Former Boxer "Smokin" Joe Frazier Dying From Liver Cancer And Has Days To Live

Joe Frazier is dying inside a hospice in Philadelphia. He has liver cancer. Soon, the Philadelphia left hook that seemed to have a life all its own will have lost every ounce of its thunder. Soon, Joe will be gone.
But Death be not proud because you will not beat Joe. He will simply have run out of time. In his last moments, his mind will still have him moving forward with that little bounce in his stride. And it will be as if he’s saying:
“Come on, Death. Show me what you got. You might win, but before you do I got something here for you.”

So what follows here is the way I will always remember him. I covered his career. I was there on the night in the Philippines when he and Muhammad Al left giant footprints as their legacy. Perhaps the best way to understand that is to begin in the wake of their first dramatic meeting in New York. This was one week after Joe Frazier had dumped the once and future heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali on his rear end on that long gone night in Madison Square Garden.
Now we were standing outside a deli not far from the Joe Frazier Gym in North Philadelphia and these three kids, maybe 9 years old each, were running toward us shouting:
“Joe Frazier ... Joe Frazier ... Joe Frazier.”
And the smile on Joe’s face as they came nearer and nearer seemed to light up the tired, gray neighborhood. As they danced around him, Joe sent an aide back to his Rolls-Royce for autographed pictures. He gave one to each and Joe told them “Now y’all stay in school. Don’t make me have to find you.”

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