With his championship belt and a pair of gloves draped over his casket, Joe Frazier was going one more round.The Rev. Jesse Jackson asked mourners to rise, put their hands together and for one last time "show your love" for the former heavyweight champion.Muhammad Ali obliged.Wearing a dark suit and sunglasses, a frail and trembling Ali rose from his seat and vigorously clapped for "Smokin' Joe," the fighter who handed Ali his first loss.Ali was among the nearly 4,000 people who packed the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church for a two-hour "joyful celebration" of Frazier's life. He died last week of liver cancer; he was 67. Also attending were former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes and promoter Don King.His body ravaged by Parkinson's disease, Ali was accompanied by members of his family and wife, Lonnie, who rubbed his back while he was seated and held his hands as he entered and left the church.Jackson delivered a stirring eulogy, describing Frazier as someone who "came from segregation, degradation and disgrace to amazing grace.""Tell them Rocky was not a champion. Joe Frazier was," he said, referring to the hometown character from the boxing movie, "Rocky," and whose statue stands at the base of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Tell them Rocky is fictitious, Joe was reality. Rocky's fists are frozen in stone. Joe's fists are smokin'. Rocky never faced Ali or Holmes or Foreman. Rocky never tasted his own blood. Champions are made in the ring not in the movies. There deserves to be a statue of Joe Frazier in downtown Philadelphia." Source: ESPN
I hate Jesse Jackson. But I love Smokin' Joe. Should be a statue at some point. Too bad he won't get to see it erected.
Why does Jesse Jackson have to be there whenever a famous black guy dies? Is he like the president of black people or something? Their mascot? For real though, Frazier needs a statue. He was a great fighter. Without him, Ali would not be known as the same fighter we know him as today.
I like the idea of the statue. But, enough with the Rocky BS. Do a eulogy, celebrate his life, laugh a little, cry a little, but really the Rocky stuff is just ridiculous.
