Frazier loses last fight

JOE FRAZIER, widely regarded as the best fighter in Philadelphia boxing history and one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time, lost his battle with liver cancer when he passed away yesterday in home hospice care. He was 67.

To the end of his well-lived life, Smokin' Joe competed with the other fighter with whom he is destined to be linked forever, and his opponent in three of the most revered boxing matches of all time: Muhammad Ali.

Those who know Frazier well remember how he always made a point of saying he would outlive Ali, now 69, in what was tantamount to the unfought 15th round of the celebrated rubber match, the "Thrilla in Manila," on Oct. 1, 1975, in Quezon City, Philippines. Frazier, both his eyes nearly swollen shut, was not allowed to come out for the final round by trainer Eddie Futch, who told him, "Son, no one will forget what you did here today."

And no one did - not then, not now, probably not for as long as two determined, courageous men test their wills and their skills in a roped-off swatch of canvas while wearing padded gloves.

In the other corner, an utterly exhausted and equally battered Ali, whose corner also was considering stopping the fight, could barely get off his stool to celebrate the victory that might have been for much more than the mere heavyweight championship of the world.

Author and Ali biographer Thomas Hauser wrote that Ali and Frazier were "fighting for the heavyweight championship of each other."

Frazier won the first of those three legendary matchups, the "Fight of the Century" on March 8, 1971, in Madison Square Garden, punctuating his 15-round, unanimous-decision victory by flooring Ali with a leaping left hook.

"That was, and still is, the biggest sporting event of all time," Joe Hand Sr., one of the original investors in Cloverlay, the corporation that financially backed Frazier for a time after he won the heavyweight gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, said of what likely still is the most anticipated boxing match of all time.

"There's nothing that compares to the drama and excitement of that night. The Daily News had at least a column, and sometimes an entire page, on the fight beginning 21 days out. Burt Lancaster, the movie star, was a color announcer for the telecast. Frank Sinatra was taking photos for Life magazine. To get a ringside seat - and there were no exceptions - you had to wear formal attire, a tuxedo or evening gown.