Work is the Only Meanin' I've Ever Known

"Joe Frazier would come out smoking. If you hit him, he liked it. If you knocked him down, you only made him mad." -- George Foreman

I learned what I know about boxing from my dad who ensured from an early age (and far before there was such a thing known as a Foreman Grill) that I knew who George Foreman was, that I understood that boxing contests could be won by scoring or by being knocked out, and that I appreciated the difference between Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard. He also taught that the best boxing rivalry of all time (with the possible exception of the rivalry between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed) was between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. I never realized until much later in my life that I was probably the only 12 year old girl at my Texas public school who could comfortably converse about whatever controversy Don King was involved in and who knew which round Ali knocked out Foreman during the famed Rumble in the Jungle. I also never realized until just several years ago when I had occasion to watch a boxing match without my dad that I really do not care too much for boxing at all -- and that my love for watching boxing with my dad was more about my dad than it was about boxing. Just as, at the time, the Ali-Frazier rivalry was said to encapsulate the social and political struggles of the day -- the Vietnam War and race relations -- years later, these old fights provided a backdrop from which I learned about the social and political movements that came before me.

While I do not recall precisely how I first learned about the horrors of the Vietnam War and the strong protest against it, I would not be surprised if I first learned of it from my dad while watching footage from an old Frazier-Ali match. Ali's protest against the war, the country's mixed reaction to it, and the Courts' ultimate affirmation of his objection, were all part of the history that was represented and retold through old reels of the Ali-Frazier fights. Although I became cognizant of the struggle for civil rights before I could even comprehend a boxing match (a topic that I will write about in a future Good Life posts), hearing the story from my dad about the controversy over Ali's name change, Ali's membership in the Nation of Islam, and the visceral reaction from my dad's racist father when he learned that my dad rooted for Ali, was another way that at a young age I began to understand the cultural struggles from a decade or two prior. Of course, because Ali was the main protagonist and counterculture showman in these stories, I could not help but cheering for him when watching old fights.

I never really thought much about Joe Frazier. I realized just two days ago when Joe Frazier passed away that I knew little about him. Seeing the headlines of Joe Frazier's passing rekindled my interest and so I took a few moments to read about this boxing great. I quickly found the New York Times' extensive piece on Frazier's life and career. And, then the CBS piece aptly titled: People's Champ. I learned a lot about Frazier from reading these pieces. I learned Frazier won 32 fights in all -- 27 by knockouts -- and only lost 4 times (twice to Ali and twice to Foreman). He won an Olympic God Metal for boxing. He had a genius left hook. Frazier was also the first African American man to address the South Carolina Legislature since the Civil War.

As the Times piece aptly points out, Frazier and Ali were a study in contrasts. Their rivalry captured the interest and mind of many in America trying to make sense out of the political and social changes in the sixties and seventies. Frazier, unlike Ali, would never have proclaimed himself as "the Greatest." (Although, he did, in response to Ali's question "Don't you know that I am God?", say to back to Ali in front of an audience of Madison Square Garden enthusiasts, "Well, God, you gonna get whupped tonight!”). Dave Anderson believed Frazier to be the better fighter of the two. I am not well versed enough in boxing history to make a judgment on that, but I will say that reading about Frazier's working spirit has captured my heart. Frazier embodied working class sensibilities and everyone who knew him commented on his dignity and decency. In a 1973 interview Frazier stated, "Work is the only meanin’ I’ve ever known...Like the man in the song says, I just gotta keep on keepin’ on." Those words ring true to me. Here at Project Good Life we, like Smokin' Joe, know there is no substitute for hard work and perseverance and wanted to post this brief note to honor Frazier's legacy. Here's to Smokin' Joe in whatever ring he is fighting in now.