Joe Frazier

Joseph William Frazier won Olympic gold in 1964 and turned pro the following year, fighting his way through the late 1960s with a style built on bobbing, weaving, and unrelenting attack. He became undisputed heavyweight champion in 1970, then shocked the world in 1971 with a unanimous decision over Muhammad Ali in the Fight of the Century. Two years later George Foreman took his title, and in 1975 Ali beat him again in the Thrilla in Manila, a brutal rubber match that marked Frazier's last shot at the crown. He retired in 1976, returned for one fight in 1981, and finished 32-4-1, having lost only to Ali and Foreman - both twice. He spent his later years training fighters in Philadelphia, his relationship with Ali marked by bitterness broken by fleeting reconciliations.