Let’s look at the two former Olympic gold medals and world champions for heavyweight Muhammad ‘the biggest’ Ali and ‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier.
Both were born in the south. Ali in Louisville, Kentucky on January 17, 1942 and Frazier in Beaufort, South Carolina on January 12, 1944.
Frazier would eventually move to New York before living in NorthernPhiladelphia, father. Ali would eventually move to 70th and Overbrook in Philadelphia, then Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Their amateur records were given with numerous statistics. Usually, Ali’s amateur career record was given at 69-6 with 22 stops. Frazier is usually listed at 38-2 with 37 stops.
Ali went to the Rome Olympics in Italy in 1960. It is said to have lost in the heavyweight trials to Percy Price, but it could never be verified. In the Olympics, he won the light gold medal for heavyweight and won all three games. He would sign with a group of investors, the Louisville sponsorship group.
Frazier was 2-1 in the Olympic trials that lost to Buster Mathis who broke his right middle finger, so Frazier went as the substitute in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. He scored three knockouts and broke his left thumb and stopped the Soviet boxer in his third game. Then defeated the German by a decision to win the gold medal. He would have with a group of investors called Cloverlay, Inc. Sign up when he was pro.
In March 1968, Frazier stopped 19-0, with 23-0, in 11 rounds for the vacant Nysac world title in Madison Square Garden, NY.
While Frazier won the 1964 Olympics, Ali, 19-0, won the heavyweight title in February that year and stopped Sonny Liston, 35-1, after six rounds in the Miami conference center.
In February 1970, Frazier won the world title that Jimmy Ellis stopped after 4 rounds in Madison Square Garden. Ellis divided with Ali (then Cassius Clay) into the amateurs who lost him in the pros.
Ali had 9 title defense before repealing his license in June 1967 due to the refusal of induction in the military. He could go to court and not go to jail, but could not renew his boxing license in any state.
From August 1967, when he knocked out Zora Folley, 74-7-4, in Madison Square Garden until October 1970, he was inactive and earned a lively and speaking commitments from colleges throughout the United States.
The state of Georgia reinstated Ali’s license in September 1970, when he returned to the ring the following month and stopped Jerry Quarry, 37-4-4, in 3 rounds in Atlanta. Next, in December, he stopped Oscar Bonavena, 46-6-1, in Madison Square Garden before signing to fight Frazier, 26-0, the then World Champion in Madison Square Garden in March 1971. Ali was knocked down in the final round and the decision to lose Frazier.
Ali would win his next ten fights before losing 29-1 to Ken Norton, with a split decision, with his jaw broke in the second round. He won the Rematch over Norton and two fights later defeated the then former world champion Frazier, 30-1, in January 1974 for his NABF title by a decision at Madison Square Garden.
In Ali’s next fight, he knocked out the 1968 Olympic Golden Medal and the then World Champion ‘Big’ George Foreman, 40-0, who defeated Frazier for the title. Ali stopped foreman in Zaire, Africa, in eight rounds and won the title for a second time.
After three title stops, Ali, 48-2, met Frazier for the third time in the Philippines, ‘The Thrilla in Manila’, while he was ahead of 14 rounds when Frazier, 32-2, could not continue.
Frazier would be stopped by Foreman again and ended his career in December of 1981 with Floyd ‘Jumbo’ Cummings, 15-1, with a record of 32-4-1 and 27.
Ali would continue to win his next six fights, including another victory over Norton in February 1978, and lost to the former 1976 Olympic Gold Medal, Leon ‘Neon’ Spinks, 6-0-1, by a split decision in Las Vegas, NV. Ali won the Rematch and won a record world title for the third time. He then announced his retirement, only to return to the ring and lost to Larry Holmes, 35-0, by stopping the only time in his career, after ten rounds in October 1980. Then, in December of 1981, he lost his final attack on future world champion Trevor Berbick, 19-2-1, in Nassau.
Ali’s daughter Laila ‘She Beingin’ Ali, 9-0, would defeat Frazier’s daughter Jacqui, 7-0, in June 2001 by the majority decision. She ended at 13-1 and won several small titles. Ali ends with a record of 24-0 before retiring. She won the Wiba Super Middleeight title in 2002 and the WBC title in 2005 before she retired.
Last updated on 03/17/2025
