Frazier, Joe, 1944-2011
Description
Joseph "Joe" Frazier was an American boxer who won a gold medal in heavyweight division in boxing at the 1964 Olympic Games and was the first boxer to beat Muhammad Ali in a match. Joseph William Frazier was born on January 12, 1944 in Beaufort, South Carolina. When Frazier was growing up in South Carolina, schoolchildren would pay him a quarter to walk with them to avoid bullies. Shortly after threatening a white farmer who struck a young boy, Frazier moved in with family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia at the age of fifteen. Two years later, while working at a slaughterhouse, Frazier joined the Philadelphia Police Athletic League gym and began his amateur boxing career. During his time as an amateur, he had a boxing record of thirty-eight wins and two losses. In the 1964 Olympic Games, boxer Buster Mathis became injured and Frazier was sent as a replacement, to which he won a gold medal in the heavyweight division. After this victory, Frazier began his professional boxing career and attained a record of thirty-two wins, four losses, and one draw. Joseph William Frazier passed away on November 7, 2011 at the age of 67.
Sources:
Sielski, Mike. "Frazier battled Ali in timeless trilogy." ESPN Classic. Accessed June 18, 2020. http://www.espn.com/classic/biography/s/Frazier_Joe.html.
Goldstein, Richard. "Joe Frazier, Ex-Heavyweight Champ, Dies at 67."
