Joe Frazier Death: Why Former Champ Was Boxing's Most Underrated Legend

On the week of a huge fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, the sport of boxing mourns the loss of one of the greatest to step in the ring. 

Joe Frazier won many fights in his career, but sadly he lost the battle with cancer and died on Monday.

He will forever be remembered for being part of some of boxing's greatest bouts. 

Frazier's fight with Muhammad Ali in 1971 was labeled "The Fight of the Century," but after that fight, Frazier was never really the same, going 5-4-1 in his next 10 fights. 

Still, though, being the first guy to ever beat Ali put him in the history books, and it's a sad day now that he is no longer with us. 

He hurt and helped Ali's career when he beat him, pushing the notorious boxer to go on and fight harder.

While he and Ali didn't get along for good period of time, that didn't stop Ali from speaking about Frazier's death. Per SportsCenter's Twitter page. 

"Smokin Joe" had the nastiest left hook in the history of boxing and was just an all around great guy. 

He was the World Heavyweight Champion from 1968 to 1973, won the World Heavyweight gold medal in the 1964 Summer Olympics and was 32-4-1 as a professional. 

When he ended his career, he tried his hand in music and acting, but he truly made boxing special. 

The sport is nothing of what it was back in Frazier and Ali's day, and it will likely never get back to that.

Frazier made boxing great, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family as they deal with these tough times.