Joe Frazier

Joe had children with Florence Smith, whom he married in September 1963, and a woman identified only as ‘Rosetta’, with whom he had two children.

Joe’s marriage with Florence ended in 1985. Frazier had a total of 11 children, out of which son Marvis and daughter Jacqui Frazier-Lyde became professional boxers.

At the time of his death on November 7, 2011, due to liver cancer, he was survived by Denise Menz, his partner of 40 years, and 11 children.

Born on January 12, 1944, in Beaufort, South Carolina, Joe Frazier was the 12th child of Rubin and Dolly Frazier. He was brought up in modest circumstances with the family relying on sharecropping and bootlegging of corn liquor to supplement their farm income.

Joe first saw boxing action when the family bought a black and white television in the early ‘50s. His mother sold drinks to the neighbors coming in to watch boxers like Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Graziano, and Willie Pep.

Enthused by his uncle’s comment that he would be another Joe Louis, for the next 6-7 years, Joe practiced on a makeshift punching bag filled with moss, rags, bricks, and corncobs.

He attended a segregated school, which, however, did not interest him much; Joe dropped out at the age of 14 and took up work at the neighbouring farms.

A quarrel with a white farm owner made it amply clear to Joe that there was no future for him in Beaufort.

Guided by Duke Dugent, the gym manager, and Yancey Durham, the trainer, Joe Frazier improved his boxing skills considerably and also slimmed down to 190 pounds. He managed to win the novice heavyweight title in ‘Philadelphia Golden Gloves’ tournament in 1962.

He also triumphed in the Middle Atlantic Golden Gloves heavyweight championship for three consecutive years starting 1962.

His aggressive fighting style was often compared with that of Rocky Marciano. A devastating left hook and his fearsome reputation made him confident enough to regularly voice his ambition of becoming the world heavyweight champion.

As an amateur, Joe had lost only to Buster Mathias so he was eager to avenge the defeat when the duo met in the 1964 Olympic Games trials final, however, he was defeated yet again.

Demoralized at not qualifying for the Olympic team, he made up his mind to quit the sport but Duke Dugent and Yank Durham prevailed upon him not to throw away his future.

Joe Frazier turned professional after the Tokyo Olympics and made his debut on August 16, 1965, defeating Woody Goss by a technical knockout in the first round.

Armed with a relentless approach and killer left hook, he went unbeaten in his initial 20 fights. He vanquished Buster Mathis on March 4, 1968, to win the New York heavyweight title.

With another six wins under his belt, he became the heavyweight champion of the world by defeating Jimmy Ellis, the ‘WBA’ champion with a fifth round TKO on February 16, 1970.

On March 8, 1971, Frazier handed Muhammad Ali his first career defeat with his legendary left hook in the 15th round of what had been hailed as ‘Fight of the Century’ at Madison Square Garden.

In January 1973, Frazier lost his world heavyweight title to George Foreman, who, however, lost his title to Ali paving the way for a second Ali-Frazier battle.