More than 40 years after George Foreman won the heavyweight title by knocking out Smokin’ Joe Frazier, the expression Down goes Frazier still lives in the American Lexicon. According to Urban Dictionary Down goes Frazier is
said when you are severely intoxicated or got the “itis” or you are really tired.Refers to you laying down imediately or going to sleep extremely fast
Shawn popped an E pill and now he’s down goes Frazier status
Howard Cosell coined the expression at about two minutes into the first round of the title bout that took place in Kingston, Jamaica. It was the first of six knockdowns that Frazier endured. Referee Arthur Mercante stopped the fight at 1:35 of the second round.
Although Foreman came into the fight undefeated, he was still a 5-1 underdog. That’s because Frazier was also undefeated and was attempting to win his 10th title defense. Frazier first won the title by defeating Buster Mathis in 1968, the year after Muhammad Ali was stripped of his title for refusing to join the army.
Frazier’s most illustrious title defense was against Ali in Madison Square Garden in 1971.
Foreman had won the gold medal at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. He turned pro the following year and won 37 consecutive fights against a string of very undistinguished opponents. Three months before Foreman fought Frazier, he knocked out Terry Sorrell. Before Foreman knocked him out, Sorrell’s record was 4-15. Earlier in 1972 Foreman collected paychecks and padded his unbeaten record by defeating Clarence Boone, 3-24-1 and Joe Murphy Goodwin, 1-14-1. Foreman’s knocked out of Goodwin in the second round was the 11th consecutive fight in which Goodwin had been stopped by his opponent.