This man is truly an All Time Great in his own right and IMO solidified Muhammad Ali and the Greatest of All Heavyweight Champions. Ali had to beat this man not once but twice and in their last meeting had IMO the Two of the Greatest Heavyweight Championship Fights with the "Fight of the Century" in New York Madison Square Garden and the Greatest Fight of All Time in the Heavyweight ranks in the "Thriller in Manila".

PHILADELPHIA — Former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier has liver cancer and is under hospice care.

The 67-year-old boxer was diagnosed four or five weeks ago, Frazier's personal and business manager said Saturday. Leslie Wolff told The Associated Press that doctors have not yet told Frazier how long he has to live.

"We have medical experts looking into the all the options that are out there," Wolff said. "There are very few. But that doesn't mean we're going to stop looking."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/05...77838.html

That sucks. Joe Frazier was too nice a guy, and his life was always diminished by his bitterness towards Muhammad Ali. I wish he could have found some happiness in his later life, but this ain't it...

(11-05-2011 03:37 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  That sucks. Joe Frazier was too nice a guy, and his life was always diminished by his bitterness towards Muhammad Ali. I wish he could have found some happiness in his later life, but this ain't it...

So true Bit, as a Louisvillian of course I am a Ali guy-(this is his hometown) but man without Frazier IMO Ali would not be seen in the light as The Greatest of All Time.

Hopefully both of those two will patch up their differences b4 his times passes.

That's all up to Frazier. Ali never had anything against Joe. To him it was all part of marketing the product. But Joe took it personal, and it's consumed his life...

Calling another black man a gorilla was not a marketing tact. It's a well known fact that Ali was a racist, condescending piece of crap through out his career. He was a mouth piece for the black NOI here in the United States during his prime, and even went so far as speaking with white seperatist groups and even delivered a speech at a Klan rally.

Not to mention in 1971 what he said on the BBC when interviewed by Michael Parkinson “Who wants to spot up yourself and kill your race?”

Of all the loud ass obnoxious asshats in boxing, I respect Ali the least.
He lost to Frazier twice, regardless of what anybody tells you, George Chuvalo kicked his ass in that second fight. Ali landed a lot of hits but they were baby taps compared to what Chuvalo was throwing.

He's the greatest? Why? Because he was fast and he says so a million times over? SMH... If he wasn't such a media darling, nobody when remember him as the greatest. Just a flash in the pan.

The Gorilla remarks bother me, it should NOT have been said:

But when you beat Frazier twice, Liston twice, knockout George Foreman & beat Ken Norton and Floyd Patterson twice if you are not the Greatest then who is.

Ali was the best Heavyweight in the Greatest Era of the Heavyweight Division.

FTR, for most of his career Ali wasn't a "media" darling...he was hated for his stance on Vietnam...while many ran to Canada he gave up the prime of his career.

But this isn't about Ali...this is about a man who is Great in his own right that is now in the fight for his life...I hope he beats it & knocks out his liver cancer!!!!

Maize, his best chance to beat this is a liver transplant, if the cancer remains localized in the liver. The liver is basically a big blood vessell that's folded upon itself over and over. If the cancer metastisizes outside the liver, a transplant is no longer an option. Due to the nature of the liver, chemo and radiation therapy aren't an option. And if Joe's in hospice care, he may not be healthy enough for a transplant...

(11-05-2011 06:59 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  Maize, his best chance to beat this is a liver transplant, if the cancer remains localized in the liver. The liver is basically a big blood vessell that's folded upon itself over and over. If the cancer metastisizes outside the liver, a transplant is no longer an option. Due to the nature of the liver, chemo and radiation therapy aren't an option. And if Joe's in hospice care, he may not be healthy enough for a transplant...

I realize this, when I read "Hospice" than I know what up...this depresses the hell out of me as a boxing fan. Joe is a great man and great champion.

It sad, he will probably be reckonized for his greatness once he is gone than when he was fighting.

It's fair to say that Frazier saved Ali's career. When Ali was down and out, because of his "contientious observer" issue, Frazier gave him money and an opportunity to fight him, at a time when Frazier was on top of the boxing world. Ali in turn called him a gorilla and embarrassed Frazier, when he should have been humble and thanked Frazier for the opportunity. Ali is a reminder of the things that are wrong with this country. I hope the best for Frazier. He had heart and compassion, and was ridiculed for it.

(11-05-2011 03:21 PM)Maize Wrote:  This man is truly an All Time Great in his own right

+1
+10
+100

indeed Joe Frazier was one of the greatest ever

Smoking Joe did a lot for Ali, and everybody knows this, including Ali. But if it weren't for Ali's stand against the draft, Smoking Joe might never have been champ at all. It was Ali's suspension, at the height of his career, that allowed Joe to win the championship in his absence. It was Frazier's first fight against Ali that legitimized his championship. So like it or not, those 2 men will always be tied together by their shared history...

(11-06-2011 09:49 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  Smoking Joe did a lot for Ali, and everybody knows this, including Ali. But if it weren't for Ali's stand against the draft, Smoking Joe might never have been champ at all. It was Ali's suspension, at the height of his career, that allowed Joe to win the championship in his absence. It was Frazier's first fight against Ali that legitimized his championship. So like it or not, those 2 men will always be tied together by their shared history...

That's a very good point. Symbiotic relationship I guess, and maybe the source of antimosity between Ali and Frazier, to begin with.

Symbiosis is mutual benefit, not really sure in the end, that Joe did benefit from that relationship. If Ali had been drafted and killed or if he died some other way, I imagine Joe Frazier could have been "legitimized" by beating someone else, but now we're talking about hypotheticals.

(11-06-2011 05:22 PM)Butterfly Wrote:  Symbiosis is mutual benefit, not really sure in the end, that Joe did benefit from that relationship. If Ali had been drafted and killed or if he died some other way, I imagine Joe Frazier could have been "legitimized" by beating someone else, but now we're talking about hypotheticals.

I'm aware of what symbiotic means. Mutual benefit in that Frazier might not have become champion if Ali does not protest the draft. And Frazier ultimately giving Ali his shot at a comeback. Mutually beneficial, no? That's the point that Bit made, and it appeared symbiotic to me, using the perfect vision of hindsight.

He just passed, 2 days after this thread was posted.

RIP JOE.