Muhammad Ali leads tributes to 'great champion' Joe Frazier

London, Nov 9 (ANI): Boxing legend Muhammad Ali has paid tribute to his great rival Joe Frazier, who recently died of liver cancer, saying that 'the world has lost a great champion,'

Frazier, who was only diagnosed with from liver cancer just over a month ago and was admitted to a hospice on Saturday, died at his home in Philadelphia.

The tributes poured in almost immediately and the most poignant of all was delivered by Ali, the Telegraph reports.

"The world has lost a great champion, I will always remember Joe with respect and admiration. My sympathy goes out to his family and loved ones," Ali said.

American boxing champion also George Foreman added his own eulogy on Twitter.

"Good night Joe Frazier. I love you dear friend," Foreman wrote.

Vitali Klitschko, WBC champion, also paid tribute to 'huge fighter and champion' Frazier.

"He was a huge fighter, champion, personality. His fights were a great lesson for all new generations," Klitschko said.

Sixty-seven-year-old Frazier, known as "Smokin' Joe", won the Olympic heavyweight boxing gold medal for the United States in 1964 in Tokyo and held the world heavyweight boxing crown from 1970 to 1973.

He won the first of three classic bouts with Ali, the so-called Fight of the Century, in New York in 1971.

The pair met three times between March 1971 and Oct 1975, the first and last bouts are still regarded as two of the finest fights in heavyweight history. (ANI)