Posted on 11/08/2011 8:11:35 AM PST by Morgana
(CNN) -- Joe Frazier, the hard-hitting boxing heavyweight who handed the legendary Muhammad Ali his first defeat, died Monday, shortly after being diagnosed with liver cancer, his family said in a statement.
The former heavyweight champion, who was 67, became a legend in his own right and personified the gritty working-class style of his hard-knuckled hometown, Philadelphia -- a fitting setting for the "Rocky" film series, starring Sylvester Stallone as hardscrabble boxer Rocky Balboa.
"You could hear him coming, snorting and grunting and puffing, like a steam engine climbing a steep grade," Bill Lyon wrote in a Philadelphia Inquirer column about Frazier, nicknamed Smokin' Joe.
"He was swarming and unrelenting, and he prided himself that he never took a backward step, and he reduced the Sweet Science to this brutal bit of elemental math: 'I'll let you hit me five times if you'll let me hit you just once.'"
Frazier's family issued a brief statement about his death.
"We The Family of ... Smokin' Joe Frazier, regret to inform you of his passing," the statement said. "He transitioned from this life as 'One of God's Men,' on the eve of November 7, 2011 at his home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."
Muhammad Ali said in a statement that the "world has lost a great champion."
"I will always remember Joe with respect and admiration. My sympathy goes out to his family and loved ones," Ali's statement said.
Star boxer Floyd "Money" Mayweather offered to pay for Frazier's funeral.
"My condolences go out to the family of the late great Joe Frazier," read a post on Mayweather's official Twitter feed. "#TheMoneyTeam will pay for his funeral services."
(Excerpt) Read more at wlky.com ...
Er, yes.
And I was the original poster.
Anyway, RIP Joe Frazier.
“I also happen to know that Ali didnt really float like a butterfly & sting like a bee, either”
Yes, he did. Just don’t say he ONLY did that, because obviously he didn’t.
Ali’s “rope a dope” style was stolen whole from Archie Moore the “The Old Mongoose”. Just FYI.
“Both could have sued, especially the journeyman Wepner, because Rocky was almost a ripoff of his life as a fighter. The rags to riches story and finally getting a shot at the title. Ali fought Wepner for the title.”
I’m no legal expert, but I doubt there would be much of a case. All are public figures, though Wepner marginally. Their lives are open season, to a point. It was enough to earn an “inspired by” credit, certainly. As with all inspiration, if you change it enough and mix different ones around thoroughly, it becomes difficult to seperate claims. It becomes your own.
You also oversell its debt Wepner’s life. Firstly, the movie fight was an exhibition, not for the title. Secondly, Rocky was a washout bone-cracker for the mafia. Did you see his last fight before national exposure? It was in a makeshift church gym, for which he won a few bucks. Wepner was a real professional who had fought Foreman and Liston prior to Ali. Also, Rocky went the distance (which was extremely important plotwise), whereas Wepner was TKOed.
There’s also the fact that “Rocky III” takes off from Wepner’s match against Andre the Giant. That’s quite obvious, as is the basic premise of the original.
“Even if he received no money, wouldnt you think that at the end of the credit it would have said ‘Thanks to Chuck Wepner, for inspiring me to write the story of Rocky’. Stallone didnt want to give him a cent, so he didnt mention him.”
I can’t deduce Stallone’s reasons. Maybe that is why he did it, and maybe Wepner could have won a suit. Either way, I don’t think he’s entitled to anything. What he inspired was so basic, and in my opinion no one loved the movie back then or keeps it a classic to this days because the basic idea is so great. A million bad movies could be made with a starting point of “flashy black champ gives hulking white longshot a chance.”
“Anyway, RIP Joe Frazier.”
Maybe he’d rest better if people like you wouldn’t misrepresent his style (thus making him like an idiot, as I said).
Go soak yer head, champ.
Frazier’s style was a relentless crouching bob & weave always attacking with the ferocious left hook. He was a master of that style. I agree with you, he was far from stupid he was a craftsman who knew his craft very, very well.
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