60 years ago, Hans Huber, a bus driver from Regensburg, almost snatched boxing legend Joe Frazier’s first major triumph – and his Olympic fairy tale caused fan ecstasy at home.
If Hans Huber had known about Joe Frazier’s thumb, things might have turned out differently.
It was the biggest fight in the life of the Bavarian amateur boxer – and in retrospect, it has become even bigger due to the iconic status that his opponent later attained. And it wasn’t much that the legend of Hans Huber from Wenzenbach near Regensburg would have become even bigger in the Olympic final in Tokyo.
Hans Huber fought Joe Frazier at the Olympics 60 years ago
This Wednesday marks the 60th anniversary of October 23, 1964, the great day of a German athlete whose story was special even before that.
Born on January 1, 1934, Huber lived a simple life that fatefully brought him to the Olympic stage: Huber was originally an apprentice baker and a junior soccer goalkeeper at the local SV Wenzenbach, a retraining as a bus driver rather coincidentally paved the way for him into martial arts.
Huber’s driving instructor recommended that the 1.92-meter giant try his hand at wrestling at the Regensburger Turnerschaft e.V. Huber did so very successfully, becoming German heavyweight vice champion in 1958 and 1960 – beaten only by the legendary “Crane of Schifferstadt” Wilfried Dietrich.
Realizing that there was no getting past Dietrich, Huber switched to boxing, reaching the European Championship quarterfinals in 1963 and winning the German Championship the following year, thereby qualifying for the Olympics.
Tens of thousands of people listening on the radio
Huber flew to the Japanese capital without great expectations, but surprised both himself and the boxing public by beating the Pakistani Abdul Rehman and the Italian Giuseppe Ros in the heavyweight tournament.
A wave of euphoria broke over the German boxing fairy tale, especially in his home region, with thousands following the final fight on their radios from 3:30 p.m. German time.
Huber’s opponent was a 20-year-old American who had not actually qualified for the Olympics but was subsequently nominated after his compatriot and sparring partner Buster Mathis was injured: Joseph William “Joe” Frazier – ten centimetres shorter than Huber but a formidable all-rounder with a dangerous left hook – actually.
Frazier went into the fight with a handicap
What Huber didn’t know was that Frazier had broken his thumb in the semi-final against the USSR starter Wadim Jemeljanow, so his best weapon was virtually neutralized.
The duel between Huber and Frazier went the full distance, with two judges favoring Huber and three favoring Frazier. Years later, boxing experts were still wondering what might have been if Huber had exploited Frazier’s handicap more aggressively: “If he had known what intense pain Frazier experienced with every left hook, Huber might not have dodged him so carefully and the judges’ decision could easily have been different,” the New York Times wrote in 1970.
Frazier turned professional after his Olympic victory, becoming a world champion and the great rival of the icon Muhammad Ali. Hans Huber disappeared from the limelight – voluntarily.
Huber liked Frazier better than Ali
The silver medalist from Tokyo decided against a professional career. At the age of 30, he felt too old and no longer wanted to take on the hardships that would have awaited him.
Huber was satisfied with his great performance in Tokyo, from which he felt richly rewarded despite his initial disappointment at missing out on gold. Huber received congratulatory telegrams from Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and opposition leader Willy Brandt. When he returned home to Regensburg, 50,000 people welcomed him at the train station. “That made up for it,” the Mittelbayerische Zeitung quotes from a late interview with Huber.
Huber worked at the Regensburg Sports Office after the Olympics, and had two reunions with Frazier in 1971 at an Adidas gala and on a TV show in Los Angeles.
Huber also appreciated the late “Smokin’ Joe”, who died in 2011, as a person: “Joe was always a really nice guy. He never put on airs,” he said in an interview with the BZ. On the other hand, Huber criticized his great opponent Ali for occasionally ridiculing his opponents (“That’s not what great athletes do”).
Hans Huber, the man who almost snatched the great Joe Frazier’s first big triumph, died on January 12, shortly after his 90th birthday.