Joe Frazier — American Athlete born on January 12, 1944, died on November 07, 2011

Joseph William "Joe" Frazier, nicknamed "Smokin' Joe", was an American professional boxer, Olympic gold medalist and undisputed world heavyweight champion, whose professional career lasted from 1965 to 1976, with a one-fight comeback in 1981. Frazier was known for his sheer strength, durability, punch power and all-out relentless attack. He is one of only two boxers, the other being Ken Norton, to beat a prime Muhammad Ali... (wikipedia)

My family's support and the negative environment of the day toward blacks in South Carolina became the forces that led me out of the South - first to New York, then to Philadelphia, where I found opportunity in the form of a PAL gym and my trainer, Yank Durham.
Ali even told me in the ring, 'You can't beat me - I'm your Lord.' I just told him, 'Lord, you're in the wrong place tonight.'
My left eye went when I was young. I was working the speed bag, and some steel went in the eye and scratched it to pieces. I was kinda blind in that eye.
I don't think a man has to go around shouting and play-acting to prove he is something. And a real man don't go around putting other guys down, trampling their feelings in the dirt, making out they're nothing.
Twenty years I've been fighting Ali, and I still want to take him apart piece by piece and send him back to Jesus.