Berger Phil - Smokin Joe: The Autobiography of a Heavyweight Champion of the World, Smokin Joe Frazier

SMOKIN JOE

The Autobiography of a Heavyweight Champion of the World, Smokin Joe Frazier

Joe Frazier
With Phil Berger

To my father Rubin, called by God early in my life, who has meant everything to me, is always in my thoughts, and whom I miss every day.

To my mother Dolly, the backbone of the family who filled my heart with love for God, love for her, and my fellow man.

Joe Frazier

To my daughter, Julia, with love
And to my friend, Michael Rakosi, with gratitude.

Phil Berger

Copyright

Copyright 1996 by Joe Frazier. All Rights Reserved.

Ebook Copyright 2013 by AudioGO. All Rights Reserved.

Trade 9781620642160:

Library 9780792791324:

Portrait of Joe Frazier on title page courtesy of Richard Slone. For more of his art, see www.sloanart.com

Cover photograph courtesy of George Kalinsky.

Original book design, including photo insert design, by Scott Meola.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To be successful, you need to have a lot of good people supporting you. Id like to thank just a few of the folks whove offered me love, encouragement, and advice along the road to becoming heavyweight champion of the world.

First, I thank God for helping me get the job done. I thank Daddy for everything, and Momma for being a good mother who walked tall and carried a big switch. To Tommy, for covering my back every step of the way; to Beck and Flossie, for keeping the home fires burning.

Thanks to my brothers and sistersMarion and Florence Austin; Eugene and Hazel Frazier; Andrew Frazier and his family; Rubin Jr. and Miriam Frazier; John (Bigboy) Frazier and his family; Tommy and Ollie Frazier; Martha and James Rhodan; the late Julia (Flossie) Frazier; Rebecca Hall; and the late David Frazier.

Thanks to the Preacher (Marvis), the Mouthpiece (Jacqui), Do It All (Natasha), and the Red Head (Denise) for helping me recall some of the best times of my life.

Thanks to the late Yank Durham, for being a loyal friend, my teacher, and a second father. And to Eddie Futch, Milton Bailey, and George Benton for taking up where Yank left off.

Thanks to the people who helped me get my start after the Olympics, including the Cloverlay shareholders, and to Everlast, my sponsor, and my Everlast friends, Ben Nadoff, Jon Toms, and Dennis Clancey.

Thanks to all my boxing opponents, and to all the professional and amateur boxers that stepped foot in Smokin Joe Fraziers Gym. To my trainersVal Colbert, Sam Hickman, Eugene Drew, and King Solomon. Thanks to Butch Lewis, Leon and Michael Spinks, the late Jersey Joe Walcott, and especially to my inspiration, the late Joe Louis.

Thanks to Denise, Linda, and Janice for being my great trouble shooters. To Dr. Finton J. Speller, Dr. Nicholas DePace, Dr. Joseph Fabiani, Dr. Myron Yanoff, Dr. Henry Winkler, Dr. Charles Kellman, and Dr. Katowitz for keeping me together over the years.

Thanks to the U.S Olympic Committee; the boxing establishmentthe WBC, IBF, WBA; the International Boxing Hall of Fame; promoters Jerry Perenchio, Jack Kent Cooke, Bob Arum, Teddy Brenner, and Don King; Madison Square Garden management, past and present, the late John Condon, Sonny Werblin, the Biondi family, David Checketts, and John Cirillo; boxing commissioners Randy Gordon, Larry Hazzard, Jerry Gormley, and especially Valerie Dorsett; and James J. Binns.

Thanks to all the sportswriters and photographers throughout the years, especially Stan Hochman, of the Philadelphia Daily News.

Thanks to my friendsReverend A. B. Brown; Sherman Helmsley; President Nelson Mandela; Frances Meyers; Daisy Chennssault; Patty Deirfus; the late, great Gypsy Joe Harris; the late William Neil; Julius Irving; Jim Brown; Lee Majors; Dr. John Thompson; LeRoy Neiman; Jon Amos; Donald and Maria Trump; Daisy LeSure; the late Frank Bannister; Bill and Cathy Bailey; Bill Anderson; the Nixes; Kenny Johnson; Julie Lynn; Joe, Chuck, and Lou Verne and family; Joe and Helene Goldstein; Webster Riddick; Richard Slone; Dick Gidron; Theresa Riley; the Figueroa family; the late Norbert Ekassi; the late Jack Fried; Ralph Easley; Andy Quigley; James Connelly; Gene Bonner, James Bonner, and all the Bonner boys; Joe Kelly; the late Sonny Averona; Henry Reed; Lou Yellin; Margaret Boyce; Lou Priluker; the late Bing Parisi; Jacqueline Roberts; Ryan ONeil; Dickie Murray; Bob Hayes; Richie Allen; Ernest Dorum; Mitch and Ada Mitchell; Bob Goodman and family; Bo Averona and family; Mr. and Mrs. Simon Jinx; Russ and Theresa Hoffman; Legrant and Janette Pressley; and Joseph Shanklin.

Thanks to my whole familyDaralyn Frazier; Peter Lyde; Gary Collins; Ron Gibson; James Frisby; Aunt Elizabeth (Essie) Riley; my late aunt Ida Murray; Aunt Jenny (Sissy) Morrel; Cousin Gloria; Uncle Cadillac and Aunt Bell; John and Frances Morralle; Victoria Riley; Tom and Ginger Bolden; Rivers and Mary Riley; Turkey Benjamin; Joe (Litde Joe), Ann, Keith (Little Bubba), Lisa (Midget), Stanley, Rodney, Dannette, and Orhonda Frazier; along with a host of other nieces, nephews, and my grandchildren, and many others close to my heart but too numerous to mention.

Thanks to the folks at Macmillan who put this book together: my fantastic editor, Traci Cothran; Maria Massey; Cheryl Mamaril; Ken Samelson; Scott Meola; Jeanine Bucek; Elliott Ehrlich; Natalie Chapman; and Alan Oakes. To Phil Berger, for his talent of putting together the story of my life. To Linda Ronan and Linda Wachtel at the Sports Illustrated Library. And thanks to Madison Square Garden Photographer, George Kalinsky, for arranging this deal, and for the love and support he and his wife, Ellen, have given to me over the years.

And, finally, thanks to all my fans, who were in my corner all around the world.

CONTENTS

1. That Boy Is Gonna Be the Next Joe Louis

2. The Olympic Games

3. Empty Pockets Aint My Fashion

4. The Louisville Lip

5. Clipping the Butterflys Wings

6. Daddy, Quit Playing Around

7. Vision to Conquer

8. Hanging Up the Gloves

9. Fathers Footsteps

10. Im Still Smokin

The Fight Record of Smokin Joe Frazier

About the Authors

Epilogue

Tributes

1
That Boy is Gonna Be the Next Joe Louis.

Where I come from, folks dont know me as Joe Frazier.

I was always Billy Boy.

That name was given to me by my daddy, Rubin Frazier. He owned a 1940 Ford that he drove the hell out ofover rough terrain, along back-country roads, on streets all over Beaufort County, South Carolina. The particular Ford modelknown as a Billywas a beast. No matter how hard Daddy drove that sucker, the Billy always got him to where he had to go, never breaking down. In Daddys mind, the car stood for reliability, the same sort of trustworthiness that he saw in me.

See, we were as close as father and son could be. I like to say I went from my mommas belly into my fathers arms. Yeah, my daddy was my hero, my heartbeat. We were always together. From the time I was a toddler, Daddy used to carry me wherever he wentover the ten acres of farmland we Fraziers owned, to the still where he made bootleg corn liquor, and into town on Saturdays to buy the necessities that a family with eleven children needed. And wherever we went, Billy Boy wasnt along just for the ride.

From the time I was able to walk, I not only hung out with him but also helped any way I could. My daddy was broad-shouldered and big-beamed like I am, but strong as he was he sometimes needed help because hed had his left hand and part of his forearm amputated about a year before I was born on January 12, 1944. Hed lost the hand as the result of a shooting incident.