He was a legend of the ring whose epic battles with Muhammad Ali earned him sporting immortality and worldwide fame.

But a boxing club in north Belfast always held a special place in the heart of the legendary Smokin’ Joe Frazier.

The champion fighter, who passed away yesterday at the age of 67, will forever be remembered for defeating Ali in the Fight of the Century at Madison Square Garden in 1971.

Yet despite fame and success, Frazier retained a strong link with the Holy Family club since the early 1980s, and was the inspiration for many of its young fighters through the years.

Head coach Gerry Storey, who became close friends with Frazier, said he was a fearsome fighter who had a gentle and caring heart outside the ring.

“Joe was a terrific ambassador for Philadelphia and for the USA,” he told the Belfast Telegraph. “The people just idolised him and the fight crowd loved him.

“He was a terrific fighter with a great heart.”

The friendship began almost three decades ago when Holy Family was touring in America.

“We go back a long time, all the way to 1981,” Mr Storey explained.

“The club was boxing at Wildwood near Atlantic City and Joe found out about that. He knew the reputation our club had, and he made his way down to meet us.

“Every year he never let us down. He always turned up for dinner with us.”

A former Belfast Lord Mayor who brought Frazier to the city also spoke of his “great sadness”.

Alex Maskey asked Smokin’ Joe to come to Belfast in 2003 after meeting him in Philadelphia, and within weeks he took up the invitation.

“When Joe Frazier came to Belfast he created that magical buzz we have just experienced again with the MTV awards in the city,” Mr Maskey said.

“I still meet people who speak of their fond memory of meeting him. He was a great friend of our city.”

Mr Maskey recalled a visit to the famous Hatfield Bar on the Ormeau Road, where Frazier encountered a goading Ali fan, adding: “We have truly lost a great sporting champion, a great man and a great friend of Belfast.”

Former world featherweight champion Barry McGuigan described Frazier as a remarkable man and said he would go down as one of the greatest heavyweight fighters of all-time.

“He was a huge inspiration and it's a huge loss to professional boxing and terribly sad, because he didn't end up with an awful lot of money and lived in relative poverty in the last years of his life. But that's boxing — the stereotypical rags to riches to rags again tale.”

Quotes

“He was relentless, he was so resilient, he had so much heart and determination. Everybody loved him.”

Former boxing champion Barry McGuigan

“The humility of the man struck me back then. He didn’t ask for a penny and he didn’t get a penny — yet he left Belfast saying the people reminded him what it felt like to be a world champion all over again.”

Former Lord Mayor Alex Maskey

“Frazier would have been one of the all-time greats, up there with the best of them.”

Close friend Gerry Storey