While the New York Times’ Vincent M. Mallozzi has been the occasional object of ridicule around these parts, a tip of the vomit-encrusted Mets cap goes his way this fine morning for his profile of former heavyweight champ, Joe Frazier.
Over the years, Frazier has lost a fortune through a combination of his own generosity and naïveté, his carousing, failed business opportunities and a deep hatred for his former chief boxing rival, Muhammad Ali. The other headliners from his fighting days ” Ali, George Foreman and Larry Holmes ” are millionaires.
But while Ali has benefited from lucrative licensing agreements and remains one the world™s most recognized and celebrated athletes, Frazier lives alone in an apartment one staircase above the gym where he and others train young fighters in a run-down part of town.
œThis is my primary residence, he said. œDon™t matter much. I™m on the road most of the time, anyway.
Asked about his situation, Frazier became playfully defensive, but would not reveal his financial status.
œAre you asking me how much money I have? he said. œI got plenty of money. I got a stack of $100 bills rolled up over there in the back of the room.
Frazier blamed himself, partly, for not effectively promoting his own image.
œI don™t think I handled it right, because I certainly could have gone out more and done better for myself over the years, he said. œI could have left the gym a little more to be on the road.
He added: œBut I guess, in a way, I™m rich, too. I have my family and I have a sound mind and a sound body, and after all of those brutal fights, I™m lucky to still have my eyesight.
Darren Prince, Frazier™s marketing manager since 1995, said Frazier remained beloved by fans. But he also said that Frazier™s longstanding animosity toward Ali had hurt him financially.
œThey were bitter rivals, and Muhammad always made jokes about Joe, calling him things like an Uncle Tom and a gorilla, and Joe was hurt so he fired back, but sometimes he went too far, said Prince, who recalled that when Ali lighted the Olympic flame in Atlanta in 1996, Frazier told a reporter that he would like to throw Ali into the fire.
Frazier™s frequent insistence that he won all three of his fights against Ali also did not endear him to potential sponsors, Prince said.
When told of Prince™s remarks, Frazier said, œI am who I am, and yes, I whipped Ali all three times.
In fact, Frazier lost two of the three fights, including the Thrilla in Manila bout in 1975. Frazier exposed an emotional scar as he recalled those days.
œAli kept calling me ugly, but I never thought of myself as being any uglier than him, he said. œI have 11 babies ” somebody thought I was cute.
On Nov. 30, Frazier will box Willie W. Herenton, the 66-year-old mayor of Memphis, in a three-round charity bout at the Peabody Memphis Hotel. Herenton is a former amateur boxing champion.
œHe must have a death wish, Frazier said.
You can’t fault Frazier for being pissed at Ali. You also can make a valid argument that he won in –don’t take it from me watch them on ESPN Classic; they’re on like every other week. While Ali was a tremendous athlete who crossed into social and political consciousness in a way only possibly rivaled by Jackie Robinson, his treatment of Frazier was reprehensible. This wasn’t merely a preview of trash-talking. It was personal, emasculating and race-baiting. Oddly enough despite Ali calling Joe an Uncle Tom it is Ali that’s been mythologized by Mailer, Hunter S. Thompson & Plimpton. If this actually interests you at all check out the book Ghosts of Manila by Mark Kram which profiles the Frazier-Ali rivalry and openly questions media accounts of Ali. Also Plimpton’s Shadowbox is great and ends with the Foreman/Ali Rumble in the Jungle–not to mention a written description of the Succubus he got so titillated by in When We Were Kings.
Kram’s book is tremendous. Also, Joe’s commericial for Miller Lite was much better than Ali’s spot for D-Con.
Hey Hey Joe, I was young when you boxed C.Clay back in 71, I had to go to the drive-in movies to see the fight two weeks later, I of course thought you were great. what a fight. That to me was the greatest fight ever, and nothing will ever match it, Two undefeated heavy weights going at it and Smoken Joe wooped on him good….I thoght it was discusting what Mr. Bush did, giving C.C. A peace award. Hell the man deserted his country under the cover of relegion. Then later he went to London (I think it was) and carried the American flag into the ring…..Fuck him Joe, You will aways be the man…..You wooped him good!
Rocken Rodney
Rodney B. get off the air?
It could be worse, folks. The guy who calls himself “The Critic” could start posting comments 2 or 3 times a day again.