Vivian Richards salutes the original Smokin' Joe
Vivian Richards talks to Mid-Day 's Clayton Murzello about Joe Frazier, who died on November 8 after a battle with cancer.
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
Vivian Richards talks to Mid-Day's Clayton Murzello about Joe Frazier, who died on November 8 after a battle with cancer.
The West Indies team members started calling Richards Smokin' Joe after the batting great "stood up for Frazier at most times" during "arguments" while on tour. Richards said: "We (in the West Indies team) used to speak often about our favourite boxers. I always admired Ali. He was the greatest really, but I just loved the attitude of the smaller man, Frazier. He wasn't as physically tall as some of the boxers who were six feet, four or six feet, five. Joe was about five feet, 10 or 11. His tenacity stood out - he moved forward and never took a step back. He was like a raging bull."
Nikita Bastian is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo