Joe Frazier

Joseph William Frazier was born in Beaufort, South Carolina, the youngest of twelve children. Moving to Philadelphia as a teenager, Frazier worked in a kosher slaughterhouse, famously punching beef sides long before the scene was immortalized in the film Rocky. Overcoming a broken thumb sustained in the semi-finals, Frazier captured the heavyweight gold medal for the United States at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Under trainer Eddie Futch in Philadelphia, 'Smokin' Joe' perfected an aggressive, suffocating pressure style: crouching low, constantly bobbing and weaving beneath opponents' punches, and unleashing devastating hooks to the body and head. In February 1970, Frazier stopped Jimmy Ellis to become undisputed world heavyweight champion.

On 8 March 1971, Frazier faced the undefeated Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden in the 'Fight of the Century.' In the fifteenth round, Frazier landed a thunderous, picture-perfect leaping left hook that dropped Ali flat on his back, securing a unanimous decision victory in the most widely watched sporting event of the era. Their legendary trilogy culminated in the savage 'Thrilla in Manila' in October 1975, where trainer Eddie Futch refused to allow a partially blinded Frazier to answer the bell for the fifteenth round after fourteen rounds of brutal warfare.