Boxing Legend Joe Frazier Succumbs To Liver Cancer

According to FightNews.com, legendary boxer “Smokin'” Joe Frazier has passed away.

Reports of Frazier being placed in hospice care surfaced over the weekend and the news was dire; only weeks ago was he given the diagnoses of liver cancer.

The Frazier family released the following statement:

We The Family of the 1964 Olympic Boxing Heavyweight Gold Medalist, Former Heavyweight Boxing Champion and International Boxing Hall of Fame Member Smokin’ Joe Frazier, regrets to inform you of his passing. He transitioned from this life as “One of God’s Men,” on the eve of November 7, 2011at his home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We thank you for your prayers for our Father and vast outpouring of love and support.

Respectfully, we request time to grieve privately as a family. Our father’s home going celebration will be announced as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

Upon learning of the state of Frazier’s condition, Muhammad Ali released this statement, Saturday:

The news about Joe is hard to believe and even harder to accept. Joe is a fighter and a champion and I am praying he is fighting now.
“My family and I are keeping Joe and his family in our daily prayers. Joe has a lot of friends pulling for him, and I’m one of them.

Frazier was the first boxer to defeat Ali in their storied bout of 1971, the “Fight of the Century.”

Although rivals, over the years the two shared a love/hate relationship, but were friends in the end.

Frazier’s impact on the world of boxing is everlasting. He was an Olympian, a World Champion, a coach/trainer, an actor, an author, a philanthropist, and a father.

Joe Frazier was 67 years old.

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