I was born in January, and boxing has been in my blood for a good part of my life. I was certainly not a champion, but what I do know is that the Sweet Science has been lighting my path for quite some time. I don’t believe in horoscopes or fate. I don’t think that simply being born under a lucky star or blessed by Mother Nature is enough to achieve success in sports—or in life. Rather, I believe that sweat, sacrifice, and unwavering discipline are what truly earn results. However, a curious coincidence recently caught my attention.
While casually flipping through the calendar, I noticed that the great heavyweight champion Smokin’ Joe Frazier (January 12) was born on the same day as me. What an honor, I thought—it would be amazing to have even a fraction of his immense talent! But that’s not the point. My curiosity led me to keep looking further down the almanac. Just days apart, I spotted two other legendary figures in heavyweight history: the incredible “Big” George Foreman (January 10) and the one and only “The Greatest” Muhammad Ali (January 17).
What a coincidence, I told myself: within the same week, in the same fortunate month—though years and miles apart—destiny brought three towering figures of boxing into the world. In order of birth, in 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, Cassius “Marcellus” Clay Jr. was born, later becoming Muhammad Ali at the age of 22 following his conversion to Islam: a man of talent, charisma, nonconformity, and a fighting spirit both inside and outside the ring. In 1944, in Beaufort, South Carolina, Joseph William Frazier was born—Joe to everyone: a man who stumbled into boxing almost by chance but ended up becoming one of the most spectacular, aggressive, and thrilling fighters of his era, just as his uncle had predicted. And finally, in 1949, in Marshall, Texas, “Big” George Foreman entered the world—the tough street kid who found his salvation through boxing, transforming into the “gentle giant” of the ring.
The 1970s saw their paths cross in reality. They became protagonists of epic battles that remain unforgettable to this day—two of which even took place in January (on the 22nd and 28th). From the legendary trilogy between Frazier and Ali—starting with Smokin’ Joe‘s spectacular victory at Madison Square Garden in 1971, followed by Ali’s sweet revenge in their rematch a year later, and culminating in The Greatest’s triumph in the brutal Thrilla in Manila—to the two stunning encounters between Foreman and Frazier in 1973 and 1976, where the ruthless ring giant dominated, first unexpectedly and then proving he was simply too much for Joe. And of course, the iconic Rumble in the Jungle between Ali and Foreman in 1974—one of the most significant and extraordinary fights in history, where the Kentucky challenger shocked the world by knocking out the seemingly invincible Texas champion, then considered the most dominant fighter on the planet.
But that’s not all. January was also the birth month of one of the most elegant heavyweights, Floyd Patterson (January 4); the South African “Sniper” Corrie Sanders (January 7), who had his brief moment among the greats; and legends who excelled in multiple weight classes, such as Puerto Rican star “Tito” Felix Trinidad (January 10), “The Executioner” Bernard Hopkins (January 15), the lightning-fast Roy Jones Jr. (January 16), and “The Baby-Faced Assassin” Marco Antonio Barrera (January 17). The list for this month seemed endless.
And it doesn’t stop there: former cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis (January 13), the current undisputed heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk (January 17), former light-welterweight world champions Bruno Arcari (January 1), Viktor “The Iceman” Postol (January 16), Ruslan “The Russian” Rocky Provodnikov (January 20), and Patrizio Oliva (January 20), the ruthless Russian light-heavyweight emperor Artur Beterbiev (January 21), the legendary Mexican Salvador Sanchez (January 26), and even one of Italy’s most decorated fighters, Michele Piccirillo (January 29), who, by the way, just turned 55 two days ago.
In short, what a fantastic month to have been born in! I don’t know if this will bring me any good fortune in life, but I do know one thing: as the Dalai Lama once said, “There are no men born under lucky or unlucky stars, only men who know or do not know how to read the starry sky.”