Former boxing champion Smokin’ Joe Frazier seriously ill with cancer

FORMER heavyweight champion Joe Frazier is suffering from liver cancer and is seriously ill, it emerged last night.

The 67-year-old boxer was diagnosed with the illness four or five weeks ago, said manager Leslie Wolff, adding that doctors have not yet determined how long he has to live.

“We have medical experts looking into all the options that are out there,” Wolff said.

“There are very few. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop looking.”

Wolff said the boxer had been in and out of the hospital since early October and receiving hospice treatment for the last week.

Frazier, known as Smokin’ Joe, was the first man to beat Muhammad Ali, knocking him down and getting the decision in the so-called Fight of the Century in 1971.

He dropped Ali in the 15th round at Madison Square Garden in New York to seal a win in a bout where each fighter earned an unheard of $2.5 million (£1.6m). But he later lost two fights to Ali, including the epic “Thrilla in Manila”.

“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.”