A visit to the grave of former world champion Joe Frazier today has helped inspire Joseph Parker to reach the heights of the man who became known as Smokin' Joe. Photo / File.
A visit to the grave of former world champion Joe Frazier today has helped inspire Joseph Parker to reach the heights of the man who became known as Smokin' Joe.
New Zealanders Parker and Robert Berridge, both of whom fight on a Main Event card at the Sands Casino in
Bethlehem in Pennsylvania on Sunday NZT, paid their respects to Frazier's legacy at the Ivy Hill Cemetery on the outskirts of Philadelphia.
Frazier, who died of cancer on November 7, 2011 at the age of 67, lost only four times in his professional career - twice to Muhammad Ali and twice to George Foreman. A near life-size portrait of him as a boxer adorns his grave, but a plaque placed at the leafy site by his family paints him as a family man with a love of cars, church and music.
"To come and visit the grave site of a champion... he was the first one to beat Muhammad Ali," said Parker, who has seen many of Frazier's fights on YouTube.
"He had the brawler style, he liked to come in because he wasn't that tall. He came in and bobbed and weaved. They are the hardest to fight because of the pressure they bring. It's definitely inspiring."
