A steady stream of people filed past Joe Frazier's casket Saturday afternoon. Many knew the boxing great personally, but many others were simply fans of prize fighting and they wanted to pay their respects to Smokin's Joe because he was one of the greats.
"He went out and he did the job. He did the job; he lived life well, and 67 years old, far too young to die," said Dave Diprospero.
Others had known Joe Frazier since childhood and watched him become an Olympic gold medal winner before becoming a boxing legend.
"He worked as a butcher at a butcher shop; that's how he trained. He used to beat up on the sides of cows," said Jacob Chandler.
A lot of champions trained at Joe's north Broad Street gym, and drew instruction and inspiration from the champ.
"He was a motivator in the gym, and as I watched him. He emphasized motivation to me," said retired fighter, Rock Lockridge.
For all of his worldwide acclaim, Joe Frazier never lost his common touch or his ability to relate to the average person he would meet walking down the streets of Philadelphia.
"He never turned down an autograph at all. It didn't matter whether it was a hand shake, an autograph; he didn't care whether he was going to be late, he always showed up," his son Dennis said.
Joe Frazier's funeral is set for Monday, November 14th with boxing luminaries like Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes and Bernard Hopkins set to attend.
