The Smoke Has Settled

Frazier handed Ali his first career loss in
the 1971 Fight of the Century.

Five weeks after being diagnosed with liver cancer and days after being placed in hospice, boxing legend Smokin' Joe Frazier has lost the biggest fight of his life. Frazier, 67, passed away Monday, bringing an end to one of the most recognizable lives in sports history.

Born in South Carolina, Frazier took up boxing at a young age and replaced an injured Buster Mathis in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. There Frazier would come home with the heavyweight gold medal, the only boxing gold medal the United States won in '64.

Shortly there after Frazier would turn pro and ascend the heavyweight ranks.

After World Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali refused induction into the military, he was sent into exile and stripped of his title, a title that was later seized by Frazier. Ali would rise from the ashes and come calling for a shot to reclaim a title they both felt they lay claim to, setting up the "Fight of the Century".

In the heart of New York City and in front of a sold out Madison Square Garden in 1971, the fight lived up to the billing. After 15 hard-fought rounds, Frazier finally knocked down the Kentucky native, for only the third time in his career, with his legendary left hook. In a unanimous decision, Frazier would retain his title and hold that crown until 1973.

The Heywood Giant, George Foreman, would be the one to dethrone Frazier after knocking him down six times in only two rounds.

Frazier and Ali would do battle for a second time, this time the bout was a non-title fight, but saw Ali total a unanimous decision in a 12-round dog fight. Shortly there after Ali would capture the title from Foreman and give Frazier one last shot at glory.

In the epic 1975 Thrilla in Manila, Ali put his heavyweight title on the line and would face Frazier for a third time. Both past their primes, Frazier and Ali put on one final gut-wrenching battle, giving the fans one last look at two of the greatest heavyweights in boxing history. The fight would end after Frazier's trainer, Eddie Fudge, would not let him return for the 15th and final round, leaving his eternal opponent the prize he once fought so hard to hold.

He would fight one last time, but ultimately tally the fourth loss of his career, coming at the hands of the hard-hitting Foreman yet again and retire not long after.

Smokin' Joe owned a career record of 32-4-1 during his legendary boxing career with 27 knockouts. He would later be inducted into both the International and World Boxing Hall of Fame, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest heavyweights in the sports history.

A man that possessed the most vicious left hook in boxing history and will forever live in Ali's shadow, was a fighter and he died fighting. That's just the way he would have wanted it.