Boxing legend Smokin’ Joe Frazier has died at age 67 after a battle with liver cancer. Frazier will forever be known as the one who beat ‘The Greatest’ Muhammad Ali during their fight in 1971 at Madison Square Garden. He and Ali met three times in total (the ’71 fight being the only one Frazier won), twice in NYC and once in the legendary bout the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ in the Philippines.Frazier was a well-known top amateur boxer for several years. He even became the only American boxer to win gold in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo and did so with an injured left thumb. After his boxing career Frazier went on to be a staple in the Philadelphia area where he trained fighters in a gym he owned. As he grew older his speech began to slur many believe this was due to the toll of punches taken in the boxing ring. Despite the slowness in age Frazier still made public appearances even a few months before he died, he was in Las Vegas to sign autographs in the lobby of the MGM Grand before the Mayweather vs Orti fight. Read full article
