Smokin’ Joe Frazier’s youngest son Derek gave me a call yesterday to let me know that, having spent some time working himself into fightin’ shape (with the help of trainers including former Philadelphia Eagle Tre Thomas), he’ll enter the ring for his first amateur bout in Delran, NJ this weekend.
The fight will take place as part of the “It’s On Boxing & MMA” event, 1060 Chester Ave.
Fight time: 5 p.m. Saturday. All are invited.
Here, Derek — about whom I’ve written before — explains why he’s excited about following in his father’s footsteps:
In somewhat-related news, the fundraising effort to have a statue built for Derek’s father has not yet caught financial fire. Since I wrote about Bernard Hopkins’ reaction to fundraising difficulties, only a few hundred dollars have trickled in. There will be news on artists’ submissions and a national online-fundraising campaign launch soon, city officials told me today. I’ll keep a close eye on it.