Editing Joe Frazier (section)

===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>