⁠Sixty-one years ago today, Regensburg bus driver Hans Huber almost snatched boxing legend Joe Frazier’s first major triumph—and sent fans in his homeland into ecstasy with his Olympic fairy tale.

Had Hans Huber known about Joe Frazier’s thumb, everything 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 achieved. And it didn’t take much for the legend of Hans Huber from Wenzenbach near Regensburg to become even greater in the Olympic final in Tokyo.

Hans Huber boxed against Joe Frazier at the Olympics

Wednesday marks the 60th anniversary of October 23, 1964, a big day for a German athlete whose story was already special before that.

Born on January 1, 1934, Huber lived a simple life that fatefully brought him to the Olympic stage: Huber was originally a baker’s apprentice and a young soccer goalkeeper at the local SV Wenzenbach club, but retraining as a bus driver paved his way into martial arts, rather by chance.

Huber’s driving instructor recommended that the 1.92-meter giant try his hand at wrestling at Regensburger Turnerschaft e.V. Huber did so with great success, becoming German heavyweight runner-up in 1958 and 1960 – beaten only by the legendary Wilfried Dietrich, the mythical “Crane of Schifferstadt.”

The realization that Dietrich was unbeatable prompted Huber to switch to boxing, where he reached the European Championship quarterfinals in 1963 and won the German Championship and Olympic qualification the following year.

Thousands of people gathered around their radios

Huber flew to the Japanese capital without high expectations, but surprised both himself and the boxing public with victories over Pakistan’s Abdul Rehman and Italy’s Giuseppe Ros in the heavyweight tournament.

A wave of euphoria broke out around the German boxing fairy tale, especially in his home region, with thousands tuning in to their radios at 3:30 p.m. German time to follow the final fight.

Huber’s opponent was a 20-year-old American who had not actually qualified for the Olympics, but was nominated after an injury to his compatriot and sparring partner Buster Mathis: Joseph William “Joe” Frazier – ten centimeters shorter than Huber, but already a formidable all-rounder with a dangerous left hook – or so it seemed.

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 USSR starter Vadim Yemelyanov, effectively neutralizing his best weapon.

The duel between Huber and Frazier went the full distance, with two judges scoring it in Huber’s favor and three in Frazier’s. Years later, boxing experts were still wondering what would have happened if Huber had exploited Frazier’s handicap more aggressively: “Had he known how much pain Frazier was in with every left hook, Huber might not have been so cautious in dodging him, and the judges’ decision could well have been different,” wrote the New York Times in 1970. After his Olympic victory, Frazier turned professional, became world champion, and was the great rival of the iconic Muhammad Ali. Hans Huber disappeared from the limelight – voluntarily.

Huber preferred Frazier to Ali

The silver medalist from Tokyo decided against a professional career; at 30, he felt too old and no longer wanted to take on the hardships that would have awaited him.

Huber was satisfied with his big performance in Tokyo, which he felt had rewarded him richly despite his initial disappointment at missing out on the gold medal. 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. After the Olympics, Huber worked at the Regensburg Sports Office, and there were two reunions with Frazier in 1971 at an Adidas gala and on a TV show in Los Angeles.

Huber also appreciated “Smokin’ Joe,” who died in 2011, on a personal level: “Joe was always a really nice guy. He never acted like a big show-off,” he said in an interview with the BZ. Huber criticized his great opponent Ali, however, for sometimes ridiculing his opponents (“That’s not what a great athlete does”). Hans Huber, the man who almost snatched the first major triumph away from the great Joe Frazier, died on January 12, 2024, shortly after his 90th birthday.