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Joe Frazier Everlast Boxing Trunks
A Green Pair of Everlast Boxing Trunks synonymous
with Smokin Joe, signed by Joe Frazier. This wonderful item
comes complete with our Certificate of Authenticity and
a photograph of Frazier signing, plus all attached security
holograms so you can be rest assured you are buying a genuine
autograph.
Joe Frazier
£125.00
JOE FRAZIER is a country boy who lived by the old country
adage that: "when you go to the big party, you dance
with the one who brung ya." In Frazier's case it was
a left hook. But to classify Frazier as merely a "left
hooker" would be like saying Marilyn Monroe was a blonde.
The son of a South Carolina sharecropper, he became a boxer
by accident. He first went to a gym to work himself into
shape. Shortly after, he began fighting competitively and
became one of the best amateur heavyweights in the nation.
He didn't lose until he ran into Buster Mathis, who decisioned
him in the 1964 Olympic trials. But, Mathis suffered an
hand injury and Frazier replaced him at the Summer Games
in Tokyo and came home with a gold medal.
He turned pro under the guidance of Yank Durham in 1965
and ran off 11 straight wins until he ran into tough guy,
Oscar Bonavena in September 1966. The Argentine dropped
Frazier twice in one round, but "Smokin" Joe came
off the deck -- showing the Madison Square Garden crowd
the heart and character that would mark his career -- to
win a 10-round unanimous decision.
After Bonavena, Frazier knocked out contenders Doug Jones
(KO 5), George Chuvalo (TKO 4) and closed out the '67 campaign
with a 19-0 career record.
With Muhammad Ali's exile from the sport, the heavyweight
division was in disarray. While the WBA held an elimination
tournament, Frazier was matched with his nemesis from his
amateur days, Buster Mathis, for the New York State world
title on March 4, 1968 at the Garden.
This time Mathis was not able to dance his way to victory
over three rounds. A relentless Frazier wore down the bigger,
heavier man, and stopped in the 11th round. From 1968-70,
Frazier made six defenses, including a fifth-round TKO of
WBA champ Jimmy Ellis in a unification fight. But in the
summer of 1970, former champ Ali was granted a license to
fight and the demand quickly grew for a showdown between
the former undefeated champ and the reigning king.
In fall of 1970, Ali knocked out top contenders Jerry Quarry
and Bonavena, setting the stage for the most anticipated
heavyweight title fight since the Louis-Conn rematch of
1946.
Each fighter was paid the then-unheard of purse of $2.5
million. The build up to the fight was unparalleled in boxing
history; transcending the sport -- and the sporting world.
On March 8, 1971, before a sellout crowd at Madison Square
Garden, the two waged one of the greatest heayweight battles
ever. In the 15th round, Frazier landed perhaps the most
famous left hook in history, catching Ali on the jaw and
dropping the former champ for a four-count. At the end of
15 grueling rounds, Frazier got the nod from all three judges
and left the ring as the undisputed champ.
But the fight took a lot out of Frazier, who didn't fight
again the rest of the year. In 1972, he defended against
two journeymen. His reign as champion ended in January of
1973, against George Foreman in Kingston, Jamaica. Foreman
dropped Frazier six times before the fight was stopped in
Round 2.
He beat Joe Bugner in his next fight, but dropped a 12-round
decision to Ali in their rematch in Jan. 1974. He got back
on the winning track to set the stage for a rubbermatch
with Ali, who had since lifted the title from Foreman.
In the suffocating heat in Quezon City, just outside the
Philippines capital of Manila, the two aging warriors dueled
for 14 rounds in a bout Ali billed "The Thrilla in
Manila." Ali took the early rounds, before Frazier
found his rhythm in the middle frames and attacked the champs
body with both hands. But Ali turned the tide for good in
the 10th and won the next four rounds. By the end of the
14th both fighters were exhausted, but Frazier's eyes were
nearly swollen shut, and his corner stopped the bout. Later,
Ali said, "It was the closest I've come to death."
Nine months later, Frazier tried to fight himself back
into title contention with a rematch against Foreman, but
was stopped in five rounds. He retired following the second
Foreman fight. Five years later he launched a one-bout comeback,
but drew with a journeyman, Jumbo Cummings, before hanging
up the gloves for good.
