher=Boxrec.com |access-date=November 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104201900/http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=16110&cat=boxer |archive-date=January 4, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1966, as Frazier's career was taking off, Durham contacted [[Los Angeles]] trainer [[Eddie Futch]]. The two men had never met, but Durham had heard of Futch, who had a reputation as one of the most respected trainers in boxing. Frazier was sent to Los Angeles to train before Futch agreed to join Durham as an assistant trainer. With Futch's assistance, Durham arranged three fights in Los Angeles against journeyman Al Jones, veteran contender [[Eddie Machen]] and [[George Johnson (boxer)|George "Scrap Iron" Johnson]]. Frazier knocked out Jones and Machen but surprisingly went through 10 rounds with Scrap Iron Johnson to win a unanimous decision. Johnson had apparently bet all his purse that he would survive to the final bell, noted ''[[The Ring (magazine)|Ring Magazine]]'', and he somehow achieved it. However Johnson was known in the trade as "impossibly durable".

After the Johnson match, Futch became a full-fledged member of the Frazier camp as an assistant trainer and strategist, who advised Durham on matchmaking. It was Futch who suggested that Frazier boycott the 1967 [[World Boxing Association|WBA]] [[Heavyweight]] Elimination Tournament to find a successor to Muhammad Ali after the Heavyweight Champion was stripped of his title for refusing to be inducted into the military, although Frazier was the top-ranked contender at the time.

Futch proved invaluable to Frazier as an assistant trainer and helped modify his style. Under Futch's tutelage, Frazier adopted the bob-and-weave defensive style by making him more difficult for taller opponents to punch and giving Frazier more power with his own punches. Futch remained based in Los Angeles, where he worked as a supervisor with the [[US Postal Service]], and flew to Philadelphia to work with Frazier during the final preparations for all of his fights.

After Durham died of a stroke on August 30, 1973, Futch was asked to succeed him as Frazier's head trainer and manager. He was training the heavyweight contender [[Ken Norton]], who lost a rematch against Ali less than two weeks before Durham's death. Then, Norton's managers, Robert Biron and Aaron Rivkind, demanded that Futch choose to train either Frazier or Norton, with Futch choosing Frazier.

====Mid-to-late 1960s====
Now in his second year, in September 1966 and somewhat green, Frazier won a close decision over rugged contender [[Oscar Bonavena]], despite Bonavena flooring him twice in the second round. A third knockdown in that round would have ended the fight under the three knockdown rule. Frazier rallied and won a close split decision after 10 rounds. The Machen win followed that contest.

In 1967, Frazier stormed ahead winning all six of his fights, including a sixth-round knockout of [[Doug Jones (boxer)|Doug Jones]] and a brutal fourth round (TKO) of Canadian [[George Chuvalo]]. No boxer had ever stopped Chuvalo, but Frazier, despite the stoppage, was unable to floor Chuvalo, who would never be knocked down in his entire career despite fighting numerous top names.

By February 1967, Joe had scored 14 wins and his star was beginning to rise. This culminated with his first appearance on the cover of ''Ring Magazine''. That month, he met Ali, who had not yet been stripped of his title. Ali said that Joe would never stand a chance of "whipping" him even in his wildest dreams. Later that year, Muhammad Ali was stripped of his world heavyweight title because of his refusal to accept the [[military draft]] during the [[Vietnam War]].

To fill the vacancy, the [[New York State Athletic Commission]] held a bout between Frazier and [[Buster Mathis]], who were undefeated going into the match, with the winner to be recognized as "World Champion" by New York State. Although the fight was not recognized as a World Championship bout by some, Frazier won by a knockout in the 11th round and staked a claim to the Heavyweight Championship.

====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.

====World Championship win====
On February 16, 1970, Frazier faced [[World Boxing Association|WBA]] Champion [[Jimmy Ellis (boxer)|Jimmy Ellis]] at [[Madison Square Garden]]. Ellis had outpointed Jerry Quarry in the final bout of the WBA elimination tournament for Ali's vacated belt. Frazier had declined to participate in the WBA tournament to protest their decision to strip Ali. Ellis held impressive wins over Oscar Bonavena and [[Leotis Martin]], among others. Beforehand, Ali had announced his retirement and relinquished the Heavyweight title, allowing Ellis and Frazier to fight for the undisputed title, but both lacked any lineal claim. Frazier won by a technical knockout when Ellis's trainer [[Angelo Dundee]] would not let him come out for the fifth round following two fourth-round knockdowns, the first knockdowns of Ellis's career. Frazier's decisive win over Ellis was a frightening display of power and tenacity.

In his first title defense, Frazier traveled to Detroit to fight World [[Light Heavyweight]] Champion [[Bob Foster (boxer)|Bob Foster]], who would go on to set a record for the number of title defenses in the light-heavyweight division. Frazier (26–0) retained his title by twice flooring the hard-punching Foster in the second round. The second knockdown was delivered by a devastating left hook, and Foster could not beat the count. Then came what was hyped as the "[[Fight of the Century]]", his first fight with [[Muhammad Ali]], who had launched a comeback in 1970 after a three-year suspension from boxing. It would be the first meeting of two undefeated heavyweight champions (and the last until [[Mike Tyson]] [[Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks|faced]] [[Michael Spinks]] in 1988) since Ali (31–0) had not lost his title in the ring but been stripped because of his refusal to be conscripted into the armed forces. Some considered him to be the true champion, and the fight would crown the one true heavyweight champion.

====Fight of the Century: first fight versus Ali====
{{main|Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali}}
On March 8, 1971, at [[Madison Square Garden]], Frazier and Ali met in the first of their three bouts which was called the "Fight of the Century".<ref>{{cite news |title=The Great Fights: Ali vs. Frazier I |newspaper=[[Life Magazine]] |date=March 1, 1971 |url=http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/23032/the-great-fights-ali-vs-frazier-i |access-date=May 4, 2010 |archive-date=April 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416054651/http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/23032/the-great-fights-ali-vs-frazier-i |url-status=dead}}</ref> With an international television audience and an in-house audience that included singers and actors and with [[Burt Lancaster]] (who served as "color commentator" with the fight announcer, [[Don Dunphy]]), both undefeated heavyweights met in a media-frenzied atmosphere.

Several factors came together for Frazier in the fight. He was 27 and mentally and physically at his peak. Ali was 29 and coming back from a three-year absence.  He had had two good wins in his comeback, including a bruising, fifteen-round technical knockout win over [[Oscar Bonavena]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/joe-frazier-the-peoples-champ/ |title=Joe Frazier: The people's champ |last=Rosen |first=James |date=November 9, 2011 |publisher=CBS News |access-date=October 9, 2012}}</ref>

Frazier and Futch noticed Ali's tendency to throw a right-hand uppercut from a straight standing position after dropping the hand in preparation to throw it with force. Futch instructed Frazier to watch Ali's right hand and, once Ali dropped it, to throw a left hook at the spot that they knew Ali's face would be a second later.

In a brutal and competitive contest, Frazier lost the first two rounds but was able to withstand Ali's combinations. Frazier was known to improve in middle rounds, which was the case with Ali. Frazier came on strong after the third round by landing hard shots to the body and powerful left hooks to the head.  Frazier won a 15-round unanimous decision, with scores of 9–6, 11–4, 8–6–1, and claimed the lineal title. Ali was taken to a hospital immediately after the fight to check that his severely-swollen right-side jaw was not actually broken. Frazier also spent time in hospital during the ensuing month, the exertions of the fight having been exacerbated by hypertension and a kidney infection.

Later that year, he fought a three-round exhibition against hard-hitting veteran contender [[Cleveland Williams]]. In 1972, Frazier successfully defended the title twice by knocking out Terry Daniels and [[Ron Stander]] in the fourth and fifth rounds, respectively. Daniels had earlier drawn with Jerry Quarry and Stander had knocked out [[Earnie Shavers]].

====Title loss to George Foreman====
{{Main|Joe Frazier vs. George Foreman}}
Frazier lost his undefeated record of 29–0 and his world championship, at the hands of the unbeaten [[George Foreman]] on January 22, 1973, in [[Kingston, Jamaica]]. Despite Frazier being the overall favorite, Foreman towered 10&nbsp;cm (4 in.) over the more compact champion along with an 8 in. reach advantage and dominated from the start. Over the course of two rounds, Foreman managed to knock Frazier down six times en route to a technical knockout victory.

Frazier won his next fight, a 12-round decision over [[Joe Bugner]], in London to begin his quest to regain the title.

====Mid-1970s: second fight against Ali====
{{main|Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier II}}
[[File:Ali vs frazier elgrafico.jpg|thumb|Promotional photo for the January 1974 [[Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier II]] fight at [[Madison Square Garden]]]]
Frazier's second fight against Ali took place on January 28, 1974, in New York City. In contrast to their previous meeting, the bout was a non-title fight, with Ali winning a 12-round unanimous decision. The fight was notable for the amount of [[grappling position|clinching]]. After the fight Tony Perez, when asked about the violation from Ali, he replied that the only violation is if you hold and hit at the same time, although Ali was holding Frazier but he was not hitting.

Five months later, Frazier again battled Jerry Quarry in Madison Square Garden by winning the fight in the fifth round with a strong left hook to the ribs.

In March 1975, Frazier fought a rematch with Jimmy Ellis in [[Melbourne]], Australia, and knocked him out in nine rounds. The win again established Frazier as the top heavyweight challenger for the title, which Ali had won from Foreman in the famous "[[The Rumble in the Jungle|Rumble in the Jungle]]" five months earlier.

====Thrilla in Manila: third Ali fight====
{{main|Thrilla in Manila}}
[[Muhammad Ali]] and Frazier met for the third and final time in Cubao, [[Quezon City]], which is a city within [[Metro Manila]], the [[Philippines]], on October 1, 1975. Prior to the fight, Ali took opportunities to mock Frazier by calling him a '"gorilla" and generally trying to irritate him.

The fight was a punishing display on both sides under oppressively-hot conditions. During the fight, Ali said to Frazier, "They said you were through, Joe." Frazier said, "They lied." Ali repeatedly held Frazier around the back of his neck with his right hand, a violation of the rules that went unpunished by the referee. After 14 grueling rounds, Ali returned to his corner demanding they cut his gloves and end the bout.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2005/sep/04/features.sport16 |title=The unforgiven |first=Thomas |last=Hauser |date=September 3, 2005 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> However, Dundee ignored Ali. This proved fortuitous, as across the ring, Futch stopped the fight out of concern for his charge. Frazier had a closed left eye, an almost-closed right eye, and a cut. Ali later said that it was the "closest thing to dying that I know of."<ref name="11/8/2011">{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/7206261/joe-frazier-former-heavyweight-champion-dead-67 |title=Boxing legend Joe Frazier dies |date=November 8, 2011 |publisher=ESPN |access-date=May 29, 2013}}</ref>

In 1977, Ali told interviewer [[Reg Gutteridge]] that he felt this third Frazier fight was his best performance. When Gutteridge suggested his win over Cleveland Williams, Ali said, "No, Frazier's much tougher and rougher than Cleveland Williams."

====Second fight with Foreman====
In 1976, Frazier (32–3) fought George Foreman for a second time, shaving his head for the fight. Frazier was more restrained than usual and avoided walking into big shots like he had done in their first match. However, Foreman lobbed a tremendous left hook that lifted Frazier off his feet. After a second knockdown, the fight was stopped in the fifth round. Shortly after the fight, Frazier announced his retirement.

Frazier made a cameo appearance in the movie ''[[Rocky]]'' later in 1976 and dedicated himself to training local boxers in [[Philadelphia]], where he grew up, including some of his own children. He also helped train [[Duane Bobick]].

====1980s comeback and career as trainer====
In 1981, Frazier attempted a comeback. He drew over 10 rounds with hulking [[Floyd Cummings|Floyd "Jumbo" Cummings]] in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]]. It was a bruising battle with mixed reviews. He then retired for good.

Then, Frazier involved himself in various endeavors. Among his sons who turned to boxing as a career, Frazier helped train [[Marvis Frazier]], a challenger for [[Larry Holmes]]'s world heavyweight title. He also trained his daughter, [[Jacqui Frazier-Lyde]], who became a [[Women's International Boxing Association|WIBA]] world [[light-heavyweight]] champion whose most notable fight was a close majority decision points loss against [[Laila Ali]], the daughter of his rival.

Frazier's overall record was 32 wins, 4 losses, and 1 draw, with 27 wins by knockout. He won 73% of his fights by knockout, compared to 60% for Ali and 84% for Foreman. He was a member of the [[International Boxing Hall Of Fame]].

In 1984, Frazier was the special referee for the [[NWA World Heavyweight Championship]] match between [[Ric Flair]] and [[Dusty Rhodes]] at Starrcade '84. He awarded the match to Flair because of Rhodes's excessive bleeding.

In 1986, Frazier appeared as the "cornerman" for [[Mr. T]] against [[Roddy Piper]] at [[Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum]] as part of [[WrestleMania 2]]. In 1989, Frazier joined Ali, Foreman, Norton, and Holmes for the tribute special ''Champions Forever''.

Frazier was inducted into the [[List of Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame Inductees|Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame]] in 1996.<ref name="Courier-Post Oct30_1996" >{{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=Frazier apologizes to Muhammad Ali |date=October 30, 1996 |work=Courier-Post |location=Camden, New Jersey, USA |volume=121 |number=276 |publisher=Gannett Group |page=5D |access-date=April 18, 2019 |language=en-US |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30719670/courierpost/ |via=Newspapers.com}}{{free access}}</ref>