By Carl Kuntze

31 March 2008

THE OPPONENT

by

Carl Kuntze

Frazier was a direct antithesis to Cassius Marcellus Clay (Mohammad Ali), both in background, and boxing styles. Where Clay was vocal and defiant, he was stoic, stolid, and pliant. Even in segregated Louisville, Kentucky, Clay moved easily among mixed circles. Frazier faced prejudice daily, growing up, he was diffident, unwilling to rock the boat.

Frazier was born on January 12, 1944, in Beaufort County, South Carolina. The 11th child of Rubin and Dolly Frazier. David, the 12th died in infancy of Diptheria. Rubin was a sharecropper, who according to Joe's 1996 autobiography ran a moonshine still, and perhaps, grew a musk that might have been marijuana, hints to their economic circumstances.

Ali, on the other hand, was born two years earlier, of a lower middle class parentage,

in Louisville, Kentucky, although a southern town, segregation was a word rarely mentioned, but a fact of life ignored. His father painted billboard advertising, and his mother, a domestic worker. He shares an experience with Frazier that his entry into amateur boxing was through the influence of a white policeman, Joe Martin. When his bike was stolen, he went to the police station to file a complaint. Martin, concerned about young Ali's repeated threats to whup whoever stole his bicycle, convinced him that he'd be better equipped to do just that if he learned how to box. Martin did not want any violence stirred up in Ali's tough neighborhood. His attention deflected, Ali trained under Martin's tutelege. Ali passionately pur-sued a boxing career after graduating from high school with grades in the cellar. (He ranked 376th in his class.) That was unimportant. He had found his calling. He fought 108 bouts between 1955 to 1960, winning six Kentucky Golden Gloves Titles, two Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Championships, two National Golden Gloves Crowns, and a gold medal in the light heavy division in the Summer Olympics in Rome in 1960. He was bitterly disap-

pointed when he was not welcomed as an American hero in his hometown. He threw the gold medal into The Ohio River after being denied service in a Louisville diner while wearing it around his neck. It was a situation he had never confronted before. His talent was recognized early by his sponsors, who were white businessmen, who saw him as a good

2

investment, and cushioned him frm the racial prejudice prevalent at the timel. A reason he reacted so petulantly at the slight. Frazier would have ignored the affront with the same indifference he displayed when charging through a barrage of blows to reach an opponent, making no effort to avoid them. He would absorb punishment for a chance to inflict it. He often won bouts looking as if he lost them, triumphant, but battered.

By 1959, he was on his own, and that year, he moved in with his brother, Tommy and his wife, Ollie in New York City. He had difficulty getting a job, and turned to stealing cars for his income. He sold them to a Brooklyn chop shop at $ 50. apiece.

"It got to a point where I was just too embarassed about leaning on my brother, I decided to head for Philadelphia to see if my luck would change."

It did. While working in a slaughterhouse, he would punch sides of beef (As Sylves-

ter Stallone did in Rocky) and toward December 1961, some 30 lbs. overweight at 220 lbs. over a 71 inch frame, he entered The Police Athletlic Gym. There he caught the attention of Yank Durham, a professional trainer, who offered to work with him. He taught him to shorten his punches, improve his leverage, and add speed and power to his left hook.

Frazier toured the country, boxing regularly at exhibitions. Finallly, joining The Atlantic Golden Gloves, becoming amateur heavyweight champion for three succeeding years, until he lost to Buster Mathis in the finals of the 1964 Olympics Trials. It would look like he lost his chance to compete internationally, but Mathis injured his hand in a subsequent exhibition, and Frazier was sent in as a substitute. Like Ali, he won a gold medal, even fighting the final bout with a broken left thumb. He won a decision against Germany's Hans Huber.

In August 16, 1965, he made his professional debut, winning eleven fights, each one by a knockout. Bankrolled by fans, who formed a group called Cloverlay, and raising

$ 20,000 to keep him in the ring.

3

Destiny was going to hand him the Heavyweight title. Ali refused to be inducted into The US Army. His boxing license was suspended, and he was stripped of the championship. Frazier would work his way through the different contenders, which included Floyd Patterson, Jerry Quarry, and Jimmy Ellis. He knocked out Buster Mathis in the 11th round,

in 1968, flattened Quarry in the 8th, in 1969 and Jimmy Ellis in five on Feb. 16, 1970 becoming undisputed heavyweight champion.

Then, Ali's boxing license was reinstated by the courts, and this would augur their future contests. In March 18, 1971, in what was billed "The Fight of The Century," he would catch Ali with a left hook in the 15th round, sending him sprawling on the canvas in Madison Square Garden.

After successfully defending the title against Terry Daniels and Ron Stander with early round TKOs, he'd come up against George Foreman, who knocked hlim down six times before the fight was stopped. Frazier's brief reign was over. It was Jan. 22, 1973.

A year later, a non title bout between Ali and Frazier would decide who would get the next shot at unseating Foreman. It was a fierce battle, with the decision awarded to Ali, but several sportswriters, and most of the spectators thought Frazier had won. When Ali reclaimed the title by beating Foreman in 1974, it was a foregone conclusion that there would be another Ali-Frazier match. That bout became one of the best in boxing history.

Not too popularly known was that Frazier was visually impaired, troubled by cata-racts throughout his professional career. That he persisted is a testament to the indomitability of his spirit. Frazier retired after he was knocked out by Foreman in the fifth round in 1976. He came back for one more fight, which was a draw against a former convict, Flyod "Jumbo" Cummings, and finished his career with a 32-4-1 record, and 27 knockouts. Frazier now lives in Philadelphia, where he runs a gym he owns. It is what is left of the huge purses he earned, losing most to scams, and bad investments. His health is poor. He has diabetes

4

and high blood pressure. I don't know if he really has that much animosity toward Ali. I covered The Thrilla in Manila, and found many retrospective reports inaccurate. I'd rather not itemize them here. Many were written by respected sportswriters. He took issue with the description "gorilla," and made his objection plain in a local Manila television show. Although the confrontation looked ugly, the black "gorrilla" T-shirts disappeared the following day. I suspect the mischievous Ali realized he'd gone too far. The myth of "bad blood" persists.

Once in a joint interview with a New York Times sports reporter, Ali was supposedly apologetic, and Frazier accepted it, but later, in TV guide, Frazier complained that Ali apologized to the newspaper, not to him. Brought to Ali's attention, he blurted out, "Tell him, he's still a gorilla." Or, did he?

To be able to encapsulate the essence of your subject, it is essential to know quite a bit about him. I must confess I did not research Frazier enough. Had I done so, I could have captured different facets of him with my camera. It was only photographing him in defeat, I discovered the nobility of the man. I knew a lot about Ali from news reports. Advising a novice, such as I was, when I covered the event, I'd suggest he read up in preparation. I devoted considerable time rehearsing for the mechanical aspects of photography, but very little to the background. While an old cliche informs us that a picture is worth a thousand words, the written word is a great enhancement for honesty in interpretation.

« Back to All Stories

Your turn: Got a special story in you? Write a Feature!