Me and Joe circa 2006
Most of us were probably too young to ever have actually seen boxing legend Smokin’ Joe Frazier fight live but we all knew about his legend.  If it weren’t for Muhammed Ali and a younger George Forman, Frazier would have gone down as the undisputed best of his time.  But he wasn’t.  Instead he was forced to contend with two of the best ever while he didn’t win them all, boxing fans did.  Monday, Frazier lost the greatest bout of his career, the one with liver Cancer which ended his life at the age of 67.

It was not much more than a week ago that we learned that Frazier was afflicted with the terminal desease and was placed in hospice care.  It was a very brief battle quite unlike those that came before it in his life namely the three epic fights with Ali.  Despite needing each for to complete their legend Frazier and Ali weren’t the best of friends but respected each other and UNDERSTOOD the fact that they would only go so far as the other would let them.  Thw two fought three times, twice in New York City and once in the epic “Thriller in Manila” 1975 match in the Philippines where Ali would eventually wear down Frazier using his now famed “Rope-a-Dope” technique.

While there is one thing that’s certain in life its death.  However, for Frazier we always knew that Ali would play a big part in his eventual and now unfortunate eulogy.  I will always be grateful for Joe because he has and will continue to give me hope that one day Boxing will return to those days of glory when epic battles will once again become commonplace just without the side effects of brain damage and others that have plagued great warriors of the past.