Letter to Joe Frazier

    

     Hey Joe.When I started boxing I would watch your videos and try and copy your moves. I thought you were the best. Before my first amateur fight, I bumped into Chuck Wepner in the lobby. I asked him about you and told him how much I idolized you and he said you were incredibly tough and such a nice, decent man. That same hour, at an auction being held,I saw a picture of you throwing that hook at Ali with him falling onto the ropes. It lit a fire in me. I knocked my opponent down twice in the first round with my left hook. After the fight Wepner congratulated me and told me I had a hook just like yours. Maybe he was just buttering me up but man did it work!
     I even thought it was funny how my coach always got on me on never throwing my right hand.. I fell in love with my left haha. I knew you barely threw that right, too. Anyway, when i watched documentaries about you and read any articles about you I felt some sort of connection to you. I dont know why since obviously we’ve never met. I love hearing you described as an underdog because it makes underdogs like myself feel like we can get on your level.
     Not too long ago I met you at a DVD signing at Barnes and noble in Manhatten. I remember thinking to myself ” He’s not gonna give a damn about me. He’s just gonna think I'm another person just asking for his autograph”. When I told you about how I watched your fights to teach me you gave me a big hug and invited me to your gym for sparring. It made my day and I went back to the gym and bragged endlessly about i as if we went to dinner or something (haha).
     I had heard of you attending some Golden Gloves shows in New York and would dream that after my surgery, I would fight at a venue where you would be and after i won you’d congratulate me. I pray that i get that opportunity, but that’s also quite selfish. Really what I hope is that you beat this thing and that you are happy, surrounded by friends and family. When I get better and have my next fight, I will be fighting with you in mind, as I always have..wondering ” would Joe Frazier like my left hook?” Again, I may not know you personally but man do you mean a lot to me and on some unexplained level, I've got a lot of love for you. I am praying for you and thinking of you constantly. Thank you for everything.
Amanda