Frazier won the heavyweight title in 1970 by stopping Jimmy Ellis in the fifth round of their fight at Madison Square Garden. Frazier defended it successfully four times before George Foreman knocked him down six times in the first two rounds to take the title from him in 1973.
Frazier would never be heavyweight champion again.
Wolff said Smokin’ Joe had been in out and out of the hospital since his diagnosis receiving hospice treatment the last week. Until then, Frazier still was active on the autograph circuit in the months before he died even though his speech was slurred due to many of the punches he had taken in the ring.
In September, he even went to Las Vegas, where he signed autographs in the lobby of the MGM Grand hotel-casino shortly before Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s fight against Victor Ortiz.
Joe Frazier dies of Liver Cancer was originally published on blackdoctor.org
