The Online Portfolio Of A.J. Dugger III
  • Home
  • Cover Stories & TV Appearances
  • Gallery Of Work
  • Books
  • Celebrity Interviews
  • Awards
  • Music
  • Blog

My Thoughts On Joe Frazier & Meeting The Freedom Riders

11/6/2011

0 Comments

 
I got news yesterday that shook me. I was on my way to Nashville to attend an NAACP Banquet for The Freedom Riders. I was covering the event for The Tennessee Tribune. A friend of mine called me and said that Joe Frazier (not my dog, but the boxer) had liver cancer and was under hospice care. What? When I heard those words, it felt like Frazier's trademark left hook smashed me right in the gut. This was an unpleasant surprise.

Other than Michael Jackson, Joe Frazier is the one celebrity that I personally care about, and I know his passing will hurt like losing a family member. I named my Labrador Retriever after Joe Frazier. That's how much of a Joe Frazier fan I am!! I also have his autobiography and fight collection on DVD.

I'm not going to be like everyone else and write the man's obituary before he even dies. But here are some things about Joe Frazier that maybe you didn't know.

*He was the first heavyweight boxer to win a gold medal in the Olympics. (Muhammad Ali and Floyd Patterson won medals as light heavyweights and later turned heavyweight as professionals.)Frazier won the medal with a broken thumb.

*He was the first man to professional defeat Muhammad Ali and the second man to put him on the canvas.

*He arguably had the best left hook in the history of boxing. He could fire it from any position and nail you right on the button. The punch was swift and fierce, and resulted in most of his knockouts. Muhammad Ali had poor defense and was always open to Frazier's left hook attacks.

*He was in the same brawler tradition as Mike Tyson, Jack Dempsey and Rocky Marciano. He came in bobbing and weaving to dodge your punches and would counter with his own, leaving you on the canvas. He constantly pressured his opponents and forced them to fight at his tempo, no matter what they tried to do. Frazier swarmed his opponents like a swarm of killer bees, always attacking and never giving his opponent the room or space to counter effectively.

*Joe Frazier only lost to two boxers as a professional...Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Given all the tough fighters Frazier fought, that alone tells you that this man was great. 

*Joe Frazier won the New York State Championship by knocking out Buster Mathis in 1968, and officially won the WBA Championship when he destroyed Jimmy Ellis with a brutal left hook in the 4th round in 1970.

If you're still reading, I appreciate it. Why does Joe Frazier mean so much to me? He was an exciting fighter who literally grunted when he attacked you. Not only that, but he's a class act and a great guy. I used to talk to him on twitter. He told me once that he would knock out Mike Tyson in the 3rd round (I politely disagree) but he gave me good advice once, telling me that a sound mind keeps a sound body.

Smokin' Joe is underrated. He's at least one of the top 5 heavyweights of all time. With his brawling style, fast hand speed and vicious left hook, it's likely that he would have gone undefeated in any era other than the one he fought in.

Joe Frazier is still with us as I write this. I'm praying that he can knock out this cancer with a left hook. I'm sure beating Ali was no easy task either, but Frazier did it. Get well, Joe.

                          Freedom Riders

As I said in the beginning of the blog, I covered an NAACP event yesterday honoring the Nashville Freedom Riders. I completed the article last night and it should run in the Tennessee Tribune next week on the front page. It was a pleasure to meet people who made history. They told me that they didn't think they would live long, but they were prepared to die. They were determined to make a difference, despite the hostile racism that constantly haunted them. Their driver was a white man named Jim Ruth, who was also risking his life. (He told me also that the Freedom Riders were the greatest group of people he ever hauled.)

I appreciate the people who were trailblazers for civil rights. To this day, I never sit on the back of the bus. Ever. Why not? Because our African American ancestors fought for us not to sit at the back of the bus. Do I vote? Yes. Do I encourage my peers and today's youth to get an education? Yes I do. It saddens me when I see some black people ignore the opportunities that they have. An older generation died and suffered so that we can have the options we have today. I was blessed enough to go to a good university and actually get a professional job in my field. 70 years ago, I have doubts that I would have even dreamed of the chance. To the Freedom Riders and other Civil Rights Activists of the past, I thank you...
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Award-Winning Journalist A.J. Dugger III

    Promote Your Page Too

    Author

    A.J. Dugger is an Award-Winning Television and Print & Media Journalist.

    He appears as a crime analyst on the TV-One crime series, For My Man, and is the author of four books: Black Journals,  the horror anthology SoUtHeRn TeRrOr, the mystery crime thriller Who KILLED Joel Larson? and The Dealers: Then and Now, the sensational story of his mother and uncles' career as a funk band.

    The Dealers: Then and Now

    Promote Your Page Too

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    2002
    2006
    2011
    Abby
    Abigail Anderson
    Allie Colombo
    Allie Columbo
    Al Weil
    An American Werewolf In London
    Andre Bishop
    Anxiety
    Archie Moore
    Aron Tager
    Assault
    Autism
    Bad Intentions
    Barbara Cousins
    Baritone
    Barrett
    Barry Gordy
    Bass
    Batman
    Batman Forever
    Bel Biv DeVoe
    Berry Gordy
    Bipolar
    Bipolar Disorder
    Bite
    Black Hercules
    Blog
    Bloodsport
    Bluffington
    Bobby Brown
    Bolo Yeung
    BOXING
    Brockton
    Bruce Williamson
    Carmine Vingo
    Catwoman
    Charles Winkler
    Charley Goldman
    Charlie Goldman
    Chong Li
    Chris Ferry
    Chuck Lane
    Civil Rights
    Clifford Etienne
    Cody Darbe
    Crime
    Crook Brothers
    Curl
    Cus D'amato
    Damon Harris
    Dancin Machine
    David
    David Ruffin
    David Tua
    Death
    Dennis Edwards
    Deontay Wilder
    Depression
    Donald Ho
    Doug Funnie
    Drago
    Duane Jones
    Duke Desmond
    Ear
    Earnie Shavers
    Eddie Futch
    Eddie Kendricks
    Ellie
    Evander Holyfield
    Facebook
    Falsetto
    Fight To Survive
    Floyd Patterson
    Forest Whitaker
    Frank Dileo
    Frank Dux
    Frankie Carbo
    Freddy Krueger
    Freddy Versus Jason
    Freelance
    Friday The 13th
    Full Moon
    Gazelle Punch
    George C. Scott
    George Foreman
    Ghostwrite
    Hair
    Hasim Rahman
    Haye
    Hbo
    Heavyweight
    Heavyweight Champion
    Horror
    Ingemar Johansson
    Invincible
    Italian
    Jack Dempsey
    Jack Johnson
    Jackson
    Jackson 5
    Jason Takes Manhattan
    Jason Voorhees
    Jean-Claude Van Damme
    Jeffrey Crook
    Jheri
    Jimmy Jam And Terry Lewis
    Jimmy Young
    Joe
    Joe Frazier
    Joe Herndon
    Joel Larson
    Joel Miller
    Joe Louis
    Joel Schumacher
    Johnny Gill
    John Ruiz
    Jon Favreau
    Joshua Crook
    Journalism
    Judy Funnie
    Justin Timberlake
    Ken Kirzinger
    Ken Norton
    Kevin Rooney
    Kickboxer
    Knockout
    Kumite
    Larry Holmes
    Lauren Currie Lewis
    Left Hook
    Lennox Lewis
    Low Latent Inhibtion
    Ma
    Martial Arts
    Marvis Frazier
    Max Baer
    Memphis
    Mental Health
    Mental Illness
    Mentally Ill
    Michael
    Michael Jackson
    Michael Moorer
    Michael Spinks
    Mike Tyson
    Mills Lane
    Miss. Wingo
    Monte
    Monte Barrett
    Moonwalker
    Motown
    Moving Violation
    Muhammad Ali
    Murder
    Mystery
    Mystery Novel
    Nation Of Islam
    Naughty Dog
    New Edition
    New Jack Swing
    Nickelodeon
    Nightmare On Elm Street
    Novel
    On My Own
    Otis Williams
    Paco
    Patti Mayonnaise
    Peekaboo
    Penelope Ann Miller
    Phil Funnie
    Playstation 4
    Porkchop
    Primo Carnera
    Prince
    Principal Lamar Bone
    Privacy
    Ps4
    Ralph Tresvant
    Razor Ruddock
    Rematch
    Review
    Ricardo Morra
    Richard Nixon
    Richard Street
    Rick Grimes
    Rocky Marciano
    Roger Klotz
    Roland Lastarza
    Ron Tyson
    Salvage
    Schizophrenia
    Sensitivity
    Sister Ruth
    Skeeter Valentine
    Smash Adams
    Sonny Liston
    Southern Terror
    Stan Bush
    Stephanie Mcmahon
    Stephen Glass
    Still Here
    Stone Cold Steve Austin
    Sugar Ray Robinson
    Sumo
    Suspense Novel
    Suzy Q
    Suzy-q
    Teddy Atlas
    Teen Nick
    Tennessee
    Tenor
    Terry Weeks
    The Gentleman Of Boxing
    The Howling 4
    The Howling IV
    Theismann
    The Jawbreaker
    The Last Of Us Part 2
    The Making Of Thriller
    The Old Mongoose
    The Rock
    The Tempations
    The Temptations
    The Walking Dead
    Thriller
    Timeline
    Tommy Morrison
    Tony Galento
    Tony Lo Bianco
    Triple H
    Tua
    Tyson Fury
    Uncle Tom
    Undefeated
    Undisputed
    Victory
    Video Blog
    Vince Mcmahon
    Vitali
    Wave
    WBC
    Werewolf
    What If?
    Whodunit
    Who Killed Joel Larson?
    Wig
    Wladimir
    Wladimir Klitschko
    Wwf

    Archives

    January 2022
    December 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    February 2013
    May 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.