Muhammad Ali and many other boxing icons gathered to attend the funeral of former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier in Philadelphia this month.
Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson and civil rights leader Jesse Jackson turned up to the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church to pay their respects.
Frazier was famed for winning the Olympic gold medal in 1964 and was a heavyweight world champion from 1968 to 1973.
But Frazier will always be remembered for his 1970s fights with Ali.
Frazier, also known as ‘Smokin Joe’, won the first fight of three bouts before Ali conquered in the second and third in a match considered the most famous in sports history.
Speaking at the funeral, Reverend Jackson favourably compared Frazier to the fictional character Rocky from the 1980s films of the same name.
He said, “Rocky is an imaginary figure who never existed,” said Jackson. “Rocky never tasted his own blood. Rocky never faced Ken Norton. He never faced Ali. He never faced Larry Holmes.
“Joe paid real dues and he is a guy who we can emulate because of his sense of family, an ordinary Joe with extraordinary things.”
