In pictures: Smokin' Joe Frazier 1944-2011

FILE - In this file Feb. 16, 1970, file photo, Joe Frazier looks over the crumpling Jimmy Ellis, on canvas, after dropping him for the second time in fourth round of their title boxing match in New York. Referee Tony Perez, left, sends Frazier to a neutral corner. Frazier won when Ellis didn't come out for the fifth round. Frazier, the former heavyweight champion who handed Muhammad Ali his first defeat yet had to live forever in his shadow, has died after a brief final fight with liver cancer. He was 67. The family issued a release confirming the boxer's death on Monday night, Nov. 7, 2011. (AP Photo/File)

Joe Frazier, left, and the WBA and WBC heavyweight challenger George Foreman have a close look at each other as they meet during the weigh-in before their bout in Kingston, Jamaica. Foreman would beat Frazier, his first professional defeat, by TKO in the ???

Joe Frazier, the champion, is directed to a corner by Arthur Marcante, the referee, after Frazier knocked down Muhammad Ali during the 15th round of their WBA and WBC heavyweight title bout in Madison Square Garden in New York. Frazier won the bout, handi???

Don King, left, and Joe Frazier pose for a photo in 2005. King was the promoter for Frazier's epic WBA and WBC title challenge with Ali on October 1, 1975, in what was dubbed the Thrilla in Manila. Teddy Blackburn/ Reuters

Frazier strikes Ali with a trademark left hook in their 1971 bout which is widely claimed as the "Fight of the Century". AP Photo

Joe Frazier jostles with Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) in 1967 during a open gym session. The pair would have to wait four years before they would meet in the ring. Their trilogy of fights defined both their careers. John Rooney / AP Photo

Joe Frazier joins hands with his son Marvis Frazier, left, and James Shuler, right, in New York's Madison Square Garden in 1980. Frazier would help train his son, who would forge a decent professional career as a heavyweight boxer. Ray Howard / AP Photo