Joe Frazier honored in Philadelphia arena

PHILADELPHIA -- They braved the November cold and the whipping winds to line up outside the Wells Fargo Center Friday morning in tribute to a legend. Old men in cowboy hats and canes, young men, fathers with children, and businessmen in suits standing alongside construction workers in mud-caked boots.

Mourners began arriving around 9 a.m. for the public memorial viewing of former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier. The two-day affair, put together by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter in cooperation with Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider, is expected to draw 15,000 fans.

Frazier was laid out in the middle of the arena in a white, closed coffin, as per his will, with his trademark black cowboy hat sitting atop and a white blanket that said, "Heavyweight Champion of the World, Smokin' Joe Frazier -- Your friend, Jake."

The memorial ends Saturday. Private funeral services for Frazier, 67, who died last Monday of liver cancer, will be held Monday at the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in Philadelphia. Muhammad Ali is scheduled to attend, as well as other former heavyweight champions Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson.

Welterweight world champion Floyd Mayweather is donating money to cover some of the costs of the services. George Foreman, another old Frazier nemesis, will not be able to make it, but has also offered to help pay the funeral expenses.

Almost every passing mourner, it seemed, had either met Frazier personally or had an indelible recollection of the Hall-of-Fame fighter.

Peter Lyde, Frazier's son-in-law, let out a laugh when he recalled the first time he thought about asking out Frazier's daughter, Jacqui. Once, after watching a fight in New York City, the Fraziers convened in a hotel suite, Lyde recalled, when a photographer hugged Jacqui a little too tight for the former champ's taste.

"It's festive and everyone is having a great time, then all of a sudden you hear this booming voice say, 'Hey you, get your hands off my daughter,' and everyone stood still, because Joe was still imposing," Lyde recalled.

"The man was a true modern gladiator. I'm 6-foot-9 and Joe scared me so bad I waited two years to ask Jacqui out before she became my wife."