Muhammad Ali and George Foreman lead tributes to Joe Frazier

Old foes Muhammad Ali and George Foreman led the tributes to the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, who died in the small hours.

SMOKIN' JOE FRAZIER AND ALI [The Louisville Lip]

To those who grew up in the post-Tyson era, the name Joe Frazier is only a name, if that, but once like Mike Tyson, he was the baddest man on the planet, though unlike Tyson, for all the right reasons. Some boxers have charisma, others let their fists do the talking. Unlike his arch-rival, the charismatic Muhammad Ali, Smokin' Joe was never a great talker, for him, actions always spoke louder than words.

Although he was a worthy world champion and the man who handed Muhammad Ali his first professional defeat, Smokin' Joe is best remembered by aficionados for four fights, three of which he lost. The first was his aforementioned victory over Ali - the self-proclaimed Greatest - the others were the rematch and the decider; the fourth was his crushing second round loss to an up and coming George Foreman.

It was recently announced that former heavyweight champion Smokin' Joe Frazier had been admitted to a Philadelphia hospice suffering from cancer of the liver. Now, the man who buttoned the Louisville Lip has gone to that great boxing ring in the sky as his old foe paid tribute to him.

The meeting of defending champion Joe Frazier and former champion Ali at the world famous Madison Square Garden on March 8, 1971 was the first time two undefeated heavyweight champions had fought for the title, and unlike the disgraceful spectacle of Tyson v Spinks 17 years later when Spinks was slaughtered in 91 seconds like a frightened chicken, the two men put on a show that lived up to the hype as the fight of the century, with Smokin' Joe winning a gruelling 15 round decision, knocking down Ali in the final round - not knocking him out as claimed erroneously on the BBC Breakfast news programme this morning.

His victory over Ali was as good as it got for Smokin' Joe; he would lose the rematch and the rubber match, and suffer two ignominious defeats at the hands of George Foreman, but these two great champions were the only men ever to beat him, and both paid tribute to him shortly after his death.