I have been fortunate to sit and talk with Joe Frazier on several occasions, but the most memorable was probably the time we sat in the back of a limo on the way to a guest appearance on the Howard Stern Show. Joe spoke at length about his third fight with Ali: “Hey, maybe I lost the decision, but look at Ali now and you can see that I was the real winner of our fights.”
Sadly, our last scheduled event with Joe in 2011
never took place. He was diagnosed with liver cancer in September and passed away less than three months later. Upon hearing of Frazier’s death, Muhammad Ali said, “The world has lost a great champion. I will always remember Joe with respect and admiration.”
Joe Frazier and author Jerry Gladstone
Joe Frazier Amazing Boxing Career
He went from being the son of a sharecropper to being an Olympic gold medalist and being included into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Frazier emerged in the late 1960s, defeating opponents that included Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena, Buster Mathis, Eddie Machen, Doug Jones, George Chuvalo and Jimmy Ellis and followed up by defeating Muhammad Ali by unanimous decision in the highly anticipated “Fight of the Century” in 1971. Two years later Frazier lost his title when he was knocked out by George Foreman. He fought on, beating Joe Bugner, losing a rematch to Ali and beating Quarry and Ellis again. Joe’s overall record was 32 wins, four losses and one draw. Twenty-seven of those wins were by knockout—73% of his fights won by knockout!
Boxing Heavyweight World Champion Joe’s Journey:
The son of a South Carolina sharecropper, Joe was one of 12 children in a family that survived by working land they leased for a share of its profits. He was raised in the rural community of Laurel Bay where they not only grew crops, but made bootleg corn liquor to help pay for family necessities.
Joe’s uncle watched him work and grow on that leased farm and commented almost incidentally, “That boy is gonna be another Joe Louis!” A passing comment by a family member may go almost unnoticed in the course of a person’s life—but sometimes a little positive encouragement can inspire him or her to reach great heights. For young Joe Frazier his uncle’s observation ignited his burning, competitive desires.
Joe became a boxer almost by accident. He first went to a gym in hopes of getting into shape, but soon he started taking boxing more seriously and eventually became one of the best amateur heavyweights in the nation.
THE COMMON THREAD book
will include interviews with Joe Frazier and his empowering thoughts. Joe Frazier’s humble beginnings and his way up are very encouraging if people like Joe could do it – you can reach your goals too! How could you apply what he did, to reach your own goals? How can you use his mindset to help you overcome obstacles?
Copyright 2014 Jerry Gladstone
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