He was once the boxing heavyweight champion of the world, beating the likes of Muhammad Ali, but now Smokin’ Joe Frazier has a tougher battler, liver cancer. Reports indicate that Frazier is now under hospice care, and is weighing his alternatives in regards to cancer treatment.
Frazier, who was the first man to defeat Muhammed Ali in 1971, also participated the well known Thrilla in Manilla in which Ali got his redemption. Joe Frazier had won the heavyweight title a year before in 1970, having defeated Jimmy Ellis at Madison Square Garden in the fifth round. Frazier then went on to defend his title a whopping 4 times before being knocked down repeatedly by George Foremanin 1973.
Just hours after writing this post, we came to find out that Joe Frazier has lost his battle with liver cancer.
And Manny Pacquiao weighed in, saying that “Boxing lost a great champion, and the sport lost a great ambassador,”.