Titles: Heavyweight champion 1970-1973

Record: 32-4-1

Born: January 12, 1944 in Beaufort, South Carolina (USA)

Years active: 1965-1981

Nickname:  Smokin' Joe


In his early days Frazier was called the Black Marciano and with good 
reason. He put his head in his opponents chest and swung with frightening 
power to the body and head all the while bobbing and weaving when not in 
range for his hooks. Frazier was the seventh of thirteen children and 
dropped out of school at the age of 7 and working on the family farm later 
to be married at the age of 15. Frazier wandered into a gym after he 
thought himself to be pudgy and a boxing career followed. In 40 amateur 
bouts he only lost twice, both at the hands of a pro victim Buster Mathis. 
Yet he went on to win a Gold Medal in the 1964 Olympics. 17 knockouts in
his first 19 fights over good opposition like Doug Jones, Eddie Machen, 
Oscar Bonavena and George Chuvalo made him the number 1 contender and a 
force to be dealt with. Before he had a chance to win the title Ali was 
stripped of it and thus left Frazier less respected than he should have 
been. Old amateur rival Buster Mathis was defeated for the title by Frazier, 
after a tight first 6 rounds Frazier broke the huge Mathis down with body 
shots. The fight was stopped in the 11th round.  Four title defenses 
followed and then a win over Ernie Terrell the WBA champion secured Frazier 
the title of undisputed heavyweight champion. A year after unifying the 
title Frazier was matched with Ali in the fight of the century. Make no 
mistake the Frazier that won the fight on this night was a match for any 
heavyweight of any time including the prime Ali. Frazier defeated Ali and
capped the victory with a 15th round knockdown that was viewed by 300 
million people world wide. Two more low key defenses followed before 
Frazier met his bogey man in George Foreman. The Frazier style was made 
for Foreman and he knocked out Joe with relative ease......twice. The much
reported losses to Ali in return fights included perhaps the perhaps the 
best heavyweight fights of all time in the "Thrilla in Manilla". After 
losing again to Foreman her retired in 1976. A one fight comeback in 1981 
did not generate any excitement and Frazier returned to his gym to teach 
others his great skills.

DATE                    OPPONENT         RESULT   VENUE

Aug. 16,1965            Woody Goss       KO  1  Philadelphia, PA
Sept. 20,1965           Mike Bruce       KO  3  Philadelphia, PA
Sept. 28,1965           Ray Staples      KO  2  Philadelphia, PA
Nov. 11,1965            Abe Davis        KO  1  Philadelphia, PePA

Jan. 17,1966            Mel Turnbow      KO  1  Philadelphia, PA
March 4,1966            Dick Wipperman   KO  5  New York City
April 4,1966            Charley Polite   KO  2  Philadelphia, PA
April 28,1966           Don (Toro) Smith KO  3  Pittsburgh, PA
May 19,1966             Chuck Leslie     KO  3  L.A, California
May 26,1966             Memphis Al Jones KO  1  L.A, California
July 25,1966            Billy Daniels    KO  6  Philadelphia, PA
Sept. 21,1966           Oscar Bonavena   W 10   New York City
Nov. 21,1966            Eddie Machen     KO  10 L.A, California

Feb. 21,1966            Doug Jones       KO  6  Philadelphia, PA
April 11,1967           Jeff Davis       KO  5  Miami Beach, Florida
May 4,1967              George Johnson   W  10  L.A, California
July 19,1967            George Chuvalo   KO  4  New York City
Oct. 17,1967            Tony Doyle       KO  2  Philadelphia, PA
Dec. 18,1967            Marion Connors   KO  3  Boston, Massachusetts

March 4,1968            Buster Mathis    W 11   Madison Square Garden, N.Y.C
June 24,1968            Manuel Ramos     TKO 2  New York City
Dec. 10,1968            Oscar Bonavena   W  15  Spectrum, PA

April 22,1969          Dave Zyglewicz   KO  1   Houston, Texas
June 23,1969           Jerry Quarry     TKO 7   Madison Square Garden

Feb. 16,1970           Jimmy Ellis      TKO 4   Madison Square Garden
(Wins world heavyweight title)
Nov. 18,1970           Bob Foster       KO  2   Cobo Arena, Detroit
(Retains heavyweigh title)

March 8,1971           Muhammad Ali     W 15    Madison Square Garden
(Retains heavyweigh title)
 
Jan. 15,1972          Terry Daniels     KO 4    Rivergate Auditorium
(Retains heavyweigh title)
May 25,1972           Ron Stander       KO 4    Civic Auditorium, Omaha
(Retains heavyweigh title)

Jan. 22,1973(World) George Foreman      KOby 2  National Stadium, Jamaica
(Looses heavyweigh title)
July 2,1973         Joe Bugner          W 12    London

Jan. 28,1974        Muhammad Ali        L 12   New York City
June 17,1974        Jerry Quarry        KO 5   New York City

March 1,1975        Jimmy Ellis          KO  9  Melbourne
Oct. 1,1975         Muhammad Ali         L  14  Araneta Stadium, Manila

June 15,1976        George Foreman  KOby 5 Uniondale, New York

Dec. 3,1981         Jumbo Cummings   D 10  Chicago, Illinois