A Red Lichtie who christened Muhammad Ali ‘The Greatest’ has thrown in the towel on his boxing career after 77 years.
‘Dandy Don’ Fraser, 91, whose father Ernest was from Arbroath, has been involved in nearly every aspect of professional boxing as a promoter, matchmaker, manager, publicist, writer, executive and corner man.
He was honoured in a special “Salute to Don Fraser” sell-out event in Los Angeles by the National Boxing Hall of Fame after announcing he is retiring to enjoy time with his daughters and great-grandchildren.
Many champions and fighters were there to support him like the Ruelas Brothers, Paul Banke, Ruben Castillo, Herman Montes, Danny ‘Little Red’ Lopez, Armando Muniz and Arturo Frias.
There was a special moment during the ceremony in Studio City where the fighters gathered together and Mr Fraser was crowned the “Honorary WBC Champion”.
He grabbed his hat and put it on with pride following the message from WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman confirming the accolade.
Boxing historian David Martinez said: “I consider Don Fraser to be the ‘Mr Boxing’ of my era.
“His involvement in boxing ranges from that of a promoter, to matchmaker, publicist, writer, corner man, and executive officer for the California Athletic Commission.
“In addition, Don recently retired as president and founder of the California Boxing Hall of Fame. He truly is a wealth of boxing information.
“With many awards already on his resume, such as being inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1987, and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005, he can now add the National Boxing Hall of Fame to the list of honours he has received.”
New Jersey Hall Of Fame as well as the International Boxing Hall Of Fame sent gifts to Mr Fraser who was a master publicist responsible for promoting many fights, including the 1973 rematch between Ali and Ken Norton.
He also promoted bouts featuring Hall of Famers Sugar Ray Robinson, Ruben Olivares and George Foreman.
Most memorably, he gave Ali, then Cassius Clay, the soubriquet of ‘The Greatest’.
He pinned a notice, with this title, to Clay’s chest at a function, and Clay took to it.
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Mr Fraser is part of the famous Fraser family which manufactured jute-soled shoes called alpargatas in Argentina which led to other factories being established in Uruguay and Brazil and Europe.
His father Ernest left Angus and after marrying a woman with a British Army background while working in India, he settled in LA after the first world war, where Mr Fraser was born.
The Fraser family legacy
Douglas Fraser and Sons from Arbroath was established in the early 1830s before expanding their business into the South American country after Mr Fraser’s youngest son, Norman, invented a machine for plaiting jute to make candlewick in 1881.
The firm was looking for ways to diversify and identified an opportunity for mechanising the production of jute-soled shoes called Alpargatas using this technology.
The factory built as a result in 1885 still stands just a couple of blocks from the Boca Juniors football ground and it displays a plaque with the heraldic portcullis of Arbroath.
After initial struggles, the business in Argentina took off and spawned sister companies in Uruguay and Brazil and became a vast enterprise.
A significant number of Arbroathians went to South America to work for these companies.
Last year the British Film Institute released a 14-minute clip of the Fraser family at their mansion in the town’s Cairnie Hill in 1928.
The family were thought to be rather competitive about their cars and the film was believed to have been made by a professional photographer to be sent to relatives in Argentina.
It showcases the house, grounds and staff, as well as the fleet of luxurious cars including a Rolls-Royce Twenty, complete with chauffeur.
The film features Robert Fraser of Arbroath and his wife who retired to Arbroath from Argentina just before the outbreak of the First World War.
The BFI said the film provided a glimpse of the “idyllic lifestyle of the super-rich in 1920s Arbroath”.
Promoter, matchmaker, publicist, writer and corner man
‘Dandy’ Don Fraser was born in Blythe, California, on January 28 1927.
In 1948, Mr Fraser was a copy boy in The LA Times’ sports department and was occasionally assigned to cover boxing matches.
He started writing about boxing, became a boxing publicist, and later a promoter.
He was public relations director at the Hollywood Legion Stadium (1956-59), Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium (1959-67), and the Inglewood Forum (1967-81).
When Forum boxing was in its heyday, in the early 1970s, Fraser was in charge.
When the second Muhammad Ali-Ken Norton fight fizzled in San Diego, Fraser got it.
The result was one of modern boxing’s most memorable heavyweight fights, won by Ali on a split decision.
The gate that night was $548,000 which was a California boxing record at the time.
After leaving the Forum in 1981, he was appointed executive officer of the California Athletic Commission.
He returned to promoting and the Olympic Auditorium in 1983, staying until 1984.
He then began promoting at the Irvine Marriot Hotel, California, until 1992.
He lives in California with his daughter Denise.
