Boxing's Short Memory of Long Living Legends
When Joe Frazier defeated Muhammad Ali forty years ago in Madison Square Garden’s, in their first of three brutal encounters, he probably didn’t have a care in the World. He had just retained his two World title belts and the word beginning with ‘R’ when he would hang up his gloves was most likely the last thing on his mind. Of the two fighters that left the ring in New York, time hasn’t been favourable to either. However, they are both held in the highest of regards by, not just the boxing public, but the sporting one. On the eve of David Haye’s pinnacle fight against Wladimir Klitschko in Germany we are witnessing boxers that are hyped as warriors and potential legends. Neither, in fact, is worthy of catching Frazier’s gum-shield or lacing Ali’s gloves. While Muhammad Ali is seemingly failing to deal with the subsequent severity of his Parkinson’s disease, Frazier is not just short of a ‘bob or two’, but damn near completely broke. The chance for myself to go to ‘an eveni...