Ex-champ Joe Frazier has cancer
Joe Frazier, the former Heavyweight Champion of the World poses for a portrait at his boxing gym on March 18, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Joe Frazier, the former heavyweight champion boxer, has liver cancer and is in hospice care, the Associated Press reported Saturday.
Leslie Wolff, Frazier's manager, told the AP that Frazier, 67, was diagnosed just four or five weeks ago.
"We have medical experts looking into the all the options that are out there," Wolff said. "There are very few. But that doesn't mean we're going to stop looking."
According to Wolff, doctors have not said how long Frazier might have to live.
"We appreciate every prayer we can get," Wolff said. "I've got everybody praying for him. We"ll just keep our fingers crossed and hope for a miracle."
Frazier, nicknamed "Smokin' Joe," retired with a 32-4-1 record, according to CNN. The son of a South Carolina sharecropper, Frazier grew to box in some of the most famous fights of all-time against Muhammad Ali. Frazier won the so-called "Fight of the Century" against Ali in 1971. He lost to Ali in 1974, setting up the "Thrilla in Manila" in 1975, which Ali also won.
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