Leland Stein III

Posts Tagged ‘Muhammad Ali’

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Frazier vs. Ali: America’s greatest boxing trilogy

In Black history through sports, Boxing, sports column on January 30, 2023 at 9:34 pm
Joe Frazier

(Article first published for Michigan Chronicle and NNPA member news wire services 11-8-2011)

By Leland Stein III

If one was to peruse the dictionary for the noun pugilist, Smokin’ Joe Frazier’s picture probably, and should be, firmly affixed next to that definition.

There have been bigger (George Foreman), stronger (Jack Johnson), faster (Rocky Marciano), smoother (Muhammad Ali) and prettier (Ali) heavyweight pugilist, but the adjective “warrior” is all one needs to say about the type of fighter Frazier was.

Born in Beaufort, S.C., Frazier recently transitioned after a brief battle with liver cancer at the age of 67. In his death we have all been reminded of the total man he was, and, ironically after living in the giant shadow of Ali, he finally had the world boxing stage to himself.

Frazier, like Ali (1960), won a boxing gold medal representing the United States. Frazier corralled his medal in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo becoming the only American fighter to win gold in those Games.

Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali lock arms on the ESPY Awards red carpet. Jon Gaede – BVN photo

After turning pro in 1965, Frazier quickly became known for his punching power and stamina, stopping his first 11 opponents. Within three years he was fighting world-class opposition, and, in 1970, beat Jimmy Ellis to win the world heavyweight title that he would hold for more than two years.

“Joe Frazier should be remembered as one of the greatest fighters of all time and a real man,” promoter Bob Arum told reporters. “He’s a guy that stood up for himself. He didn’t compromise and always gave 100 percent in the ring. There was never a fight in the ring where Joe didn’t give 100 percent.”

I agree with Arum completely, but I did not always feel that way. I admit I was a victim of the Ali mystic. I just wanted Ali to win every fight he fought, and, unfortunately for Frazier, but historic for boxing, the two came along in the same era.

Possessing the gift of gab and having the gall and audacity to challenge the status quo, while changing and revolutionizing his given name of Cassius Clay, especially during the turbulent 60’s and 70’s, made Ali bigger than sports.

Frazier, ever the pugilist, labored on the only way he knew how – straight ahead with dogged determination. No matter that he became cast as an anti-hero, an establishment symbol at a time when many Americans, including Ali, were in protest over the Vietnam War.

As I grew and learned in the sporting community, I revised my attitude of Frazier. I did not have to dislike one to like the other. After getting into the national boxing circuit as a writer I had the pleasure to encounter Smokin’ Joe one-on-one in a number of situations, and, I found him engaging and enlightening. It was my joy to converse with Frazier and listen to a true pugilist.

One of the contradictions that are ever present in the media is the giant hatred Frazier had for Ali. Sure it had some merit. Anytime two “Warriors” like Frazier and Ali had to try with all their heart to knock the other out, it was hard to maintain a friendship.

The fact of the matter is the two giants of boxing engaged each other three times. The first was the Fight of the Century at Madison Square Garden in 1971 where Frazier won a unanimous decision – giving Ali his first loss.

Ali would narrowly win their next two fights, including the the third battle, the brutal and legendary “Thrilla in Manila.” He in turn received the adoration of a public that came to appreciate the courage he showed by standing on his principles.

Ali now mostly silenced by Parkinson’s disease, making him even more of a sympathetic figure, while Frazier silently struggled with his own financial and health issues, and all the while harboring a feeling Ali wronged him.

Frazier’s professed a dislike of Ali, who taunted him ruthlessly and callously. I was at the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles where they appeared arm-in-arm. Later Frazier told me: “I don’t have the burning hate anymore. With the little time we have left, I’d like to live it clean and live it fine.”

Conversely, Ali told me in an interview that all his “taunting” and the noise he did before the Frazier fights was learned from “professional wrestling,” and, was meant only to “galvanize interest in the fights,” especially since he was the one white America hated. He also noted that Frazier’s refusal to call him Ali fueled their discord.

No matter, Frazier vs. Ali produced the greatest trilogy in boxing history.

“I will always remember Joe with respect and admiration,” Ali said in a statement. “In the end we both fought for the same things: Life, family, country and respect. Our paths to get there may have been different, but the journey took us to the same place.”

Leland can be reached at lelstein3@aol.com or Twitter @LelandSteinIII

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THE ROLE OF ATHLETES AND ACTIVISM HAS A STORIED HISTORY

In Black history through sports, NBA, NFL, Olympics, sports column on July 31, 2021 at 1:49 am
The iconic picture from the 1967 ‘Cleveland Meeting’ that brought the black sports stars together.

(The article was first published for TheAfricanAmericanAthlete.com and NNPA member news affiliates)

By Leland Stein III

As a kid growing up – outside of my family – some of the first role models I drew inspiration from were athletes. First, there was Joe Louis, who trained at Detroit’s renown Brewster Recreation Center. Then there was NFL Hall of Famers Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, and Lem Barney. Next, tearing up the track was two-time Olympic Gold medalist and Northwestern High’s Henry “Gray Ghost” Carr.

I know I’m not alone in this declaration. Generally, after our immediate guardians, most youth look up to the people they see and hear about in newspapers, music or on television.

Durant and James

Throughout the United States long history, there have been musicians, politicians, television personalities, actors and athletes who have used their national platforms, some understood the vehicle they have and found ways to lend their collective voices to perceived injustices in America’s society.

So, when a Fox news anchor proclaimed that LeBron James and Kevin Durant should keep their political commentary to themselves and just “shut up and dribble and stick to sports,” calling their comments “ignorant,” I just cringed!

This Fox news reporter was serving her agenda, while completely whitewashing the First Amendment which guarantees the right of freedom of speech, the right of peaceable (non-violent) assembly, and the freedom of the press.

The worlds of sports and politics are intertwined in a multifaceted, complex, and convoluted mixed that is in the words of jazz legend Miles Davis, a “Bitches Brew.”

On one hand, sports are entertainment and an escape from the doldrums that permeate peoples’ everyday existence. On the other hand, sports entertainment presents itself as a much too serious endeavor for too many. Politics, unquestionably, is the vehicle that generates laws and governs our everyday movements through humanity.

Jack Johnson and wife.

Still, sports are an undeniable vehicle that galvanizes entire communities, towns and even countries into a collective discourse that move many into civic, regional and national pride.

Long before America admitted, recognized or documented that its segregation policies and laws, both unwritten and written, were racist… sports took center stage.

When Jack Johnson won the World Heavyweight boxing title in the very early 1900’s, most African Americans could not live, work, marry or compete in sports activities with their white American brethren. So, the politics of that day passed a racist law – The Mann Act – that would prohibit him traveling with his white wife over state lines. It caused him to leave the country for eight years and when he returned he was jailed.

In 1936 and 1938 two men changed many perceptions and some perceived prejudices – albeit not the educational, political or the economic plight of the majority of African Americans. They were Jesse Owens and Joe Louis. Owens at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, as Germany was on the eve of World War II. Owens debunked Hitler’s Aryan Supremacy rhetoric, making him a national icon and world figure.

Jesses Owens stands tall as Hitler walks out stadium.

Later in 1938, Louis knocked out Germany legend, Max Schmeling, moving him past just a boxer to a true American hero. Whether either of them wanted it, they became political figures that represented an entire race. Many of our white brethren in America embrace Louis and Owens – white and black, rich and poor.

The politics pouring out of Washington still did not change the segregation and racist agendas of the courts or police or military.

After Louis’ and Owens’ breakthrough, Jackie Robinson furthered the cause of the African American in the United States as he broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947 – a significant moment in race relations that Louis and Owens helped forge.

Like bacon and eggs, socks and shoes, grits and butter… sports and politics, like it or not, have always walked hand in hand.

So, I think it is safe to postulate that Barack Obama becoming the country’s 44th and first African-American president was cleared in part by athletes whose courage, heart, determination, and talent helped the country move through the slow, violent, tedious and painful process of desegregation.

Hall of Fame slugger, Hank Aaron, who experienced first-hand the ugliness of racism as he chased Babe Ruth’s hollowed homerun record, told a reporter that he was just overwhelmed when Obama won. “Every time I see him on television I just smile because he represents me,” he said. “No matter how I look at it, he’s me. For the first time, you can see this country becoming the kind of country that we all are very proud of.”

Aaron and other Black athletes broke barriers and changed the political climate before the Civil Rights Movement commenced. In fact, Aaron was among the early influx of black players to follow Robinson, breaking into the majors in 1954, a month before the Supreme Court’s Brown vs. Board of Education ruling that opened the way for school integration.

Joe Louis and Max Schmeling

Then in the 1960’s, men like Bill Russell, Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali, Curt Flood and even Spencer Haywood, challenged America’s First Amendment and segregated policies and used their celebrity to force the political climate to become more inclusive.

To talk about Ali in this narrative would require too much of this text, but his entire life was intertwined with sports and politics. Starting with the Olympics, the USA Draft Board mysteriously changing his draft status after he changed his name to Ali and embraced Islam, striping him of his World Championships, state after state refused to grant him a boxing license, and, the Supreme Court decision in his favor concerning the Vietnam Draft.

Also stepping out affirming their belief in equality was 200-meter gold medalist, Tommie Smith, along with bronze medalist John Carlos, whom each raised black-gloved fist at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City to protest the racism and segregation overwhelming too many in the United States.

The controversial salute during the national anthem by Smith and Carlos came six months after Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination in the United States. Predictably both athletes were denigrated and disparaged by white America for their actions.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos.

“People wanted to label me a militant,” Smith, told me in an interview. “The fact of the matter is what we did was a ‘Project for Human Rights.’ We needed to bring attention to the negative condition of too many in the States.”

The world’s biggest gathering of nations, the Olympics has and will always live with the politics of humanity. Sometimes it has been terrific like China using the 2008 Beijing Games as a coming out party to the world showcasing its rich history, culture, and creativity.

On the other hand, it has also been used to further political agendas like the Palestinians taking the Israeli athletes hostage in the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, and killed them all.

The United States boycotted the Russian Games in 1980, and Russia did likewise, boycotting the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Sports and politics go hand in hand, much to the chagrin of many; however, they will always be wedded.

St Louis Rams players put “hands up don’t shoot” before their game.

James seems to understand and embrace his platform saying: “When I was growing up, there were like three jobs that you looked to for inspiration. It was the president of the United States, it was whoever was the best in sports, and then it was like the greatest musician at the time. At this time right now, with the president, it’s at a bad time. We cannot change what comes out of that man’s mouth, but we can continue to alert the people that watch us, that listen to us, that this is not the way.”

Added Durant: “What’s going on in our country, it’s all about leadership. We need to empower people, we need to encourage people, and that’s what builds a great team. And I feel like our team, as a country, is not run by a great coach.”

Other athletes understand their political opportunities like the:

The St. Louis Rams “Hands Up” to raise their arms in awareness of the events in Ferguson, MO.

Miami Heat wearing “hoodies” to protest the shooting of teenager Trayvon Martin, who was on his way home to watch his beloved Heat.

Colin Kaepernick knelt for social justice and was forced out the NFL.

Billie Jean King’s stance on “equality” for women in tennis. Prize money for women’s tennis increased because of her advocacy.

And then there was Colin Kaepernick who took a knee during “The Star-Spangled Banner” to protest police brutality, he was eventually blackballed by NFL owners. He launched a protest that sent aftershocks everywhere.

The fact of the matter is sports and politics are married, and, after a lull, some of today’s athletes seem to grasp the enormous cultural and economic influence they possess, and it is heartening that some have started to understand how to leverage that status for something more than selling sneakers.


Leland Stein III can be reached at lelstein3@aol.com and twitter @LelandSteinIII

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USA Boxing down and struggling

In Detroit/Area Sports, Olympics, sports column on September 5, 2012 at 5:15 pm

Clarissa Shields and Michigan Chronicle, sports editor, Leland Stein III in London at the USA House after her gold medal victory.

Ali, Frazier, Foreman, De la Hoya, Patterson and now Shields all have succeeded at Olympic Games.

By Leland Stein III

LONDON – US men’s Olympic boxers have won a record 108 medals. But since David Reid took gold at Atlanta in 1996, only one US man — Andre Ward, in 2004 — has taken the Olympic title.

The list of pugilist that has taken the sweet science by storm over the years after achieving Olympic glory is simply legendary.

Any list will have to start with Floyd Patterson (1952), Cassius Clay (now Muhammad Ali) in 1960, Joe Frazier (1964), George Foreman (1968), Sugar Ray Leonard (1976), Leon Spinks (1976), Michael Spinks (1976), Pernell Whitaker (1984), Mark Breland (1984), Evander Holyfield (1984), Riddick Bowe (1988), Roy Jones Jr. (1988) Oscar de la Hoya (1992), and David Reid (1996).

There are others that found noteworthy success as professional fighters like Ray Seales (1972), John Tate (1976), Howard Davis (1976), Leo Randolph (1976), Steve McCrory (1984), Frank Tate (1984), Meldrick Taylor (1984), Tyrell Biggs (1984), Henry Tillman (1984), Michael Carbajal (1988), Ray Mercer (1988), Andrew Maynard (1988), Chris Byrd (1992), and Antonio Tarver 1996).

All of the above mentioned Olympians medaled at their Olympic Games and went on to successful professional careers.

Fast forward into the 2000 and anyone can see something has happened to USA Boxing. In fact, the 2012 Olympic Games is the first in history where the US men did not medal in any of the weight classes.

It took the US women to hold the boxing torch. In the first Games where women were allowed to participate in boxing, out of the three weight classes US women won two medals. Marlen Esparza won a bronze medal as a flyweight and Claressa Shields won the USA’s only boxing gold medal.

Shields’ historic gold was the first US gold since Ward. Olympic boxing gold has been hard to obtain for the US. That makes 17-year-old Shield’s remarkable win over two world champion women on her way to gold even that more impressive.

How does USA boxing get back on track? Are the mix martial arts diluting the talent pool? Surly the allure of college and professional football has taken away the Ali’s, Frazier’s and Foreman’s in US Boxing.

Another problem is that the USA Boxing names trainers, but the trainers that have worked with the fighters cannot be in their corners at the Games. Who knows the fighters better than the men and women that train them? No one!! And as the sweet science continues to grow internationally the fighters are getting better and better.

For example, I was watching a young lady from Ireland (Katie Taylor) fight for lightweight gold and in her corner was her father, who has trained her since she started boxing. The Irish Olympic officials told me, “Why would we put anyone else in her corner?”

I looked at the Americans and they have people in their fighter’s corner that simply do not know the fighters they are charged to cajole.

The US Olympic Committee is also disappointed by boxing’s medal-less men’s team. USOC CEO Scott Blackmun offered no specifics, but it’s clear the governing body expected more from US fighters, who left the Olympics empty handed for the first time in team history.

‘‘We’re going to sit down and take a hard look at why we are where we are, and make some changes,’’ Blackmun said. ‘‘I don’t want to say anything beyond that.’’

The US men’s team, the most successful in Olympic history, lost nine of its last 10 bouts in London. USA Boxing has been criticized for a sharp decline in recent years, along with the fact that the coaching staff was not in place until just about a month before the games opened.

‘‘We’re disappointed in boxing,’’ Blackmun said. ‘‘We want to do better, particularly in men’s boxing. By saying disappointed in boxing, I don’t mean in the people. I mean, we’re disappointed that we didn’t do better in boxing, because I know that we can do better and we have to focus on how we do that.’’

Leland Stein can be reached at lelstein3@aol.com or at Twitter @lelandsteinIII

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Frazier vs. Ali: America’s greatest boxing trilogy

In Black history through sports, Boxing, Olympics, sports column on November 16, 2011 at 8:46 pm
Joe Frazier

(Article published for Michigan Chronicle and NNPA member news wire services 11-8-2011)

By Leland Stein III

If one was to peruse the dictionary for the noun pugilist, Smokin’ Joe Frazier’s picture probably, and should be, firmly affixed next to that definition.

There have been bigger (George Foreman), stronger (Jack Johnson), faster (Rocky Marciano), smoother (Muhammad Ali) and prettier (Ali) heavyweight pugilist, but the adjective “warrior” is all one needs to say about the type of fighter Frazier was.

Born in Beaufort, S.C., Frazier recently transitioned after a brief battle with liver cancer at the age of 67. In his death we have all been reminded of the total man he was, and, ironically after living in the giant shadow of Ali, he finally had the world boxing stage to himself.

Frazier, like Ali (1960), won a boxing gold medal representing the United States. Frazier corralled his medal in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo becoming the only American fighter to win gold in those Games.

Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali lock arms on the ESPY Awards red carpet. Jon Gaede – BVN photo

After turning pro in 1965, Frazier quickly became known for his punching power and stamina, stopping his first 11 opponents. Within three years he was fighting world-class opposition, and, in 1970, beat Jimmy Ellis to win the world heavyweight title that he would hold for more than two years.

“Joe Frazier should be remembered as one of the greatest fighters of all time and a real man,” promoter Bob Arum told reporters. “He’s a guy that stood up for himself. He didn’t compromise and always gave 100 percent in the ring. There was never a fight in the ring where Joe didn’t give 100 percent.”

I agree with Arum completely, but I did not always feel that way. I admit I was a victim of the Ali mystic. I just wanted Ali to win every fight he fought, and, unfortunately for Frazier, but historic for boxing, the two came along in the same era.

Possessing the gift of gab and having the gall and audacity to challenge the status quo, while changing and revolutionizing his given name of Cassius Clay, especially during the turbulent 60’s and 70’s, made Ali bigger than sports.

Frazier, ever the pugilist, labored on the only way he knew how – straight ahead with dogged determination. No matter that he became cast as an anti-hero, an establishment symbol at a time when many Americans, including Ali, were in protest over the Vietnam War.

As I grew and learned in the sporting community, I revised my attitude of Frazier. I did not have to dislike one to like the other. After getting into the national boxing circuit as a writer I had the pleasure to encounter Smokin’ Joe one-on-one in a number of situations, and, I found him engaging and enlightening. It was my joy to converse with Frazier and listen to a true pugilist.

One of the contradictions that are ever present in the media is the giant hatred Frazier had for Ali. Sure it had some merit. Anytime two “Warriors” like Frazier and Ali had to try with all their heart to knock the other out, it was hard to maintain a friendship.

The fact of the matter is the two giants of boxing engaged each other three times. The first was the Fight of the Century at Madison Square Garden in 1971 where Frazier won a unanimous decision – giving Ali his first loss.

Ali would narrowly win their next two fights, including the the third battle, the brutal and legendary “Thrilla in Manila.” He in turn received the adoration of a public that came to appreciate the courage he showed by standing on his principles.

Ali now mostly silenced by Parkinson’s disease, making him even more of a sympathetic figure, while Frazier silently struggled with his own financial and health issues, and all the while harboring a feeling Ali wronged him.

Frazier’s professed a dislike of Ali, who taunted him ruthlessly and callously. I was at the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles where they appeared arm-in-arm. Later Frazier told me: “I don’t have the burning hate anymore. With the little time we have left, I’d like to live it clean and live it fine.”

Conversely, Ali told me in an interview that all his “taunting” and the noise he did before the Frazier fights was learned from “professional wrestling,” and, was meant only to “galvanize interest in the fights,” especially since he was the one white America hated. He also noted that Frazier’s refusal to call him Ali fueled their discord.

No matter, Frazier vs. Ali produced the greatest trilogy in boxing history.

“I will always remember Joe with respect and admiration,” Ali said in a statement. “In the end we both fought for the same things: Life, family, country and respect. Our paths to get there may have been different, but the journey took us to the same place.”

Leland can be reached at lelstein3@aol.com or Twitter @LelandSteinIII