Joe Frazier: he did not forgive Mohammed Ali for the rest of his life. He did not forgive Muhammad Ali until his death The legendary fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Miller

Recreating in a series of shots the current face of the great confrontations, Ali is silent and stares into the camera with an unblinking gaze, standing next to Joe Frazier. That's it, the circle is closed, these two are together again, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder. They can no longer, and do not want to hate each other.

Ali is as much a child of his era as the rebellious and protesting youth of the 60s, numerous fighters for their rights, the rock movement, huge cars that ate cheap gasoline, and Martin Luther King. There was a big wave - and Ali, formerly known as Cassius Clay, was on its crest. His reputation was nasty, first of all he was "the person you love to hate", and only then "The Greatest". Now it does not matter how and at what moment it happened - and much more strange characters turned out to be big heroes.

When Ali was stripped of his champion title and boxing license for refusing to join the US Army (going to Vietnam and Ali was not required to kill someone there), Frazier, who had become a champion during Ali's absence from the ring, transferred money to Ali through his manager, he asked President Nixon for him and he himself repeatedly emphasized that he did not consider himself the best - until he beat Ali. Friends had fun talking and planning various PR campaigns, Ali ran to shout at the hall of Joe Frazier, Frazier called the studio when Ali gave a live another interview, but it all came to an end.

In 1971, the contract for the fight was signed, and Ali declared himself an enemy of Joe Frazier for the next 5 years. During these five years they will meet three times. In the first fight, Frazier sent Ali to the hardest knockdown, one that usually does not get up, and won on points. Almost three years later, Ali took revenge and opened the way for the return of the crown. He knocked out George Foreman, who had proven too big, too strong and too tough for Frazier the year before. But once again at the top, Muhammad found that his "friend" Joe Frazier was next in line.

The fight at the Araneta Coliseum arena in the capital of the Philippines was just the final chord of a war that had been going on since 1971. The Cadillacs and Lincolns in which Ali's team rode struggled through the crowds of people along the entire route, and Joe Frazier flew in and settled into the Hyatt almost unnoticed by anyone. The very first interview for the assembled press - and Ali takes out of his pocket ("I'll never know where he got it?" - recalls his cutman Ferdy Pacheco) a small rubber figurine of a gorilla. And he repeats: “It will be murder, and horror, and a thriller when I get to this gorilla in Manila.” He started hitting the rubber toy, saying, “Hey Joe, hi gorilla! We are already in Manila! Then someone brought a one and a half meter monkey doll to the training room, and Ali beat her too. As if that wasn't enough, he showed up to Frazier's practice, insulted him for a long time, standing on the balcony of the gym, and then threw his chair down. A few days before the fight, he arrived at Frazier's hotel and threatened him with a gun - as it later turned out, a toy, but Frazier was not in the mood for jokes. "Hey Joe, I'll get you, I'll shoot you!" Ali did these tricks every day, and unless he admitted out loud that he was doing it just to drown out his fear a little, gain self-confidence and deprive her of an opponent.

On October 1, 1975 at 10.45 am local time (the fight was broadcast to the whole world via satellite, and this time was optimal for Europe and the USA), the first gong sounded. Ali and Frazier once again met eyes and came together blow for blow. Breaking through Ali's hooks and jabs whistling at the temple and past Ali's jaw, Frazier closed the distance, cut Ali out of space and drove him to the ropes. There, Ali was forced to grab Fraser's arms and neck and hold him. Ali tried to shift and throw a quick set, but Frazier ended up getting close anyway. But at the entrance to the inside, taking on defense and sometimes three or four heavy quick strikes, Joe was knocked out of position to start the attack, and sometimes just stunned and the referee pulled the fighters out of the clinch again and again.

Here Frazier holds two hooks - Ali already turns sideways to the opponent, and another blow follows - on the champion's kidneys. Ali winces in pain. This is no longer the old “fluttering” Ali, and he knows that his legs are not so fast and light, and will not be able to take him to a safe distance. He stays by his side and decides to take the fight. Joe hits brutally and very selectively - planting uppercuts under the heart, in the liver area, then transfers fire on the floors - up, to the head, and Ali is forced to grab him again and lightly press on the neck from above. A forbidden trick, but the price of victory is too high. Ali knows that Frazier is not young either, soon he will run out of oxygen, and he will slow down ... Ali says: "Joe, they told me that you are already finished!". Frazier lands a left hook that nearly takes Ali's head off and replies "They fooled you champ, they fooled you..."

By the 13th round, the fight turns into a massacre. Joe's right eye is swollen, the hematoma is filling with blood, and he can't see the punches coming from that side. Ali looks a little better, but any blow can break the last thread connecting his head to the center nervous system. But here are some overhand right punches that shake Frazier's head... Ali goes to his corner after finishing the 14th round on unsteady legs. "Cut, take them off!" he says to Angel Dundee, pointing to the gloves. He is ready to give up. He doesn't want to continue. In the opposite corner of the ring, Joe sucks in heavy hot air, which has more blood than oxygen, and hears, "You can't go on." Too much power given. Too much hate. Too much drama. Angle keeps Frazier out for the 15th round.

After the fight, Ali called Joe's son, Marvis Frazier, to his side and asked his forgiveness for everything he said about his father before the fight. He found the strength to apologize to Joe only in 2001.

Suffering from Parkinson's disease, already almost unable to speak and move on his own, Muhammad Ali himself has become a monument and a living reminder of the "Thriller in Manila". A sad monument to hatred, cruelty and inhuman will.

“Well, Butterfly and I knew different times. There were a lot of emotions then. But I forgave him. I had to. You can't keep it to yourself forever. There were scars on my heart, for years I dreamed that he would be hurt ... It's time to end this. We needed each other to give you one of the greatest fights in history." Joe Frazier.

Perhaps both of these vindictive and belligerent gentlemen are not examples of virtue. But it is worth giving them their due - they both held on to the last.

Signature left hook acquired thanks to a pig

American heavyweight boxer Joe Frazier has died at the age of 67. The famous boxer spent the last days of his life in a hospice in Philadelphia. A few weeks ago, Fraser was diagnosed with liver cancer, and there was practically no chance of his recovery.
Joe Frazier retired from sports in 1981. In 1994, he played one of the main roles in Nick Stagliano's film Resident of the Angels.
Also, Joe Frazier was fond of rock music and even organized his own group "Knockouts", which performed in nightclubs. Critics doubted musical ability boxer, which, however, did not prevent him from taking his hobby seriously.
In the last years of his life, he was quite active, sometimes traveling around America and attending iconic boxing matches. Shortly before his death - in September 2011 - he went to Las Vegas for the fight between Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz, where he willingly signed autographs for his fans.
In amateur boxing, the legendary athlete reached the highest peak, becoming in 1964 Olympic champion. And then he held the title of the best professional boxer in heavyweight champion.
Frazier shone in the ring in the late 1960s and early 1970s, holding two world heavyweight belts (according to the WBC and WBA) for several years at the same time. He defeated such famous athletes as Oscar Bonavena, Jerry Kwuori, Jimmy Ellis.
Many experts consider the fights with Muhammad Ali in 1971-1975 to be the pinnacle of his career. In addition, Frazier twice met in the ring with the great George Foreman - and lost both times.
In total, he had 37 fights in the professional ring, of which he won 32 (27 by knockout), and lost four.
Joe Frazier's boxing style was tough and uncompromising. His signature blow - left side - sent more than one opponent to the floor. Fraser himself once joked that he owed the "acquisition" of this blow to a pig that broke his left arm when he was a child. The arm was fused at an angle that allowed it to strike along the optimal trajectory.
Joe Frazier has been named Boxer of the Year three times by The Ring magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). His fights against Muhammad Ali, George Foreman and Jerry Quari were recognized as fights of the year.
In 1990, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and in 1998, The Ring ranked Frazier as the eighth greatest heavyweight of all time.

To get a boxing license, he deceived an optometrist

The fight took place in the incredible Philippine heat - more than 30 degrees. From the first to the fifth round, the advantage was for Ali, from the sixth to the 11th Frazier dominated.




In June 1976, the second fight took place between Frazier and George Foreman. Frazier lost by knockout in the 5th round. After this fight, he did not enter the ring for five years.

Uncle Tom vs Butterfly

The name of Joe Frazier, included in both Boxing Halls of Fame, is inextricably linked with the name of another ringmaster - Mohammed Ali. Fraser received the title of world champion among professionals in 1970 - after Ali was stripped of the title in 1967 for refusing to fight in Vietnam. In the fight for the world title, Frazier in New York defeated Jimmy Ellis.
However, many boxing fans did not recognize him, arguing that Ali, who fell out of favor, was the real champion. Fraser would not be himself if he avoided meeting the supposedly real champion. He openly declared his readiness to meet with Mohammed and, as he later claimed, was at the reception of President Nixon regarding the return of Ali's boxing license.

In March 1971, Smoking Joe beat the great Mohammed.

The unscrupulous Ali used Frazier to bolster his own fame. Those insults ("Uncle Tom", that is, a lackey of whites, and also "gorilla", "freak"), which Ali poured, gained him a reputation as a fearless warrior, eloquent and brilliant, and after that Joe had to wash off for a long time. Therefore, it is not surprising that about the Butterfly (as he called Ali for his famous saying: “I flutter like a butterfly and sting like a bee!”) Fraser responded, to put it mildly, without reverence.
Ali was eloquent, good-looking, boastful, bright and charismatic. Nature did not endow Fraser with any of these qualities. But he had a championship belt.
And in March 1971, a fight was held in New York between the current champion and the former champion, but real (from his point of view). Called then and still called "the fight of the millennium".
“At the beginning of the fight, Mohammed had an advantage and, as usual, showed himself to the fullest. He carried nonsense, built faces. He was a master of these things, but they didn’t work on me,” Fraser said. - I went to the ring as a job. By the sixth or seventh round, when I had already begun to break him, I remember he got wound up: “What are you, Joe, cool, right? You're cool, right? In the end, he began to choke, he said that he was dying. And I told him: “Man, you didn’t get there. This is not your place. I'll wipe the floor for you." There was always a lot of chatter in fights with Ali. The referee kept shouting: "Less talking, guys."
In the 11th round, Frazier almost knocked out Ali. For almost a minute he dangled around the ring like a drunk, but he never fell. In the 15th round, after Frazier's trademark left side, Ali still fell down - Joe became the first boxer who managed to defeat the "king of the ring".
In January 1974, a year after losing his title to Foreman, Joe Frazier faced Ali for the second time and lost on points. The outcome of this battle is still considered controversial, and most experts are sure that the forces were equal.

"Thriller in Manila"

The last fight between two boxing superstars - Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali - took place on September 30, 1975 in a suburb of Manila. This fight, called the "Thriller in Manila", entered the history of boxing as one of the greatest and most brutal fights. Prior to the fight, Ali had outdone himself with insults, rhyming "thriller", "Manila" and "gorilla", by which he meant Frazier. It was disgusting, but most of the world laughed at Fraser along with their idol.
The fight took place in the incredible Philippine heat - more than 30 degrees. From the first to the fifth round, the advantage was for Ali, from the sixth to the 11th Frazier dominated.

Thriller in Manila. 1975

For the last three rounds, the boxers were so exhausted that they fought almost blindly, most of the blows did not reach the goal. After the 14th round, Frazier's second showed him three fingers and asked him to count them. "One," Joe croaked. The coach stopped the match, deciding not to risk the life of the ward. At that very moment, Mohammed was just asking his second to take off his gloves - he, too, was unable to continue the fight. Fraser was credited with a loss. Muhammad Ali went to the center of the ring and collapsed unconscious. "Hey, don't! I'll deal with him now!" Fraser wheezed. But the coach, the wise Eddie Futch, said, “No, that's it. No one will forget what you did today."
Yes, no one has forgotten what Frazier did back then in Manila. “It was like death. I have never been closer to death,” Ali recalled.
In whose favor the fight would have ended if Frazier's coach had not stopped him, the question remains. "Thriller in Manila" received the title of "fight of the year" according to The Ring magazine.
“The most difficult opponent for me was not Ali, but Foreman,” said Joe Frazier. - I won against Ali, but not against George. But was I the most difficult for the Butterfly? Don't know. He fought guys bigger than me. I've always been too small for a heavyweight. He took his not so much power as ... guess what. Heart, that's what. I went out to every fight with one thought: “I’m going to wipe the whole floor with them now!” This is what I took. This is probably why Ali was not easy with me. He's used to everyone being afraid of him."
In June 1976, the second fight took place between Frazier and George Foreman. Frazier lost by knockout in the 5th round. After this fight, he did not enter the ring for five years.
In December 1981, Frazier returned to boxing. He entered the ring against the little-known Floyd Cummings. At the end of 10 rounds, the judges gave a controversial draw. After this fight, Joe Frazier finally retired from boxing.

Immediately after the fight in Manila, Ali began to apologize to Frazier for all his past antics and insults. He apologized to his son, to his friends, he apologized in his book, but he never got to apologize to Fraser in person. “It was he who apologized to the newspaper, not to me,” said Joe, who never forgave Ali.
Even the Parkinson's disease that struck Butterfly did not give Frazier a reason to relent. He caustically commented on any appearances of a trembling and silent Ali in public. When the trembling Ali lit the Atlanta Olympic flame, Frazier sat at home and grumbled that he would have gladly pushed him into the torch: “It was not boxing that did him, not boxing. It is his own life and punished him. His own life, and here it is - "ve-li-greatest." You have to pay for everything."

Roman KIM,
Federation professional boxing Russia (Moscow):

Joe Frazier was considered one of the best body punchers in the history of boxing, as well as the owner of the fastest and hardest left hook. At the heart of his style is continuous pressure on the opponent, he seemed to stick to the opponent, relentlessly following him throughout the space. In the legendary duel with Mohammed Ali, he won because Ali was always especially vulnerable to left punches, and Frazier just owned the most deadly left hook, which he knocked down Mohammed in the final 15th round. Great respect for his coaching and promotional work, which he took up after completing sports career. For example, he raised an excellent boxer from his own son.

Artyom BOGATOV,
marketer (Irkutsk):

A legendary fighter who deserves great respect has died. I read Mohammed Ali's condolences to the Fraser family. I really want to believe that they are sincere ... In any case, I will never forget how after the knockdown in which Joe sent Ali, the latter poured mud on the legend of world boxing for many more years. Personally, my opinion - Joe has always been better than Ali. Fraser has always been a very decent person. And it's worth it. The fact that Joe personally asked the President of the United States that Ali was allowed to fight him speaks volumes. That fight between the two champions (as well as many others in which Smoking Joe participated) serves as a clear example for young boxers. And while it will be, the great champions will be alive.

Pavel KOIKOV,
production manager IP Lopatkin (Kirov):

Joe Frazier for me is first and foremost the 1975 Thriller in Manila. It seems incredible how much strength, patience, perseverance in achieving the goal, the will to win in this and all other battles is in this man. Muhammad Ali, of course, looks more presentable compared to the short, lively Frazier, but in terms of the spectacularity of the fight, he is inferior to this tireless boxer. It seems that Joe simply does not notice the missed blows and jumps cheerfully in the ring throughout all the rounds. Without a doubt, Frazier was still one of those cohorts of boxers who went out to fight, not to make money. Only an enthusiastic person can fight with such dedication.

Alexander REMZHOV,
co-owner of the cafe "Marshal" (Kirov):

From time immemorial, strength and courage have been valued in any society. Gladiator fights have been a traditional masculine spectacle since ancient times. Today, one of the most popular incarnations of this spectacle is hand-to-hand fighting, referred to as "boxing". Joe Frazier was one of the most worthy representatives of his craft, who made more than one generation of people remember himself. Truly admirable is the courage of a man who entered the ring with one seeing eye against Muhammad Ali and won. May he rest in peace!

Vitaliy Klichko,
WBC world boxing champion:

Unfortunately, I did not personally know this great man. But I always treated him with great respect and I am proud that today I own the title that once belonged to him. This is a great loss not only for his loved ones, to whom Vladimir and I express our sincere condolences, but also for all boxing fans. With Fraser, an entire era is leaving us. A generation of great boxers is leaving, on whose experience and achievements we were brought up and, I am sure, young athletes will still be brought up.

Sergey PLATONOV,
Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics and Management in Construction (Irkutsk):

Great man and athlete. Joe Frazier will not only be remembered forever in the boxing community. He is history! We always look back to compare the present with history. And we compare with those who can be counted using the fingers of one hand: the standards of excellent fighters, courage and character, something that we lack so much today. And in the image of Fraser, the aspect of courage was especially important for me. This man was fearless and stood up in any situation. Often there are difficult moments in life, and it is these people, being an example to follow, that make you get up and move on.

Today would have been 71 years of the great American boxer, WBC and WBA heavyweight world champion (1970-1973), 1964 Olympic champion Joe Frazier.

LEFT HOOK ANGLE

Turn the body to the left and then put all the power into a left side kick ... Joe Frazier's signature hook, Smoking Joe, nicknamed so from light hand his manager, Jank Durham, for an ineradicable desire to "punch so that the gloves smoke." How many great fighters, including the greatest Mohammed Ali, slain by this Fraser's main blow, expected by opponents, but, nevertheless, always unexpectedly flying in from his disguised welter of attacks with both hands. A short lateral, inflicted with a bent arm at the elbow and a long one, loved by Frazier, the so-called "swing" (from the English to swing - to swing), which determined the outcome of most of those 27 fights that he won by knockout.

It is curious that Joe himself claimed that he received his signature blow from ... a pig, and told a story about how one day in childhood, driving pigs on a people's farm, he was knocked down by a huge boar and, when falling, broke his left arm at the elbow. Then this arm did not grow together properly, as a result of which he could only bend it at an angle. But the angle turned out to be perfect for the hook…

OLYMPIAN FROM GOD

The now deceased well-known Soviet heavyweight, European champion-65 Alexander Izosimov lived for 33 years with a thorn in his heart, regretting that it was not him, the champion of the USSR in 1964, who was in great shape, took on Olympic Games, and Vadim Emelyanov, who that year was not even among the winners of the national championship. “I had a great chance to deal with Frazier there,” he argued. Yes, and Main coach Viktor Ogurenkov admitted to the USSR national team more than once after Tokyo that the 20-year-old Frazier did not look invincible there, despite the fact that he won three out of four fights by knockout, including against Yemelyanov.

Who can say now what would have been Smoking Joe's boxing fate if he hadn't won the Olympic Games, let alone if he hadn't gone there at all. But they had to go there, because they lost the pre-Olympic qualifying fight to Buster Mathis, but the final coaching choice in favor of Joe was determined by an injury that his competitor soon received. However, Fraser himself had a different opinion on this. He had no doubt that it was not the coaches who made him an Olympian, but he himself was God, who “understood everything and understood who he needed more”:

Mathis didn't want to train,” Fraser said. “I woke him up in the morning and dragged him for a run. I have always had an iron rule: three miles every morning. We started together, I ran one and a half one way, and on the way back I met someone ... God understood who I was, what I wanted and slowed down Mathis a little ...

By the way, Fraser won the final Olympic fight against the German Hans Huber with a broken finger on his right hand ...

THERE ARE NO CHAMPIONS WITHOUT VICTORY OVER THE CHAMPIONS

And five years later, on February 16, 1970, he became the world champion in the two most prestigious versions of professional boxing (WBA and WBC) More precisely, six years later, on March 8, 1971 ... Oddly enough, but the answer to the question: “When did Frazier become world champion? ”, indeed, causes difficulty even for specialists. He officially received this title on February 16, 1967, when he won ahead of schedule against Jimmy Ellias, the owner of these belts. In that fight, Joe entered the rank of world champion ... according to the state of New York (he won, by the way, this title from Buster Mathis, taking the same revenge), with 24 fights in the professional ring (19 of which ended by knockout) and zero in the column " defeat." Twice knocked down the technical Ellias, forcing him to refuse to continue the fight after fourth round.

But the stage of the dinner did not bring much joy to Frazier, since Ellias was the so-called “paper champion”, having received the most prestigious WBA belt without a fight after he was taken away from Muhammad Ali with a scandal, deprived of his boxing license for refusing to serve in the American army. And what kind of champion are you without defeating a real champion? In addition, against the backdrop of the truly champion charisma that the “second man after the president” Mohammed Ali possessed, Frazier’s serious hobbies for rock music with rather dubious musical abilities of his own, aggravated by such performances of the Knockouts group he created, caused most of the boxing fans to to say the least, bewilderment prevented them from recognizing the new champion.

Fraser perfectly understood this, and literally rushed into battle, doing everything in his power to make their meeting with Ali in the ring take place. current champion world audience with then US President Richard Nixon and personally asked him to return Muhammad Ali to boxing. “If you want to fight this man, this is your rightful champion. He's yours!", - so, according to Fraser, Nixon answered him then, and this is the presidential "he's yours!" pissed him off even more. After that, the fight, which would later be called the "fight of the century," simply could not fail to take place.

ANSWERED FOR "UNCLE TOM"

In anticipation of his country was divided into two camps. Everyone who protested against the war in Vietnam and in general protested against something (no matter what) was on the side of Ali, naturally considering Frazier and those who supported him to be traditionalists, although Frazier was not one. High-octane gasoline was poured into the already bright fire by Mohammed Ali, who, in Fraser's apt expression, spun the press as he pleased. What insulting words from him in his address did not listen to Smoking Joe! But everything was past, within the framework of the laws of the genre, until Ali, who was not shy in the methods of self-promotion, called his opponent Uncle Tom. It went straight to Frazier's heart. For these words, he hated Ali for life, not forgiving him until his death, since a more offensive nickname, especially at that time, could not be invented: Uncle Tom for whites was the most shameful label that was hung on all blacks who shied away from the fight for their rights. But Fraser was not.

The “Boy of the Giants” took place on March 8, 1971 in the famous New York “Madison Square Garden” (many, including arena managers, consider that this fight is still the most prestigious event in its history). It must be said that all tickets were sold long before it, despite the record high prices.

After the first five relatively equal rounds, the advantage gradually began to pass to Frazier, who, showering a hail of blows on the opponent’s body, patiently waited for him to finally lower his arms and open his jaw for his main blow from the left. And in the eleventh round, as it seemed to many, he waited until, pressed to the ropes, Ali, having missed two powerful left hooks to the head, staggered. His knees buckled, but somehow he held his ground. But only in order to delay the historic moment expected by Fraser's fans until the last fifteenth round. At the very beginning, Ali lowered right hand, to strike from below, forgetting, apparently already from fatigue, about Fraser's "piggy" blow, which was in ambush. “Remembered” when he was on the floor for the first time in his career. He jumped up about “four”, but then in the remaining two and a half minutes he was already thinking only of not being knocked out until the end of the fight, the outcome of which at that moment was a foregone conclusion ...

MOHAMMED ALI: "I WAS NEAR DEATH"

It was only after this fight that Smoking Joe became the undisputed champion in the eyes of everyone, even though he won, as many still said, if not a shadow, then only a worse version of Ali in the mid-60s. But this was not Fraser's problem - he did his job honestly, won with his heart, as he liked to say.

Then, having already lost his title in a fight against George Foreman in January 1973, he would meet Muhammad Ali twice more. The last time was on October 1, 1975 in the Philippines, in a battle that went down in history under the name “Thriller in Manila”. Take it easy, young generation of boxing fans, take a look: it can be easily found on the Internet. It was a hard felling in the terrible heat of two, albeit already aging at that time, but the greatest fighters. Mohammed Ali would later say that he would be close to death, and Frazier, whose left eye was completely swollen (and his right eye was not well seen before the fight), the coach did not let go for the last fifteenth round ...

“I won our second fight, despite the fact that the victory in it was given to Mohammed. I would have won the third one if I had not been stopped, ”said Fraser, and he carried this belief that he never lost to his main rival through his whole life, which ended on November 7, 2011 in one of the Philadelphia hospices. Alas, his famous “swing” was powerless against liver cancer.