Former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier has died after a brief war with liver cancer, his family said.
Frazier - also known as Smokin' Joe - had been receiving hospice care in Philadelphia after being diagnosed with cancer some weeks ago.
The 67-year-old was the first man who beat Muhammad Ali in 1971, but lost his next two matches with Ali.
He was world heavyweight boxing champion between 1970 and 1973.
On Saturday, Frazier's manager Leslie Wolf said the Joe Frazier health condition was very serious but that doctors and Frazier's team were "doing everything we can".
Frazier won an Olympic gold medal in 1964 after going to the Games as a replacement for Buster Mathis, who had beaten him in the trials but could not attend the Games due to an injury.
He won the heavyweight title in 1970 by defeating Jimmy Ellis in New York. After three years he lost his title from George Foreman.
But the boxer is perhaps most widely-known for three great fights with Ali, including the epic "Thrilla in Manila" in 1975.
After hearing about Frazier's illness, Ali, 69, said: "The news about Joe is hard to believe and even harder to accept."
"My family and I are keeping Joe and his family in our daily prayers. Joe friends pulling for him - and I'm one of them," he said on Sunday.
Frazier left boxing and retired in 1976 after being beaten again by Foreman. He then made an unsuccessful comeback in 1981, fighting only once before closing his career for good.
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