I have always admired Joe and his determination, and wish him well as he deals with his problems. I suspect that Ali would trade a lot of his money for a body that didn't pathetically shake and speech that people could understand. Frazier is heathier, and therefore "richer",than his old adversary will ever be.
His bout with Ali in 1971 has to be considered one of boxing's greatest fights in anyone's book, knocking "The Greatest" flat on his back in the 15th... Even after beating Ali in "The Fight Of The Century", Smokin' Joe had a very tough row to hoe to keep his title against that great heavyweight division. I will never forget Howard Cosell's call "Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!" in the second round of his first bout against George Foreman, seems like Joe was never the same after that fight, fighting only 7 more times, and losing 3 of them. (the other 2 to Ali in the last 2 fights of their "trilogy", the other to Foreman again.) Neither Joe's longevity, nor his charisma matched Ali's, but then, whose has?
The fact that Ali made it to his feet after taking that shot shows a lot about his courage and determination. Ain't that the truth. It's too bad Frazier didn't have the mouthiness that Ali had, or the showmanship as some would say. If he had he probably would have made a lot more money in his time. In 1973, Frazier purchased 140 acres in Bucks County, Pa., for $843,000. Five years later, a developer agreed to buy the farmland for $1.8 million. Frazier received annual payments from a trust that bought the land with money he had earned in the ring. When the trust went out of business, the payments stopped. Frazier sued his business partners, claiming that his signature was forged on documents and that he had no knowledge of the sale. In the ensuing years, the land was subdivided and turned into a residential community. The property is now worth an estimated $100 million. It seems like there are these types of people all over the boxing community. It is just sad that there is nothing being done to clean that part of the sport up. On the flipside of things it sounds like at least he still has Larry Holmes there to help him out whenever he needs it. I wonder how many of these boxers actually stick together like that, for this long.
Strange. I posted a similar story about Leon Spinks last Christmas. It'd be interesting to compare the two.
