Boxing and Hong Kong entertainment lost two major icons this week - Joe Frazier and Ricky Hui.
Read all about them here. From Wikipedia.
JOE FRAZIER
Joseph William Frazier, (January 12, 1944 - November 7, 2011) was a former Olympic and Undisputed World Heavyweight boxing champion, whose professional career lasted from 1965 to 1976, with a brief comeback in 1981.
Frazier emerged as the top contender in the late 1960s, defeating the likes of Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena, Buster Mathis, Eddie Machen, Doug Jones, George Chuvalo and Jimmy Ellis en route to becoming undisputed heavyweight champion in 1970, and followed up by defeating Muhammad Ali on points in the highly-anticipated Fight of the Century in 1971.
Two years later Frazier lost his title when he was knocked out by George Foreman. He fought on, beating Joe Bugner, losing a rematch to Ali, and beating Quarry and Ellis again.
Frazier's last world title challenge came in 1975, but he was beaten by Ali in their brutal rubbermatch. He retired in 1976 following a second loss to Foreman. He made a comeback in 1981, fighting just once, before retiring for good.
The International Boxing Research Organisation (IBRO) rates Frazier among the ten greatest heavyweights of all time. He is an inductee of both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
After retiring Frazier made cameo appearances in several Hollywood movies, and two episodes of The Simpsons.
His son Marvis became a boxer - trained by Frazier himself - although was unable to emulate his father's success.
Frazier continued to train fighters in his gym in Philadelphia. His later years saw the continuation of his bitter rivalry with Ali, in which the two periodically exchange insults, interspersed with brief reconciliations.
Frazier died of cancer on November 7, 2011.
He hailed from Beaufort in South Carolina.
RICKY HUI
Ricky Hui Koon Ying (August 3, 1946 - November 8, 2011), who died of a heart ailment last Tuesday, will always be remembered as a gifted comedian from Hong Kong.
He was one third of the iconic Hui Brothers who also included comedian, producer and director Michael and singer, composer, lyricist and producer Samuel Hui.
Ricky was born in Guangdong and migrated to Hong Kong in 1950. His father was a violinist. In 1972, he joined Shaw Brothers productions as an actor and his early films included The Lizard, The Sugar Daddies and Hong Kong 73.
He later appeared with his brothers in The Private Eyes (1976). Other notable films he starred in were Games People Play (1979), The Contract (1978) [with his brothers], From Riches To Rags (1979) [directed by John Woo], Chicken And Duck Talk (1988) [with his brothers] and The Magic Touch (1992).
Ricky was also a talented singer who released 7 albums.
