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