He was a true class act. He treated everyone the way he wanted to be treated. Thats an example I wish more people followed today.

Great man

Yeah, but he was disrespectful and antagonistic to Ali...always referring to him as Clay in public. It's no wonder Ali eventually gave it back by labeling Joe as The Gorilla.

Did he not get beaten by kenny? Maybe im wrong

Indeed he was!

@@thatlonelygiraffeinc.6989 you wrong. Kenny Norton only sparred with Joe.

@@stanmoney8470 Ah I see, thank you for correcting me

Joe and Kenny were sparring partners and best friends, which is why they never fought

racinford1 he is credited as one of the best, get outta here with that. He’s loved and respected. We all know he was one of the best. Ever

You said it their Joe helped him out when he was banned from boxing and as soon as the was lifted and clay could box again he turned on Joe and just treated him badly.

@@shaundouglas2057 from what I've been told Joe helped Ali it's well well known that he helped him out financially during his Ban, when he returned to Boxing and they were to fight each other Ali treated the promotion like he did before with every other Fight let his Mouth go & started criticizing Joe also name calling but to Ali that was part of the Game then realising what this had done to JF Ali spent the best part of 40yrs apologising to Joe he accepted the apology but would usually bring it up when drunk and actually tried attacking a Parkinsons inflicted Ali at some Awards ceremony now my friend told me this he's big Boxing Man, his Source IDK but I've no doubt to disbelieve him, if anyone can give me an account of their relationship it would much appreciated?✌️👊

I agree that that used to be the case, but over time I believe Joe has now earned the respect for his actions - and generosity - in assisting Ali.

Let's not forget that this wasn't a totally selfless act. Frazier couldn't be fully accepted by the public as the HWC without defeating Ali. He also knew that he wasn't going to get anywhere near the record $2.5 Million (in '71) fighting anyone else. Without Ali getting back his license, Frazier'd have to fight 5 other guys to earn that.

Right on Leon... Total class act. Such a pleasant fella as well...

Robert Matthews Think of all the celebrities and public figures out there. How many would you want to associate with? Extremely few. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to think of a single famous person you'd let into your home and sit on your furniture and drink your beer. But George Foreman and Joe Frasier are two guys you'd love to have for friends. I would have given my right arm to have spent an evening with Joe Frasier. What a mensch!

Just what I was thinking.

I like the silent killers. George Foreman is the forefront.

i agree

And they closed it. Not the best end

@cptamazing12 not the ending he deserved though.

@cptamazing12 really is that how you feel about Joe Frazier in his hometown they have a statue of Rocky Balboa a fictional character they should have had a statue of Joe Frazier

@cptamazing12 well,his gym That he built out of his own money got shut down,in his last days he was living in a tiny flat above his closed down Gym.and it was only after he died that philly decided to give him a statue.and it isnt the first time Philly has shunned their world champion,After winning the world title sonny liston came back to his home town of philly and expected the heroes welcome a champion deserves.when he got off the plane,nobody was there.Philly has a reputation of neglecting their hometown heroes but praising a fictional character in Rocky.

@@joshuatree5620 his home town is actually in SC, just outside of Charleston in Beaufort.

Joe Frazier never ever feared any boxer. He always took whoever was willing to go toe to toe with him. Not like today. He fought all the best who were there. RIP Champ!

cocotimbo Very well said brother!

Thank you to putting Smoking behind his name

I met him too. The second i did i passed out

Joe Frazier was a big influence in getting Ali back in boxing after Ali was suspended I was born in 59 young when it all happened looking back on it I think Ali is a nut what happened to him growing up

Completely agree. That question pissed me off, even more because Joe is such a nice classy guy. If he had been arrogant or whining, it would have maybe been a fair question. But Foreman was like early Tyson, most people, good fighters, went down hard and early. And Joe at least got up again. Knocked down but not out.

@John Ratican the interviewer suited his name "Dick" very well.

I agree! No self-respecting person would dare ask such a nonsensical and stupid question to one of the 3 greatest champions of boxing's golden era and of all time.

It may have had it's origins in Floyd Patterson. Apparently he wore a disguise when he left the stadium after the first loss to Liston, embarrassed to be seen and identified.

What a bullshit thing to ask! The man fought the best and carried himself like a man!

A ring 'immortal'. And there aren't too many in that category.

That's what I say. Daddy did three tours in Nam, wicked Conservative. He sho did love Joe. He was actually IN LOVE with Joe. Win, lose or draw Joe was a damn American!!!

You can't know that just because an interview

Joe was exceptional he would be punching in the 15 th rd n pushing his opponent back just as the first rd that’s why they called him smoking joe

Joe has a very man's Man aura about him.ive never experienced it before,even Ali never had that.Class is the only word for it.

History shows that he ducked fighting Shavers, Ron Lyle and Ken Norton. Three brutal hitters who might have wrecked him for good. Fact that Ali fought them all plus Foreman and won is testimony to Ali's far superior skills. The destructive hammering Frazier took from Foreman throws light on reality. He is a notch below the great boxers and avoided big punchers.

​@@junegemI don't think he ducked them. He would've fought anybody and everybody. He wanted to fight liston and his management didn't let him. He didn't need to fight shavers because he fought someone even tougher and couldn't beat him, he didn't have anything to prove on punching power boxers. After the foreman fight he was only interested with a fight for the title, Ali or a rematch.

I wish he hadn't done it because it lowered Joe and Joe was a class act. I understand why he did it though. Ali shouldn't have ever ever ever belittled a good guy like Joe Fraizer.

agreed, Joe was a gentleman and a classy champion

John Barry It didn't lower him lol. Quit menstruating and face reality. Ali deserved to be insulted as much as he deserves to be sitting in his diaper shitting himself with parkinsons.

justin welsh you have a point, but if Ali kept his mouth shut they wouldnt have called it ''golden era of heavyweights''

justin welsh be quiet stupid, your embarrassing yourself

Young, but he still had more knockouts in his career than Frazier had at this point.

true!! you ain't doing no comedy show later that night LOL

I don't think Cosby will be going to heaven.

blite13 hahahah i think so to...

That's what I was thinking. That old man either never took a punch in his life, or seriously underestimated how devastating Frazier could hit. Frazier might kill a young healthy man with one punch, let alone some old geezer. At least Cosby had the sense to understand that.

zjekosljav mrkva is it just me, or how badass would it have been if Joe Frazier had a flashback and started beating the shit out of bill Cosby?

Joe had well earned the right to call Ali whatever he wanted to and vice versa.

ali insulted everyone , a big difference , and Frazier lent Ali a lot of money when Ali was banned from boxing , some gratitude by Ali .

@@choff56 ...Smokin' Joe did not lend The Greatest a lot of money. Stop reading that wikipedia! They're not one-hundred percent correct, and that's most of the time!

@@brucescott4261 yes he did,might wanna check your own facts first Jack.then when Ali made his comeback he did nothing but badmouth Frazier,Classless.

Joe's class is what part that sets him apart. Hardworking and Heart for miles and always humble.

@@Ffeoli1039 well said my brother

I completely agree. One of the all time greats. His first fight with Ali is my favorite. I just wish he would have unloaded one great left hook on Foreman, even though Foreman won, as Frazier said, fair and square. Such a great man inside and outsode the ring.

Keep in mind that he was also practically blind in one eye. I think those fights would have turned out differently had he been able to see out of both eyes.

Agree mate !!....loved smokin Joe and in the 1st fight when both were undefeated...smokin Joe won clearly !!!.....l always believed you have to be modest and no one likes a big head but the publics love affair with Ali kind of contradicts this !!

Fraizer showed he was as good as Ali. He just did not insult Ali between the fights. I think he was a simple man who worked hard. -If I think about it Ali insulted Sony Liston as well- A lot before there fight. It was his strategy maybe- But how he talked about Joe was to much in my opinion. "Gorila" ,He cant fight" and this went on for years.

well he did call Muhamad by his slave name... Which at the time is what the KKK was calling Ali... Does that not qualify as humiliating?

Left eye.

Pretty stupid if you ask me I wonder if his trainer and manager we're in on it and let him go into the ring incapacitated like that no wonder he took so much punishment from Ali not just in the first and second fight but especially in Manila..

@@dylanchangedeverythingfore1312Clay took the punishment

@@vena180 I can't take seriously anyone's opinion who reveals himself so incredibly ignorant to still call Muhammad Ali by his slave name. You have absolutely zero credibility. Beyond your ignorant personality all one has to do is have eyes. Watch the fight especially rounds 12 13 and 14 where Joe Frazier took such a frightening pounding people were afraid he might get killed if he were allowed to come out for the 15th amround--including his trainer Eddie futch who stopped the fight on a technical knockout to save Frazier from even more punishment--even possible death. The sports illustrated cover story showed the proof that Muhammad Ali was exhausted from his super human effort in the heat+humidity of Manila but Joe Frazier's face was barely recognizable! Muhammad Ali put so much damage on him Joe looked like a gargoyle and when people would come into his room he had to ask who they were because he couldn't see!!!

@@dylanchangedeverythingfore1312 Frazier came into the fight half blind in manilla Frazier took punishment from Ali but Ali took 4 times more as punishment look at Ali parkinson

Except Joe,Joe can call Ali clay.He earned it,being Ali's 1st loss.

At this point, Frazier and Ali had only fought once, and Frazier beat the stuffing out of Ali.

Bruh I'm a huge Ali fan but even I'll admit what he did to Frazier was unforgivable. Frazier didn't deserve it and I'm glad Frazier kicked his ass in Manila.

I totally agree, Jake. Ali's behaviour towards Frazier was utterly poisonous.

Jealous ass

Jake Mitchell I’m from Philadelphia and I LOVEEEE Ali

The clip isn't about Ali...

king shaman ahahahhaH i noticed that to

haha nice

Brilliant haha

@blackelk7373,you crazy brutha.

I know this comment was written 10yrs age but since it is wrong I have to reply and correct it Frazier was asked a question about Muhammed Ali and then Frazier started by saying “Clay” and then Muhammed got angry and called him Uncle Tom Frazier called him “Clay” first and then Muhammed Ali called him “Uncle Tom” after he called him “clay”

@@rizzythepro411 Ok then explain why Ali called Foreman a gorilla? I don't remember Foreman calling Ali as Clay. Kinda blows a whole in your theory doesn't it? I won't list all the other boxers Ali racially abused because I'm sure you will have an excuse for that too, when none of called Ali Clay...

@@rizzythepro411 It doesn't matter. In their later years they made peace, according to Marvis Frazier.

@@Me-qp8vz Actually, Ali called Foreman The Mummy. There was a deep seated resentment bet Ali and Frazier. But, read Ali's first biography where the two hour drive between Philly and NYC is detailed. It is a hell of conversation with only the two of them in the car.

When did Ali call Foreman a gorilla?

+payton vaughn true boxer not smart boxer

YES! Bill got on my nerves here... I love Jack Benny and Joe Frazier is such a class act! True Champion❤

He fuckin' deserves that punch now that we know what he was doing during this time.

1980Triumph I know, it's weird seeing that.. even in the 1990s people were still allowed to smoke everywhere. But in the late 1980s, there was a show called the ''Morton Downey Jr show'' if you're old enough to remember it.. the host constantly had a cigarette in his mouth, and eventually died from lung cancer.

Ana Costellano Oh I remember him vividly, he was always smoking, times changed super fast but I remember the culture back then.

He’s calling Ali by his name. Never called him out his name by doing that, his name was Clay. Joe Frazier WAS a victim of Ali. Learn boxing

Ali was a complete asshole to Frazier, and I say this as an Ali fan

@@vena180 NO EXCUSE for Joe calling Ali by his slave name Ali himself stopped using in 1964. Truth is that was extremely extremely low class of jealous Joe. He died an old and bitter man. Ali apologized to Joe for maybe taking promotion of his fights too far he apologized several times, in public and tried 2 privately but all jealous bitter Joe chose to hold on to his jealousy and his bitterness and NEVER DID apologize to Ali for his low class way he treated Muhammad.

100% truth 100% agree with you! Muhammad Ali admitted that he took his promotion of their fights a little too far and apologized several times to Joe in public and tried as well in private. Jealous Joe was so eaten up by hate and bitterness that he refused to take Muhammad Ali's calls or read Muhammad Ali's letters to him apologizing. Muhammad Ali never held a grudge against Joe Frazier for calling him his slave name which was an insult of the worst kind. There were reports even though Joe never apologized to Muhammad Ali when he Ali heard that Joe was dying of liver cancer Muhammad Ali still went to visit Joe Frazier on his Deathbed but there is no excuse call Joe Frazier calling Muhammad Ali by his slave name. No excuse no rationalization. Call it what it is Joe Frazier jealous full of hate eaten up by bitterness and it was low class it was no class for him to call Muhammad Ali by his slave name. P e r i o d.

Right on everything you said! Did they ever seriously put all that crap behind them and become friends?

ColdHeartedMan1979 Ali was at his funeral and cried his eyes out. After their first fight where Frazier won Frazier was in the hospital for 2 weeks and Ali said if he dies he'll never fight again.

Iron Toledo Thanks for all the info. Wow. I never knew all that. I was never an Ali fan much, but knowing that now and from other videos I watched on here, he's starting to win me over. :-)

No better fights than Ali vs Frazier trilogy in my opinion. Ali would talk a lot of crap but as he would say he could back up every word of it. He was without a doubt the greatest boxer of all time. He hyped fights like no other but most the crap he talked was to sell the fight. Even today u can't mention boxing without mentioning Ali.

No, Clay was no longer his last name. He legally changed his name to Muhammad Ali. You're correct about why Smokin Joe continued to call Ali, Clay. He knew it irritated Ali. And Joe lived the more traditional black man's life. He grew up in the deep south, a share croppers son while Ali grew up in a middle class neighborhood in Louisville, Ky. Ali and his lackies were way out of line calling Joe, 'a Tom'. Rest in Peace Smokin Joe.

Jeff ory Wtf are you talking about?.... dumbass.

Lmfaooo i was thinking the same thing

ah93704... Go upstairs from your basement and tell your mother to make you a sandwich... you virgin.

Ana Castellano lmao

@@americanIDOLfan11111 STFU biatch

Funny. Your comment is the only reason I watched to the end.

¹qq

Ali'd throw any such ridiculous thing out - not because Ali believed any of it - but because Ali believed in SELLING fights. Now he's the template for the Nick Diaz's, the Conor McGregor's - the Nate Diaz's et al. "Raise Hell during the pre-fight buildup/ publicity." It's why we wanted to see Cowboy fight Conor - i.e. their hysterical press conference together. "I'll bend your ass over - KNOCK the Lucky Charms out of y'all." (Cowboy to Conor a couple years back). Still makes me laugh.

Ali didn't care how much he hurt Joe. calling him Clay was his way of dishing it out.

love how ali hurt him badly in their 3 fights also

@@androidgaming5711 Yeah, Frazier kicked Ali's ass in the first fight, second fight was even, Ali did damage in the third fight, but don't sit there and think Frazier never hurt Ali, because he did.

@@GeorgeFlippin lmao fraizer is who hospitalized for 40 days after first match and had coma and his family filing a lawsuit against ali and second he was a good boxing bag or uwas watching another fight? ohh don't tell me u didn't see when some1 wanted to save joe fraizer and ringed the bell before the roun finish and refree stopped ur hero getting punished thinking its already round has finished and third yeah both killed each other with 1 eye man