Joe Frazier’s left hook — the most important left hook of the 20th century — was forged on a burlap sack filled with rags, corncobs and a brick in the middle, hanging from an oak tree on his family’s South Carolina homestead. Frazier banged that sack nearly every day for seven years — even when his left arm was permanently damaged when a boar hog chased him. It left his arm crooked — almost permanently cocked.
He used that left hook to bang his way to an Olympic gold medal in 1964 and two versions of the heavyweight title in 1968 and 1970.
And he used that left hook to bang his way to a historic win over Muhammad Ali in the “Fight of the Century” in 1971 and was part of one of the greatest three-act plays sports has ever seen.
So when they bury Frazier — who died Monday night from liver cancer at the age of 67 — perhaps his gravestone should simply be a giant left hook.
The left hook, with a pace in the ring that was truly like a force of nature, is what made Frazier a great fighter and that was all he wanted to be known for — being a great fighter.
He was thrust into the rest of it — the politics, the drama, the history beyond the ring — by Ali, during their three ring wars and the bitter rivalry that captivated the world and lingered long after they had thrown punches.
Ali had already carved out a place in history by his shocking upset over Sonny Liston in 1964, his domination of the heavyweight division for the next three years, his calling to the Black Muslims and his refusal to enter the military draft, resulting in a three-year ban from boxing.
But that was an Ali who was revered by some and repulsed by others. It wasn’t until the world stopped listening to what Ali said and looked into his heart in the ring that the public began to view him differently, seeing the grit and determination that it took to go 41 rounds with a man like Frazier.
It was Frazier that opened up Ali’s heart to us — from the March 8, 1971, Madison Square Garden epic that Frazier won in 15 rounds, followed by a 12-round rematch that Ali won in 1974, to the finale, the “Thrilla in Manila” in 1975, ending with Frazier’s trainer Eddie Futch stopping the fight after 14 rounds.
It was the words — the ugly insults — that Frazier endured from Ali that seemed to hurt him the most and left him bitter for decades after they fought.
“I fought my way up from nothing,” Frazier said in his autobiography about Ali’s personal verbal assaults. “I earned my way with hard work, work that was owed respect.”
That’s what Joe Frazier was all about — respect and a great left hook.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
