Mark Kram, Jr.’s sympathetic and thoroughly researched Smokin’ Joe is a worthy introduction to an under-appreciated American athlete.
An exquisite biography that depicts Frazier as he really was: not just fearless and ferocious but soulful, compassionate, loyal, impulsive, capable of powerful hatred and even more powerful love. You can feel the gospel truth of Smokin’ Joe deep in your bones.
Mark Kram Jr.’s landmark book about Joe Frazier...at last remedies a grave wrong, lifting the indomitable Frazier out of the crypt of creeping obscurity and into the exalted place he deserves in America’s annals...[A] sublime exploration.
A revelation, a powerhouse, a thing of beauty, and—OK, I’ll say it—a knockout. Joe Frazier is one of the most compelling figures ever to step in a boxing ring, and Mark Kram, Jr. has written a biography worthy in every way of the champ’s greatness.
04/22/2019
Journalist Kram (Like Any Normal Day) delivers a sympathetic account of a boxing great fated to be overshadowed by Muhammad Ali. Born to rural poverty in South Carolina in 1944, Frazier displayed prodigious strength from childhood and quickly gained a reputation as a fearsome brawler. Yet it was not until he moved to Philadelphia in 1962 that he started boxing seriously, winning Olympic gold in Tokyo two years later. Undersize but a devastating puncher, Frazier became heavyweight champion in 1970 when he beat Jimmy Ellis. Then, in 1971, Frazier defeated Ali in what was billed as the Fight of the Century. They would battle two more times (Ali won the second and the final, “Thrilla in Manila”), and Frazier would spend the rest of his life losing the popularity battle to the loquacious legend. Kram’s fluid account balances Frazier’s remarkable generosity (giving cash to homeless people, pulling over for stranded motorists) with his chronic infidelity and explosive rage. Kram vividly describes Frazier’s South Carolina upbringing and moonshiner father, and includes well-told though familiar stories of his rivalry with Ali; however, one wishes for a deeper evaluation of his life, especially his meteoric rise from boxing novice to Olympic hero. Nevertheless, boxing fans will welcome this celebration of a champion. (June)
Mark Kram, Jr. much, much more than splendidly gets to the strange anomaly that was Smokin’ Joe: you’d have thought the guy didn’t get no respect. Only he did. Lots...His life is a story worth reading.
A comprehensive knockout of a biography...[A] beautiful book.”
A comprehensive knockout of a biography...[A] beautiful book.”
05/01/2019
It is sad but necessary that in a biography of boxer Joe Frazier (1944–2011) the subject shares considerable space with arch nemesis Muhammad Ali. The sadness derives, first, from that, were it not for two losses to Ali and two at the hands of George Foreman, Frazier would have gone undefeated and been heralded as one of the best heavyweights of all time; and, second, because of the animosity, mostly on Frazier's part, that lasted for more than three decades between the two. Kram, the son of a Sports Illustrated writer who covered many of the events described herein, presents a readable account of what has been called the golden age of boxing and of the symbiotic rivalry between two of the all-time greats. But Frazier's fights with Ali, especially the last of the three, the Thrilla in Manila, defined the greatness of both, and showed boxing at its courageous best and brutal worst. Thus, Ali must lurk in the shadows throughout this book, which documents Frazier's rise from rural poverty to world championship riches along with an on-and-off again music career. VERDICT Boxing historians and fans of both fighters should approve of this straightforward account.—Jim Burns, formerly with Jacksonville P.L., FL
2019-03-03
A spirited biography of the thunder-punching boxer.
Former Philadelphia Daily News sportswriter Kram Jr. (Like Any Normal Day: A Story of Devotion, 2012) picks up where his late father left off with his reporting for Sports Illustrated on the long feud between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier (1944-2011), particularly as played out in 1975 in a celebrated match, the "Thrilla in Manila." As the story opens, Frazier—called "Smokin' Joe" after promising the press corps that he would "come out smokin' " in a 1967 prizefight—is in a reflective mood, surprisingly gentle for someone reputed to be so fierce. Yet Frazier earned every bit of that reputation: "His way was the hard way," writes the author. "In the ring, he lived and died by the simple yet daring principle of engagement that in order to deliver one bone-crunching blow, it was too frequently necessary to absorb three in exchange." Absorb the blows he did, while pounding just about everyone who came up against him, including Rocky-era Sylvester Stallone, who recalls "a thunderous left hook that was planted extremely deep in my body." The author speculates that Frazier, who died in 2011 with no autopsy, may have been finally felled by chronic traumatic encephalopathy following years of concussive blows. The author covers all the bases while focusing, appropriately, on the long enmity between Frazier and Ali, who called the younger boxer a "gorilla" and played mind games, race cards, and all sorts of mischief, later claiming that he did it to stir up attention and sales at the box office. Frazier was thought never to have forgiven Ali for the barrage of insults, but the closing of the narrative finds the two boxers in a tender moment, albeit one that might have blown apart had the two been their younger, healthier selves. The narrative is sometimes by-the-numbers, but Kram pays appropriate homage to a fighter who, though lacking in finesse, dominated heavyweight boxing for nearly a decade.
Bookish fans of the sweet science will flock to this biography.
