Tweet
It was Monday night January 22, 1973. Earlier that day, former US President Lyndon Johnson passed away, and the controversial ******** law Roe v. Wade was passed. I was 12 years old at the time. I remember in wrestling practice that afternoon, during one of the rare breaks, saying to one of my friends how much "I'd love to be Joe Frazier tonight." He said, "Why do you wish you were Joe Frazier tonight?" I said, "Think about it, he's the undisputed, undefeated heavyweight champion of the world, he beat Ali in the biggest fight in history and tonight he's fighting George Foreman, who he won't miss with his left hook even if he closes his eyes."
At that time in my life, I was obsessed with boxing. In fact, the only reason I wrestled was because I wanted to fight in some form. Growing up in Haddonfield N.J., boxing wasn't an option so wrestling had to do. I remember begging my father at dinner to take me to the closed circuit showing of the Frazier-Foreman heavyweight championship fight that night at the Cherry Hill Arena. The Cherry Hill Arena is where I went to see all the major fights on closed circuit TV (the first fight I saw on CC was Frazier-Quarry I on June 23, 1969).
My father was a huge Joe Frazier fan and didn't like Ali. As a kid, I thought Frazier was unbeatable by any fighter, and remember feeling sorry for the opponents who were getting ready to fight him. Going into some of his major fights, I remember reading in the newspaper that Bonavena, Quarry and Ellis were saying that they were going do this and Frazier couldn't do that, and thinking to myself, "Yeah right, you have no shot!" Throughout Frazier's entire career, I always wanted him to lose. I just didn't want to accept that he was so good and I wanted somebody to beat him. The only time I ever rooted for Frazier to win a fight was the night he defended his title against George Foreman. It was reported at the time that Frazier and Ali were close to agreeing to meet a second time. The only obstacles were that Frazier had to beat Foreman, and Ali had to beat Joe Bugner three weeks later (February 14. 1973). Since I wanted to see an Ali-Frazier rematch, I rooted for Frazier. [details]
At that time in my life, I was obsessed with boxing. In fact, the only reason I wrestled was because I wanted to fight in some form. Growing up in Haddonfield N.J., boxing wasn't an option so wrestling had to do. I remember begging my father at dinner to take me to the closed circuit showing of the Frazier-Foreman heavyweight championship fight that night at the Cherry Hill Arena. The Cherry Hill Arena is where I went to see all the major fights on closed circuit TV (the first fight I saw on CC was Frazier-Quarry I on June 23, 1969).
My father was a huge Joe Frazier fan and didn't like Ali. As a kid, I thought Frazier was unbeatable by any fighter, and remember feeling sorry for the opponents who were getting ready to fight him. Going into some of his major fights, I remember reading in the newspaper that Bonavena, Quarry and Ellis were saying that they were going do this and Frazier couldn't do that, and thinking to myself, "Yeah right, you have no shot!" Throughout Frazier's entire career, I always wanted him to lose. I just didn't want to accept that he was so good and I wanted somebody to beat him. The only time I ever rooted for Frazier to win a fight was the night he defended his title against George Foreman. It was reported at the time that Frazier and Ali were close to agreeing to meet a second time. The only obstacles were that Frazier had to beat Foreman, and Ali had to beat Joe Bugner three weeks later (February 14. 1973). Since I wanted to see an Ali-Frazier rematch, I rooted for Frazier. [details]