Thursday, April 19, 2007

Joe Frazier Suing His Daughter


Former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier has sued his daughter for the return of his contracts, product endorsements and other business papers.
Frazier is financially strapped at 63 and may be missing out on film royalties, product endorsement fees or other income promised in the contracts, his lawyers said.
Jacquelyn Frazier-Lyde _ a lawyer, judicial candidate and sometime boxer _ controls the documents because she served as her father's lawyer and business adviser from 1989-2004, according to the lawsuit.
"I wouldn't want to harass her, my daughter," Frazier said Tuesday by phone from Toronto, where he was appearing at a festival. "I brought her here in this world and gave her the best of everything. I love her."
He said he doesn't know why she might be keeping the records.
"I don't talk to her," Frazier said. "All I'm asking is for the papers, that's all."
The suit charges that Frazier-Lyde has failed to explain where the records are now and refused to accept a certified March 2 letter demanding their return.
A call to her law office in North Philadelphia rang unanswered Tuesday, and there was no immediate reply to phone and e-mail messages left with her judicial campaign. Frazier-Lyde is campaigning for a seat on Philadelphia's Municipal Court.
The suit was filed April 4 in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.
Frazier-Lyde's campaign Web site plays up her lineage, noting she is the "daughter of former World Heavyweight Champion 'Smokin' Joe Frazier and Florence Frazier."
The divorced Joe Frazier lives alone and makes "under six figures" while managing expenses that include child support for at least one of his 11 children, according to lawyer Michael P. Kelly and manager Les Wolff.
Wolff vowed that more suits will follow against others who may have defrauded Frazier.
"He has been swindled and mismanaged," said Wolff, Frazier's agent for the past three years. The ex-champion now largely derives his income from appearance fees, Wolff said.
Kelly, who filed the suit, said he wants to know where Frazier's earnings have gone.
"This guy made a lot of money, was the heavyweight champion of the world, and he doesn't have much. So what happened to it?" Kelly asked.